Pop Quiz: Mint Never Hinged...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/ecuador-co...AOSwAX9e-ikE


I'll just let this one speak for itself. Took me a second.

"Seller does not accept returns" - that's an immediate STOP RIGHT THERE for me. I refuse to buy from any seller who does not accept returns.

Add to that, the seller has only 2 feedbacks.

PASS!

He has more similar to that one. He has this, too.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/rare-us-1c...AOSwPxdfAL7k

You see more of this on ebay these days. Either they don't know...don't care...or whatever.

Has anyone given him the benefit of the doubt and asked him if the stamps are fixed to the page or merely placed on it? If they are just placed there, they could be MNH, but I rather doubt that is the case.

I find uboatnut's comment interesting about not buying from someone who will not accept returns. As a retiree who is starting to sell off my stuff, the last thing I would want is returns. I'll give a refund if need be, but I certainly wouldn't want the extra expense and hassles of returns.

PMStamp - You are a unique seller; I would buy from you under those conditions.

I have yet to see any "no returns" sellers say anything about giving refunds. That would sound like an open invitation to a buyer to claim what he got was different from what was described. He gets a refund AND keeps the stamp because the seller doesn't want any returns. Bad business model, IMO.

San Jose? Maybe the seller is an ebay employee.

Its magic - bad magic

When I asked how these stamps were MNH when they were hinged to the page, the reply was (verbatim) "The stamp clean and very good condictoin."

Wasn't going to buy these any way, but just another one of those "oh geesh" moments.

Many people commonly misuse the term 'shade' when talking about color. To those who have studied colors specifically use the term 'shade' to means a darker value of a color and 'tint' to mean lighter value of the same color.

The term 'mint' is often used by non-stamp collectors to mean a stamp in great condition. But those who study stamps use the term 'mint' specifically to mean an unused stamp with gum.
Don

Don,

The Scott catalog only uses the term "mint" in connection with never hinged stamps that have full original gum. Unfortunately, ebay uses the term "mint" in connection with unused hinged original gum stamps and stamps that have lost their original gum. Abbreviations used by ebay in their "Quality" filter may not match dealer usage making the filter almost useless. Many dealers ignored the Quality item specific until it became mandatory. Older listings are not likely use any of the now required item specifics.

In Britain, "mint" means a stamp with original gum that has previously been hinged. In France, "neuf" means the same thing. Scott's usage is not universal.

I see "Unmounted Mint" a lot in GB auction descriptions.

The term "mint", as we see, can have different meanings, but the designator "NH" is unambiguous--no way could the stamps in OP's photo be "MNH".

My take is that "mint" should unambiguously mean "as issued by the post office" (i.e., in mint condition), which for stamps issued with gum would be full undisturbed OG in NH condition (unmounted mint). Anything else I would consider to be "unused" with descriptors for the presence/absence/condition of gum.

Not everyone is a stamp collector, 'stamp laypeople' might simply use the term 'mint' to mean a stamp in good condition. This is the same way that 'color laypeople' misuse the word 'shade' when they actual mean another hue.
Don

Yes, "unmounted mint" is the GB term. Of course, unmounted mint or mint never hinged can be anything but "post office fresh" ... None of this matters much if you define your terms and then include any appropriate qualifiers, eg "unmounted mint, but toned" etc.