Why Do You Think This Collection Sold For $1,230? Many Rare Stamps? Or Just Few Rare Stamps?

I would like to get the input from the more experienced US collectors why some collections sell for one or two hundred and this one sold for $1,000+

Are there few stamps in the collection that make it worth that much? Or it is just the collection as a whole?

Thanks!

The collection => https://www.ebay.com/itm/US-Fabulou...203043872177

One of the pages:

Hard to say why people buy what they do on e-bay. There are several damaged stamps, stamps mounted at random, and generally poor to fair condition. I would never place a serious bid on such a collection.

Pavlovian conditioning.

I see. From where does he get all those collections? Any clue?

I sell regularly on ebay but to a different clientele. If I sold that collection I'd probably get 1/2 as many bids and sell it for much less. I used to see Peter at Dutch Country and he would buy many many bulk items and take them in away in a truck. Don't get me wrong he works very hard and has built a good business but it's tough getting a bargain in his ebay auctions.

There is a stamp market in Dutch Country, PA?

One explanation is that there is a stamp in the space for Scott 613, and the buyer thinks they hit the jackpot.

Dutch Country is the name of a stamp auction house. Bulk lots are purchased at auction houses and then piecemealed out on ebay.

Uneducated buyers in a rush to waste cash.

The one on the right below???

Yes. Jackpot.

Not.

To run off on a tangent, here is some historic background to the Scott 613 numbering ...

This album was published in 1926, before the discovery of what we now call Scott 613.The old numbers for airmails C4, C5, and C6 were then 608, 609, and 610, respectively.
611 was the common perf 11 Harding
612 was the imperf Harding, and
613 was the common perf 10 Harding
Exactly how the stamps are mounted in the old album in this auction lot.

The airmails were separated c1930 and given numbers starting with 1500, and their original 608-610 numbers abandoned. The airmails finally got their "C" prefix c1940.

When the rare Harding variety was later discovered, it was first listed in the 1940s as 613B then in the time range of 1950-52 the 611, 612, 613, and 613B listings were shifted back by one and the rare Harding became the 613 as we call it today.

Moral of the story - Scott has changed some catalog numbers over the years.

Flash forward to today, yes someone might not realize the number shift and think the 613 slot is filled with the rare variety rather than the perf 10 version which used to have that Scott number, but not very likely.

Not even the right perf gauge for a 613. In fact, the album has it wrong (although maybe these were renumbered at some point in the past). 611 is the imperf ... I'm guessing that the stamp on the far right is actually 612.
Added: Ahah, I see Mr. Becker has the explanation.

I have purchased twice from Pav long ago when I needed hingeless albums and bought them because they contained a lot of stamps already - figured it was overall a better deal. On the positive side, there was lots of stamps there as often the mounts had two stamps tucked in. On the downside, ALL of the stamps in the higher value slots were incorrect. On the first purchase, I thought, "Hey, maybe that's how he got them and is selling it as is ...I'll give the benefit of the doubt". Unfortunately, the "fool me once" adage bit me as I bought the second one and it was very similarly presented. I had bought these quite far apart in time so I doubt they originated from the same lot given his sales volume so it struck me as somewhat "planted".

I can't blame a seller for beefing up a lot, and I still overall felt satisfied with the deals as the albums were nice and I did receive a lot of stamps. On the flip-side, I don't like feeling deceived, which is the taste I had in my mouth after, and so I no longer purchase from him. If the auction specifically said, "Extra stamps jammed into all the mounts, many will be mis-identified!" I would totally not hesitate to be a repeat customer purely due to honesty and disclosure, which I value more than a moderate "deal". To each their own...

If there is a gem somewhere in there that isn't readily seen...kudos to the buyer for seeing it if so. Now back to my regularly scheduled program of not finding gems in my collection..lol

Just read John's reply after I hit reply - good points! Admittedly, US isn't my wheelhouse so I appreciate that history lesson on those. When viewing US collections, I always do as Don has recommended - assume everything is the most common variety and start from there.

So far, this has been 100% accurate haha