Watching The Rasdale Auction And My Head Is Spinning

stamps101: Roberta Bondar?

You have to believe the various stamp auction houses are looking at these results and also get feedback from their bidders ,maybe even read some chat room comments . They know their business .

Soon it will be time to resupply and find new inventory . For 20 years collectors have been doing a fine job selling off their excess on ebay and buying what they need for their active collection . We also seen in the past 30 years the disapperance of stamp stores and their messy back room inventory, so no huge inventory to break down .

So the question becomes where do they look for inventory . They don't want to get into a bidding war with other auction houses and lose out like Regency which was paying for inventory more than they can get and be profitable on auction sales .

Jogil,

No idea - I just stumbled upon that auction and it was a bit of a "umm what?" moment. I figure it was a deal for multiple things just using that auction to conduct it. Thoughts? Just seemed a bit high for some 465's lol

Oh I just googled who that is haha!

I ended up going 1 for 3. Thanks for the congrats, floortrader, but did not get the Mozambique lot. Did get #735, I think, the collection of Portuguese Ceres issues. At least my bid was higher than what it went for.

I think my concern, expressed earlier in the thread, on the Mozambique #6 being a reprint was probably well-founded. Looked at the Azores lot this morning; which I didn't bid on due to all the overprinted early issues, many of which I already have and with ISPP certs. As an aside, most of the Portuguese colonial collections seem to have come from the same consignor, based on the pages and the format.

Anyway, the Azores lot had an apparent really nice mint copy of #2. In the 2020 Scott Classic Specialized, a mint Azores #2 catalogs for $13,750, in italics. In the 2018 Mundifil catalog for Portugal, Azores, and Madeira, #2 catalogs for E16,000 to E19,000 depending on gum. At an auction this past May, Cherrystone sold a #2, with partial OG, for $7,500. That copy had a cert and had been signed by several other experts. So, the Rasdale #2 is very likely a reprint cataloging up to $42.50. Makes me wonder about some of the other early Azores overprints in that lot.

Re: Floortrader's last comment

Given that the dealer model has changed so much in recent years, with the shift to ebay sales, there's far less inventory than under the traditional bricks and mortar model, so as soon as there is any surge in demand there will be a much wilder swing in prices.

Covid has certainly brought a lot of people back to the hobby, and this is the result. While people might complain that they can no longer afford the stuff on their wants list, overall it has to be a good sign for the hobby.

I'm not aware of any evidence that Covid has brought people to the hobby, although it seems apparent that those already in it are spending more time and money on it.

GeoffHa --

I said that Covid had brought people BACK to the hobby, based on personal experience.
If there are new collectors I do not know.
I think most of the apparent 'new' collectors are people who collected before, had become inactive, and then rediscovered it during lockdown.
Certainly one auction house I know says he has lots of 'new' clients, but I doubt they are new to the hobby.

And will the renewed interest for those returning last once life returns to normal and they can once again go bowling, ballroom dancing, get that crazy tattoo on their bum and take in a pro sports game (should the team decide to actually play).

Got my boxes from Rasdale's yesterday .......got a lot of entertaintment and work in front of me . Check will go out today . Looking forward to the November auction .......Thanks Kevin and Kim .

I have 70 pounds of stuff that is supposed to arrive today - former show dealer postal history stock. will keep me busy for a while.

I think there will be a fair amount of that stuff going through houses for a while as show dealers decide that they don't want to do shows anymore (if and when shows start coming back in a meaningful way).

FWIW, I DO think that after the world gets back to normal, that the 'boom' we are seeing in the philatelic world will ease off significantly. I am sure most 'returners' will get back to their 'regular' lives - bowling, sports games, etc. The hobby may hang on to a few, though. At least I hope so. I guess we will see. Either way, I think this unusually boom is just that, and will end when the crisis (crises is probably more accurate) ends.

"WILL EASE OFF SIGNIFICANTLY " ---- Not if Our government keeps printing new money by the boat load .

RE: Inventory

I noticed recently, that "Noble Spirit" is now advertising heavily on craigslist (even out in the boonies of the NW where I live), looking for collections for sale, both big and small. This is not something he's been doing for long, so I assume because it is getting harder to supply the large amount of sales he seems to have.

I tried my luck on a few of the reference book lots and some of the supplies. One that had a bid of $38 on Friday, sold for over $200, another at $100 on Friday and went for over $400.
I picked up the lot I won on Sunday, and the woman at the front desk said the bidding was crazy the whole time.