My Current Pet Grouse

I am the only one annoyed with ebay (and other auction) sellers who live in Canada, quote Unitrade catalogue prices in Canadian dollars for their items but then set their Buy It Now prices in US dollars.

What appears to be a reasonable discount on the catalogue price suddenly does not look so good at all.

Rant over

AQ

I live in the UK and use ebay quite a lot. I have found that prices from Canada are a lot cheaper than those from the US, especially for pre 1950 stamps.

I agree that Canadian vendors selling Canadian material should be selling in Canadian dollars. I can't think of any place in Canada other than ebay where domestic sales are conducted in foreign currencies.

GJP

It depends on the storefront, its capabilities and customer makeup. For example, Hipstamp does allow sellers to set a currency for each item listed, but for a seller with lots of items doing so would soon become a big logistical & accounting pain in the behind. More importantly, given that the large majority of HS customers are in the US compared to Canada, most vendors list all their material in USD - especially as US buyers have a strong preference for using USD as opposed to CAD. Delcampe, on the other hand, converts prices to the buyer's chosen currency, regardless of what currency the seller uses - certainly preferable IMO.

I live in the US but collect Canadian Stamps. I buy from different countries but I bid on ebay in US dollars. There is a customize button on ebay that allows me to view all auctions in US dollars and I use it to view the items I bid on so I know how much they will cost when I buy them. ebay automatically adjust the currency exchange, also. This is true for all foreign currencies here in the US.

It was not the technical side of it I was annoyed about but what appears to be a somewhat underhand way of quoting catalogue prices in C$ and the selling price in US$ a 30% difference.

AQ

Something similar that I experience involves Russian material that a lot of sellers catalog by either Zagorsky or Scott depending on which is higher. They do not make clear which they are using and mix it up like a shell game at times. Very confusing and very much a pain in the butt to figure out. In the end they price everything in US dollars as a percentage of CV.

Right, got you - agree that is annoying and misleading.

Even worse than that IMO is sellers quoting CV for MNH or VF stamps in a listing when the stamp is hinged or no gum, and in some cases, definitely not very fine.

I think the lesson here is to never rely on a catalog price quote that you can't verify on your own. Then you don't have to worry about claims made by the buyer.

My version of this issue is sellers who use foreign catalogs to calculate (MUCH) higher values for their materials, and then quote the catalog price in US dollars instead of the native currency for the catalog used. In some cases, the sellers use ficticious conversion rates including $1.60 US to 1 GBP. Ancient history to be devoutly placed into the nostalgia file.

IMHO the only ethical way to quote pricing from a foreign catalog is to mention the price in the local currency, e.g. Euros for Michel and Yvert. GBPs for Gibbons.

I ignore Catalogue price quotes entirely in the listings. I look at the image/images if they are clear images and preferably both sides of the stamp. I then determine what I would pay for it. If the starting price is extremely high I don't bid. Some sellers over value their offerings, and these I simply pass up. You will notice some offerings on ebay have been relisted for years with ridiculously high prices. Buyers need to be aware of current market value when purchasing. It is up to the individual to determine what he is willing to spend.

AH the good old days

And they keep turning up in the "new listings" emails from ebay.