Advice Needed On US Stamps 326 Plate Block

Interesting, and understandable.
I was looking at some Ceylon earlies, from another thread here,
Auction listings.
Some of the earlier valuables, had comments like "repaired corner" etc.

Should I own this particular item, and the pieces matched, I would personally be happy considering it a "Repaired Plate Block"
even though it may not meet professional philatelic verbiage.

Agreed Rodney, but owning and selling it are two different things...

If it were mine, I'd list it as a block of four with extra salvage and make no further claims if I did not have evidence. I'd start it low, around $75, to generate interest. I think it will do at least $100 and who knows in this current crazy market it might go $125 or a bit more? It is just in the space between a block of four and a plate block; not sure if plate block collectors will want this and there is not a lot of block of four collectors. It might have the most interest in those who want a mint single and are eyeing selling the other three.
Don

Indeed, and heartily agree, Don, I was remiss in not adding that.
I may be a tad more lenient, and have in the sale preamble,
"Pieces may match, but not decisive".

I do have a picture of the original plate block. It was actually a PB of 8. I won't go into what happened between then and now but the selvedge with the plate number is original to the block of 4 per the attached picture.

It would be possible to reattach the selvedge as most of these operations are done with hinge remnants or collodion. Both in my opinion make the reconstructed block "hinged". Doing this and having it look "good" is another story... a difficult job for the amateur and not recommended. Say you get lucky and do a decent job reattaching... the Hinged PB value is $625. Say you get double lucky and realize 20% of CV for the reconstructed block. That is $125.

The better/easier route is offer up the NH block with 4 singles cataloging a total of $720. Gum looks relatively clean from the photo so getting 20% of that for the block does not seem out of school... especially if somebody does what Don suggests(buys one single and breaks up the block for single resale). Bottom line, is that this result is better than a hinged PB result... Include the selvedge and you might start the price a little higher especially if you can find somebody who wants to imagine that they have a cheap NH "plate block". That expands the playing field.

I would suggest fixed price listings because premium auction realizations usually accrue to known sellers. I buy plenty of plate block lots off of ebay from unknown sellers at decent sized discounts just because of the unknown factor(my opinion). So unless you have a solid record as a seller I would go fixed.

Bob

Are you a "net price" or "auction" type of person? Using ebay as an example, pricing a net price item takes care of itself. For an auction format, are you a "99 cents starter" who lets the market determine a final price or one who starts a lot near its final value? In other words, it is hard to provide meaningful advice without some background. What is your time-frame to move it, selling experience and philosophy?

Interesting to read all the avenues, possible for marketing.
Would it be OK to list with image of original Block?
Just to illustrate authenticity.




Agreed, every time I have tried with common stamp broken multiples, could never get it "quite right" no matter how I tried. (using hinges)

The separating value, is considerable, but for me, breaking up any block, is akin to having a fingernail across a blackboard.

And don't forget, when sold some dealer my sell three to those customers with want lists and put the other one in stock. Panes become multiples, multiples become smaller and singles stay single unless torn in parts. So goes philatelic entropy.

John Becker - I have some experience in selling on ebay. I have tried both, fixed price and auction with about equal success depending on the item in question.
I also tried a low starting price but found hat does not work well for small seller. It seems to work best for the larger sellers so I tend to set starting price closer to expectations.

I would NOT re-attach the selvage. If you do, the block will no longer be MNH. If the stamps are not MNH (they appear to be MNH from the photo), then a good re-attachment job might garner more $$$. To me, an MNH block of this era is worth more than an OG completely separated and re-attached PB.

Sell it as a block, include the selvage, and include a photo of the block with the selvage right next to it (like you did here, but better align the perfs). Unless, of course, you re-attach the selvage and sell it as an MNH PB --- you wouldn't be the first or only one to do so on ebay.