Defect Definition By Seller

Since there is no uniform set of terms for describing all stamp conditions nor is there even a willingness to accurately use the few terms generally accepted throughout philately taking to task someone who's words you disagree with when you both are looking at the same photo is just....

How would you describe and what percentage of catalog would you pay for a faded stamp with each of four corners clipped off?

A. Trash
B. Space Filler
C. Major Damage
D. Minor Damage
E. Damage
F. Minor Defect
G. Defective
H. Who Cares
I. A Stamp Worth $8.3 Million in 2021 US Dollars

https://goscf.com/t/77634

I wonder what it would sell for in undamaged condition?

When it was sold from the Ferrary collection, George V declined to bid because he thiught it overpriced for its physical state. But I suspect that now, prospective buyers don't care about anything but the uniqueness, so the price wouldn't be any higher.

Dealer's response:
This is the reason for the photograph. While there may be disagreement on the defects to all the stamps in the lot, the price set should overcome any singular monetary loss.

My reply:
I just bought 800 different stamps for 10.75US$ with grades from mint to real minor default, so your reasoning for the low quality does not hold water. In another case the seller openly declared that the batch was "filler grade".
I'll pay you what I was obligated to, and leave proper feedback.

I just sold a larger, rather better Irish lot for £1.49. These really did look unprepossessing from the picture.

It appears that in some of these stamps MD = Mouse Defect...

I emailed the seller and inquired as to what the definition of "minor defect" was. Here is the response:

Perhaps beyond "minor defect" would be more than 50% of stamp missing.

Got his answer:

"Considering the expense before postage of less than a dollar, even for the stamps of Ireland, one should be pleased if one stamp proves desirable. As you stated, the photograph portrays the condition better than words can describe.

Most lots offered under a dollar, are curiosities. My expenses are usually over the cost. I put this type of item for auction, because in the rare event, hidden value is recognized."

Is there an expression in English "to climb a tree too high to get down from"? He is so convinced that he's right in every aspect.

The lot looked cheap and nasty, and is. I'm afraid I don't think you can really complain, and prolonging the complaint over 99c just seems pointless.

Since virtually anybody can sell on ebay, I go into it ASSUMING the person is, at best, a novice wrt selling stamps. On a large photo'ed lot, I will all but ignore the verbiage. I don't know if the verbiage comes from an honest, experienced stamp dealer, or a mental defective that had to look up how to spell 'stamp' for his post. A picture is worth a thousand words, and unless there are a thousand words of description, the photo trumps the words. One man's trash is another man's treasure, and you may well be dealing with someone who thinks his trash is treasure. Also, what you think is trash, may be just what someone else (another buyer) is looking for.

In the end:
- Photos trump words.
- The ebay feedback system is useless. This is too bad - there are plenty of great sellers that have worked incredibly hard to maintain 100%.
- Don't like how a deal turns out? Put the seller on your "I am not going to buy from this guy again" list.
- Like how a deal turns out? Put the seller on your Saved Sellers list.
- The day I get my tail wrapped around the axle over a few dollars is the day I need to re-evaluate my life choices. Life is too short to let minor things like a few $$$ to weigh too heavily on me.


ETA: Forgot to say - don't spend more with a new seller than you are willing to lose. Trust is earned, not automatic.

ETA2: I wish I could trust what sellers say about what they are selling. I know I cannot. There are a few sellers with which I have experience that I DO know I can trust. In general, though, nope.

mootermutt987, thank you for your detailed post. In principle, I agree.
The general mood in this thread was that the description indeed did not match the offered item.
I think that as buyers we have the need and the right to have an honest written description of the offered stamps, and not tiptoe around black lists and misleading offers.
True, I wasn't careful enough.
Yet, if we the buyers' team up, with detailed feedback and complaints to ebay that we want honest descriptions, we can make a difference, and turn places like ebay safer for us.
I want dealers to think twice before they try to make an extra buck from trash stamps. I think we can achieve that, in teamwork of buyers.

I have bought my share of $1 lots on ebay. My expectations are exactly -0-. So.... the seller CAN'T not meet my expectations. The only way I would put a negative feedback on such a transaction would be if the seller took some kind of crazy attitude with me. If I receive the lot and it is garbage, I chalk it up to a learning experience and move on - most likely, I would not leave any kind of feedback. If I am not receiving a lot after a few weeks, I will contact the seller to see if it was sent. At that point, the seller can say "yes, it was sent" or "no, I forgot, but it is going out tomorrow". If he jerks me around somehow, he gets a (-). That's about the only way I would leave a (-). None of this has anything to do with the description - I base my bid on the photo. If there is no photo (who even does that on ebay???) I will likely not bid. This is all about a $1 or $2 lot. When it starts to approach $10, then I handle things differently.

In the 25 years I have been buying on ebay (I spend perhaps $1000/year on 25-50 lots, but that varies widely), I have left maybe 5 negatives and maybe a couple of neutrals. Also, I have opted to not leave any feedback perhaps 10 or 20 times. I have walked away from 1000's (well, maybe 100's) of hinky looking lots that I might have bid on if there wasn't something fishy about it. For every 2 or 3 lots that I bid on, I probably walk away from another one where something made me uncomfortable. I am successful with my bids maybe 10% of the time, which is just fine. For those lots that I REALLY MUST have, I am successful maybe 75% of the time. I am picky, but I am picky up front. It makes my life easier.

There are "stock photos", where they are supposed to be representative of the stamps but not the same. I had one such deal where the stock photo showed mostly commemorative, but the batch was mostly small definitive.

ebay care? ebay do something? Stamps are an incredibly small fraction of their cash flow. They won't do anything. Look up the countless cartel threads. Buyers' rating lists of vendors have been equally ineffective. Who should run this ebay "description police"? LOL.

I don't know how many of the stamp collectors buy only stamps.
I bought stamps, and then magnifier, and then batteries for the magnifier, and then UV lamp, and tweezers, and frontline for my cats, and more. So stamp collectors are a market for more than stamps.

As for "running" it - no need to run it, just to share in forums and chats such events and how it was dealt with.