#720 Washington Stamp

I se this stamp in similar condition on ebay as selling for .99 to 6,799.00 (LOL) and SOLD at 3.95 to 300.00 to B/O accepted on 2500.00 listing (all recent sales)

Seems like a lot of big swing in pricing. Is there something about my 2 stamps that might make them not so redonkulous to ask 500.00 for the pair and love what I get?

People can ask anything they like for what they own. These stamps are extremely common, I used to give examples away when I volunteered with a kids group.

"There's a Sucker Born Every Minute"
-- P.T. Barnum

Or there are other reasons that an eBay seller will run up their own listings.

If you are sorting on 'Price' or on 'Sold', be very wary of the 'outlier' listings. Instead, look at the average or typical listings for a better feel for a stamps value.
Don

It's not always about the money. Sometimes it's about the stamps.

Do you think it likely that someone would really pay $300.00 for a stamp that has a CV of 25 cents?

Can I retire? LOL
At approximately 40 stamps per row, here's over 1400 copies of Scott 720.
In reality, they are hardly worth the postage to mail them to any buyer - or one might argue the 3 stock pages are worth more than the stamps they contain.

(Might there be some interesting plate varieties for the specialist? Possibly, but that's not my cup of tea.)

Gezadrummer, Common sense must prevail when using Ebay data for either the offering price or the sold amounts. Cherry-picking a outlier few listings does not create a true picture of value. There are reasons why a common-looking stamp can go big money ( a truly legitimate rare variety or various shenanigans). Similarly, why a rare stamp can go quite cheap. This comes from experience. Notice also that a lot of 128 used copies sold for $5 + $3 shipping (which is overpriced, imo.) Or a lot of 280 perfins on #720 with much duplication, sold for 6.99 with free shipping.

For Scott 720, printed in vast quantities (a billion or more, I suspect), it takes an extremely special copy (mint or used) to be worth anything. Run-of-the-mill copies such as yours and my 1400+ copies are a glut on the market.

Reminded me of this cartoon:

I can't seem to find a quantity issued, but there were 400 plates of 400 subjects each used to print them. So it's safe to assume that at least 5 billion and probably closer to 10 billion were issued. And there probably are a few nice plate varieties among those 3 stock cards.

I LOVE THE CARTOON. I am pretty new to all of this. I inherited THOUSANDS of stamps and not in any semblence of order. Literally suitcases full of them.. Makes my stepdad a stamp hoader more than a collector. But also he has a bunch of old never licked one, a few albums of them and sheets. I have not looked at those yet to speak of. I am having fun just organizing them and identifying them Learing a lot of cool stuff in the process. I appreciate everyones input!

Accumulator is classier.

To paint a very broad picture. First world countries like the US, Canada, Great Britain, much of Europe, with large & literate populations require lots of stamps for general commerce. So one is fairly safe to assume the most stamps since 1920 or 1930 from these countries will be mass-produced and nominal in value. (No, I don't need a list of the exceptions.) The fact that accumulations of thousands of these can be made in suitcase quantities speaks loudly. If you find 3 or 4 or 5 of something, the probability is extremely high that is is very common.

This points to the importance of obtaining a fairly recent Scott Specialized catalog and becoming familiar with it (especially the introductory pages) or alternatively becoming familiar with internet sites such as stampsmarter.com And lastly, obtaining the basic tools such as tongs, perforation gauge and watermark tray/fluid and building proficiency in all of these. It is a fun and rewarding hobby.

IMO never licked stamps are the bomb.

Well, seeing John's picture made me realize a few things!

1. I'm not the only one lining up hoards of definitive stamps! I'll be able to show the picture to my family members to prove that others do the same! Ha!

(My problem though is that I'm not sure what to do about it once it's all sorted. At least, I find it satisfying and almost therapeutic!)

2. I could downgrade from Vario pages to those card stock pages.

Thank you John! You made my day!