Apparently Greed Causes Blindness (Another Ebay Travesty From Nystamps)

Different return policies for domestic vs. international shipments. You're in Canada; I'm in the U.S., as is the seller.

Over past 2-3 years I've returned 2 items out of 25 or so sales. Last month, I bought the same version of a stamp from them (my fault) a few days apart. I went through ebay's return system but ebay wanted ~$5 postage used. It was only a $10 stamp so I contacted nystamps and they said just mail it back reg postage for refund. No problems & got refund within a week.

I only buy cheaper items (<$50) from them so risk is low. I understand frustration if more money was involved.

I try to not support sellers who I feel are unhealthy to the hobby.
Don

The problem here is not the sellers return policy. It is the lack of knowledge on the part of the buyer who is paying good money for garbage; why would this buyer want to return this item when he or she happily made the purchase?

They came here to show off their new prize and saw this thread?

So, a lot of individuals here are complaining about the misidentifications by nystamps. I have made a number of purchases from nystamps that were misidentified. These purchases were made at bargain prices. My knowledge paid off and the ignorance of other ebay buyers was to my advantage.

I could say the same thing about my experience at stamp bourses over the past five decades. I have made many bargain purchases because of my knowledge and the ignorance of some of the dealers.

Agree that we can point out the ignorant dealers, but I will certainly continue to peruse their offerings!

Understood Ron.
What would you say is the percentage of misidentified material offered by sellers in terms of;
- percentage of material that is misidentified in favor of the seller?
- percentage of material that is misidentified in favor of the buyer?
Don

All,
I think we can agree that many here have the experience to pick out worthwhile material from the sea of all the stamps and covers offered for sale.
I think that we are in agreement that education and experience are important in making good buying decisions.

So is the advice to new and/or less experienced hobbyists to avoid buying for the first year(s) they are in the hobby until they gain the knowledge needed to navigate items being offered for sale?
Don

Part of the purpose of my original post was to vent, as it is a multi-faceted problem with no easily-implemented solution:

1. Unknowledgeable buyers not knowing what it is they are buying (and taking what the seller is claiming at face value).

2. Possibly knowledgeable buyers allowing greed to overcome logic (and/or eyesight).

3. Sellers not knowing enough about what it is they are selling to be able to determine whether it is genuine before offering it.

4. Sellers knowing full well the item is bogus, but not caring one whit, preferring to "throw it against the wall and see if it will stick"

What could be occurring could be any one of these problems... each with a different possible or improbable solution. I would also posit the following extremely unlikely scenario:

5. Buyer knows that it is bogus, but wants it as a reference item anyway.

I added the last one, because there have been items that I have purchased and paid non-nominal amounts for, that I knew going into the proposition that the item was not what it was claimed to be, but I wanted it for my collection anyway.

All,
I agree that with Dan that this a multifaceted issue. Or to put another way, this community is similar to a local philatelic club meeting that has collectors of every type and every experience level. The threads here, much like local club presentations, can contain a wide spectrum of information. The spectrum can range from beginner level topic like 'I just inherited a collection and do not know where to start' all the way to advanced, highly specialized information. And like local clubs, those who are not as experienced typically are keeping their heads down. I would estimate that the vast majority of viewers (80%?) in every thread are not posting but rather lurking and learning. Most often those that are actively posting are those with the confidence that comes with significant experience.

I would also suggest that threads that concern 'buying and selling' cross the entire spectrum of experience levels. And that perhaps unlike 'activity' hobbies such as playing bridge, fishing, needlepoint, photography, and golf; 'collecting' hobbies such as philately have a much greater dependency upon buying decisions. Expanding one's collection almost implicitly implies securing more material and understanding values.

I think this is why it is important to understand that the vast majority of people who read our 'buying and selling' posts are not highly experienced. This is why threads and posts that demonstrate just how hard it is to pick though the listings and offerings is the 'message' that helps the majority of readers in this community (or at your local, general club meeting). I think this is also why it is helpful to emphasize the importance of understanding who you are buying from and why building a solid trust relationship with your purchasing sources is very desirable.
Don

This thread came to mind when I saw a stamp that sold on ebay earlier this week. It was a MNH copy of Austria, Scott No. 380, the scarce Engelbert Dollfuss commemorative 10 Schilling stamp issued in 1936. It was being sold by a dealer in the UK, and although the description included some terms I might not necessarily agree with: WWII, Nazi, Third Reich (the stamp was issued before the 1938 takeover of Austria), it was also described as a reproduction. The word Reproduction was in light blue fairly large print italics, so the dealer wasn't trying to pull a fast one. Typically, reproductions of rare and therefore expensive stamps might sell for 1% of the price of a genuine one. You can pick up a repro of the 1929 Great Britain one pound Postal Union Congress stamp for $3.99, for example. But this one, astonishingly went for 82 pounds, or about $98. The stamp had 26 bids and about 5 different bidders. I wonder if the final bidder realizes what he was getting. I wonder if revenuecollector's scenario #2, "possibly knowledgeable buyers allowing greed to overcome logic", is the factor. I couldn't get a link to this sale but the same dealer has at least one more that's up for bid right now, just look for Austria Dollfuss and you'll probably be able to find it

I will buy "fake" items because I have an interest in collecting counterfeit postal stuff, NONE of it goes into albums with intent to fraudulently portray a "complete" country collection....it has its OWN album. An item altered like this, I would pass on...