Do You Trust It When Seller Says Stamp Lot Is Unchecked

I buy from ebay some times and often sellers list stamp lots as unchecked.

Just curious: do you all trust it at all? Would like to hear your input as either a buyer or a seller. Thanks!

Hahahaha, no. Why would I believe something like that? It's the philatelic equivalent to a used car salesman saying "it was owned by an old lady who only drove it to church."
Besides, if I buy a lot, I'm judging the fairness of the price based on what I can see, not on what I might find.

Uh, nope.

That said, there are several sellers that have nice material because it is oddball stuff (BOB, etc.) and they have no idea what they actually have in those areas.

For example, I collect revenues, and so I have looked at the pile through the revenue lens, and don't care too much about the rest of the "normal" material. So when I sell a lot, don't expect to find an R-31c or a C-3a. You may want to look at the other material because I am just looking to get it out of my way and move it on.

I pretty much assume these kinds of lots and material have been picked several times, and may be a lot of combined remainder lots someone else is trying move on.

An "unchecked" stamp lot is as close to a unicorn as you are likely to get. And if in the event a seller has not personally checked a lot you can bet that the previous one hundred owners have. Remember also that a "lot" can be an amalgamation of stamps that have been checked either individually or in previous groups and are now in yet another group. Most large ebay lots are made up of box lot auction purchases and stuff is just thrown together or broken out as necessary.

The only time an unchecked lot is actually unchecked, is if it is sold by JuJu. Otherwise, checked over, and over, and over again.

Floortrader to a customer ---- "What the heck are you crying about ? I sold you a unchecked lot, now enjoy it and shut up "

Customer ----- "You sold me a unchecked lot ,but nothing cataloged over a dollar "

Floortrader --- "What catalog are you using ?"

Customer --- "My 15 year old Scott catalog"

Floortrader ---" I see the problem ,what the problem is your clueless about stamps , did you price those Dutch East Indies perforations that Scott lacks ? Did you price those Venezuela air mails with Perf. Initials , those are some nice stamps you got , did you price those U.S. Plate Number coils that you think are regular common U.S. coils , did you see the Austrian stamp canceled in Palestine .Then there is 5 or 6 other things I put in that lot

Customer ---- No ,I was looking at my Scott Catalog

Floortrader --- " You stupid clown , go away before I slap you .

Actually, when a seller says the lot has been unchecked, I translate that as "I checked since I know there are varieties of some of these stamps that are worth a lot more than the stamp listed as the basic stamp in the catalogs."

The flip side to this coin are sellers who generally assume a stamp is the most valuable variety available, and you see this repeatedly in their listings. Kind of like the "Juju Master Class on ebay Stamp Scamming." (Take a little info you teased out of knowledgeable philatelists so you sound authoritative in your ebay lot descriptions)

There is actually a member here who sells on ebay and routinely finds the highest value SG variety and lists the stamps as those varieties. I know from experience, especially with KGVI varieties, that a number are simply incorrect. In this latter case, the seller really doesn't have to check the lots- they've already inflated the value as much as they can.

thank you all for replying and that's kind of confirmed my suspicions. Also thank you, floortrader, for a good laugh!

Depends upon the ebay seller.

There are truly unchecked lots sold by some. That is also why one seller's uncheck lots go for over $18.30 per pound for the 250 pound sold during the last 90 days (that is $5000 in three and seven pound lots). That price does not include the Priority Box shipping charges. See for yourself at ebay ID afewgoodstamps and yes his early lots, years ago went lower until the buyers realized how unchecked they were.

But yes, assumed checked until you see otherwise.

Edit:
Just to join the SCF Mod MOB, I will say that ALL stamps and ALL covers have been check when the very first collector deems the item or items worthy of saving.

I likewise sold a contractor's garbage bag of unchecked stamps with the promise of the type "A" 2 cent red Washington (599A type II and 634A) which I got from a long time dealer who only checked close enough to see they were 2 cent red Washingtons. Sold it at auction when I was bored from going through and picking out the type II hair. I did not throw the non-type IIs back in the contractor bag either. When viewing the bidders were invited to pull out a handful and check them.

Edited for mod/mob booboo.

Very nuanced.

When I see unchecked or "RARE" I just keep scrolling.
pat

As mentioned by some, at some point all of the stamps have likely been checked by someone. I have found some lots on ebay, though, that did not appear to be checked by the ebay seller, as not only key varieties, but key stamps and condition gems have been found. Same with covers.

HOWEVER, if the seller says "unchecked", I suspect "checked", but am sometimes surprised. ALWAYS bid on ONLY WHAT YOU SEE, and assume condition problems.

Don't confuse finding something "better" with the material being unchecked. One persons treasure can be another persons castaways.

Now that I've stopped laughing at floortraders post,

Funnily enough, it depends in the seller!

Rogdcam mentions unicorns. I bagged two of them in 2019. Too bad they weren't a breeding pair.......

That said, no unicorns prior, and none since.

I bagged a real unicorn one time and one time only years ago at Rasdale. Once in almost fifty years (with a couple of intermissions) of collecting. Have I made finds? Yes, but I still would not consider them to be unicorn status. Unicorn means hair stands on end and shock sets in. $300 for four cartons that contained in excess of $70,000 in solid cv. Yup, gold fever and stamp fever are real. If you average out the win with the duds though you always lose. You need to look at it as enjoyment and entertainment that you paid for like a movie ticket.

I have always look at "unchecked" as meaning unchecked in detail by the current seller but probably skimmed through. Cenratinly not unchecked by the previous owners.

I have always found the real bargings to on ebay etc are in single lots where the seller either does not know what they are selling or has missed something and there are enough of these to keep me happy.

AQ