Another Auction Question - Material Condition / Description

So this lot was described in part , as " On abt 100 Scott Natl album pages".... So I was a little surprised to find them all cut down the left side , pretty much all now too narrow to be repunched w/o hitting stamps. What a pain! There was not mention of the pages being on modified or cut pages and the only pictures in the listing were of the 2 pages included in slip covers in dealer cards. ugh...





PS - I know its only a cover page, but, I wish these guys would stop scribbling all over the lots - especially in black marks-a-lot

Is there a question here? Yeah, that's annoying that the seller didn't disclose the condition of the pages. I guess they figure most people are buying remainder collections for the stamps, not to start building a new collection around, so the condition of the album pages doesn't matter to them.

Reminds me of the old time collections that I see where someone trimmed down the edges of a wide-selvedge #630 White Plains souvenir sheet to fit into a mount. Aargh.

I have no idea why this is posted. It is easy to see in the picture that the top page is cut?


Peter

That's the OP's picture, is it not? Doesn't mean that the auction listing came with a picture.

Good point - I didn't even think to measure the top! I just figured when it said what it did in the description, I could slip them in my album where needed until I sort them more. The picture is one I took on receipt. They had no pictures of the album pages - only the above description.

Oops - I forgot the question - how much do you rely on descriptions? I mean , if the pages are cut and not disclosed, what then? I at least try to put pages where they belong in an album or at least a binder. Here , that makes it difficult with the risk of punching a hole through a stamp close to the margin. Anyhow, price adjusted by auction house which will help in cover my time to make adjustments and buy a legal sized or larger hole punch.

With ebay listings and descriptions; I set my expectations by assuming the worse and hoping for better.
Don

I don't know why people destroy part of what they are selling.

I often want extra pages for some reason or another. Maybe I want an extra page to display variants. Or my page is messed up because it had too many mounts removed.

There is no need to mark up a page with pen or marker as a dealer goes over it to assess value. Nor do you need to trim the page down. doing so may be ther difference between me bidding or not.

I agree with the points about the dealer marking up the pages. Besides the cover page damage, sometimes they tally prices on every page (in pen), or even mark "n/c" or put a big X underneath fake coils or other suspicious items that they did not count in the total catalog value. I see their reasoning, but I would prefer they used removable post-it notes or other low-impact notations so that the pages could be re-used if desired.

I doubt it was the dealer who trimmed the pages down. That seems like a lot of work, and for what purpose? National pages are already small enough to fit into a medium flat-rate box, so it's not like cutting them down would save any significant postage. The collector may have cut them down to fit into vinyl sheet protector pages to help keep the stamps safe. Especially if they mounted stamps on both sides of the pages. Who knows what collectors will do or why, but I find that more likely than the seller. Regardless, the seller should have mentioned they were cut down, or not even said "National" pages at all because that implies a specific size and hole punch shape which is nonexistent on these pages. Sorry to hear of your troubles, I hope there are enough useful stamps in there to make the lot worthwhile.

Only bid on what you can see, not what you hope will be in there. Beware of flowery language in the descriptions. If it says "outstanding quality collection", make sure the photos back up that assertion.

Very, very few collections are bought to continue the collection. Old album pages are usually faded, soiled with hinge marks and edge toned.

Typical buyers harvest the best that remains. Clearly a dealer has tabled that at a show to identify it as his property, attract a buyer and benchmark its value. I agree an over marked page is a worthless eyesore.

Right or wrong, in my experience, pages routinely come molested in some fashion or another, when the auction isn't for "pages." Folded, cut down, cut into strips, even. Often to fit the envelope.

I once received double-sided pages folded like origami swans - multiple folds between rows and columns. How they missed creasing a perf is beyond me.

If the pages are material to you, you have to ask (and be prepared for a higher postage quote).

My 2d.

Auction listing described "Owner's CV 5,000'. An older set. I forget the name of the mounts, but the kind that every time you turn a page, the stamps slide out... Sealed at top & bottom, open on the sides. Maybe a dealer getting rid of stuff?? Who knows why the pages were cut - only the originator. Just a not so nice surprise thats all. I wouldn't want to be the one sliding these pages into slip covers thats for sure!

Another danger to look for are "coffin mounts", hermetically sealed on all four sides that take an exacto knife and careful hands to rescue the stamps from.

Just an observation but album pages for use are usually listed in the Publications and Supplies headings. Individual or groups of stamps are listed in the various OTHER categories. No seller of used albums will promise all pages are present and perfect for reuse.

On the other hand some high quality stock books can be had cheaply when sold continuing stamps of little interest to many folks. That is when you low ball for the album and toss the stamps when it arrives.

In both of the above cases, these are STAMP DEALERS selling stamps, not SUPPLY DEALERS selling supplies. Nor do supply dealers sell supplies with premounted stamps.

Generally speaking supplies cost a lot of money new but carry zero value when you are selling a group of stamps or collections to a stamp dealer.

While this has nothing to do with description and more of condition - which is "missing" because the stamp is not there! Still going through a large lot auction purchase and came across the below. Nice card and copy, but no stamp! Can't but chuckle at this point.

That would have been a nice item.