Auction Problem With $5 Marshall

Anyone have advice for burned new hobbyist?

We were extremely disappointed from the business transaction with Golden Oaks Online Auction. The Director reviewed my Grandfather's collection the minimum expected would be $500, the only one even remotely in a tolerance range was lot 348 Legends of the West. The $5 Marshall stamp was believed to be valued between $1200-5000 and the hammer price was 130! We should have got it independently verified.

Many of the stamps were rushed into the July sale, which they said was not going to happen when the contract was at the end of June at a stamp show. We were told it would be in the August in person sale in Dallas and expect to come to see the stamp. We did not receive the promised catalogue of stamps. There was no communication after multiple attempts to email, call, and text the company. The only call was to ask for our address and email address, with no additional information, all information in the contract. We were sorely disappointed by the lack of professionalism in communication and estimating the valuation of stamps by long term professionals. I wish I had kept all of my Grandfather's collection and really wondering where the album, and Moraco stamps are? We were on the role with looking at the remainder of the stamps - just wish we could get back and started again to enjoy the hobby again.

Is this the sale? Perhaps you could pick out your items for us?

https://www.goldenoakonlineauctions...ng=1&sale=61

Looks to be lot #275.....
Sorry....but you need to better informed.
The is NO WAY that the stamp in question was going to realize $1200-$5k.
Even with a cert.....it seems it was described correctly with gum skip and inclusion on gum....

If it was lot 275, the catalogue value for Scott #480 MNH very fine is indeed $375, as the auction catalogue indicates. That stamp is only F-VF with gum skip and inclusion, so $130 is not totally unreasonable, given what stamps are selling for nowdays versus inflated catalogue values. The Scott #313, which is much more valuable, is a similar design but darker green, watermarked and different perforation, so you may have thought that your stamp was that version versus the much cheaper 480.

Is not Scott 313 a perf. 12, and Scott 480 a perf. 10 stamp?

NSK - yes, the stamp in lot 275 looks to be perf 10 so it's a 480, not a 313.

@Htown,

You might help people out by identifying which auction lot was your Marshall stamp. If, indeed, sheetguy2 identified it as lot 275, the person who told you it was worth $ 1,200 - $ 5,000 may not have had sufficient knowledge to identify your stamp correctly. Even if it is disappointing for you, it may give you some peace of mind that you did not get a bad deal on a very valuable stamp.

33% of catalogue price at auction when the stamp is not perfect is not a bad outcome, unless a stamp is extremely rare.

I agree $130 is a reasonable price. The average price for all the NH #480s sold on ebay in the last two months that we can see the prices for is $148.60 (there were two others sold for "Best Offer Accepted" so we don't know their price sold, but they were described as "VF/XF with cert" and "VF/XF+" so their prices don't compare to this F-VF example anyway). So $130 with minor faults (gum skip and inclusion) seems exactly right. Whoever told you the stamp was worth thousands of dollars was wrong and probably identified the stamp as a #313, which it is not, as others here have said.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/3461/i.htm...H&_dcat=3461

In this list from ebay there was a 480 "NH VF+" that sold in November for $113 and another 480 NH with PSE Certificate graded VF 80 that sold just this morning for $139.95 (coincidence?), so the buyer that paid $130 (plus 20% commission) for lot #275 at auction actually paid more for that lesser quality stamp than than this recently sold certified example.

As for the "rush" to list the items, this stamp and the Legends sheet are very common (standard) auction items and did not need any advanced research so they were very easy to add to the sale at the last minute. If it were a postal history item or a collection or something that would take longer to study and describe, those take longer. That's probably why your "album" and "Moraco" [sic] stamps did not show up in this auction, they needed more time to properly evaluate before offering for sale.

Had your #480 been listed out of place in an appendix, or listed without a photograph, then you would have a case for a "rush" job to get the stamp listed, but from what all I see here, they did you a favor of getting the stamps listed and sold sooner rather than later.

Also the "Legends" sheet, if that was Lot 348 that sold for $50 (plus 20% commission = $60), there are 4 copies right now for sale on ebay (also in sealed USPS envelope) available between $49.00 and $59.95, so again, someone could have bought the same item for less on ebay.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/265/i.html...IN=1&_sop=15

There are plenty of others listed for sale at higher prices, up to full catalog or more, but those are unlikely to sell at those prices.

There are plusses and minuses for buying and selling with a professional auction firm versus ebay. Regarding your experience,


I have bought multiple items from Golden Oak in multiple sales and have always received a top notch experience. In one instance that I needed to return an item they were very polite, professional, and apologetic. I have never sold anything through Golden Oak so I cannot comment about that side of the business, but if you browse the message boards you will find complaints about communication difficulties and slow payments from other well-known auction houses so it may just be a sign of the times.


I did not know Golden Oak even published a printed catalog of their sales anymore. I thought they were all digital. But they should have sent you a link to the PDF containing your items once the catalog was available. That is disappointing.

OP was relying on expertise of "director" to give estimate value. Perhaps OP would not have sold stamps if "director " gave accurate identification and estimate of value.

Stamp is worth what was paid at auction but I do feel bad for OP who was relying on a professional to give reasonable assessment of value. "Director" could have made a rookie mistake. Who knows?

I like the feedback on each auction house and if auction house "experts" make rookie mistakes, then recommend move on to another.

Thanks for posting

Did OP write the "Director" said a single stamp would make $ 500?
Did the director value the Marshall stamp at $ 1,200 - $ 5,000?

I am not reading that. Unless OP states so explicitly, this




just is "jumping to conclusions."

Good point… not sure . OP is the only one with answers

It sounds like he received expertise from the auction house regarding value of stamp but maybe he or she received bad advice from someone else or mis identified the stamp on their own

Right.
More details or clarification from the OP are needed.


No. OP said (implied) the entire collection would garner at least $500 --


Then,
Not clear. I don't think so --


How can the entire collection be worth $500 but one stamp be worth $1200-5000 ?

Perhaps the #480 stamp was mounted in the collection on the page for a #313 and the original owner had marked the catalog value of the #313 on the page. It would not be the first time this had happened to a wistful heir.

Maybe the conversation went, "If that stamp is really a mint #313, it could worth between $1200-5000 depending on whether it is hinged or NH or has any faults. But once we get it back to the office and measure the perforations and the watermark and discover that it is actually a #480, then it will be worth much less. As a whole, the entire collection is worth at least $500, maybe more, depending on what we find."

I do not know who the "Director" is. He/She may not be a US specialist, they may have a good general understanding of the entire world's stamps but that individual may not be able to identify at first glance the difference between a 1903 #313 and a 1917 #480. It is estimated there are over 400,000 different worldwide stamp designs. It is impossible for any one "expert" to know everything about everything.




Apologies to the OP Htown for nit-piking your words. We welcome your responses to continue the conversation, and truly sorry for your disappointment with the bad experience. This is supposed to be a fun hobby, not an aggravating one.

OP's experience is lamentable. But who fed OP's expectations remains unclear.

Again, I do not read "The $5 Marshall stamp was believed to be valued between $1200-5000 by the director."

You can also read this so the director valued the collection at $ 500 at least. And someone who remains unidentified - it might even be OP looked at The Swedish Tiger - believed the $5 Marshall stamp to be valued between $1200-5000.

Only OP can clarify who said or thought what.