Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
The approval books were designed to take the load of 5 and 10 cent lots off of the auction. That has not happened. The same sellers of cheaper stamps still sell on the auction because it is the sales vehicle they feel most comfortable with. I have no problem with that and believe that a member should be able to sell their stamps where they feel the most comfortable. So the original reason for approval system has not worked. However, the approval system originally grew and evolved into something different than the designers had envisioned. While it did not remove the cheaper stamps from the auction, it became a very popular stamp sales system. In fact, early on it became the premier selling system. Stamporama overall sales and membership greatly increased with the implementation of the approval system. I don’t believe anyone would disagree with that. I liken the approval system to a hairy ugly caterpillar that was designed to take cheap lots off of the Auction but then morphed into a beautiful butterfly, i.e., a lean mean buying and selling machine. I would like to add that the members who buy stamps have already voted. They voted for the approval system as it originally existed with their pocketbooks. If I am not mistaken the sales from approval books exceed those auction sales.
I will state facts to prove my points on reducing the 100 stamp limit. There is a reason for the approval system’s phenomenal growth. It is a much more user time efficient buying mechanism for the stamps than is the auction. Here are some facts. Last November I was looking for some Belgian Railway and Parcel Post stamps. I went to the auction and found 738 items listed under the Other Western Europe Category. Then to find the Belgian Railway and Parcel Post stamps you have to scroll through the entire 738 items. I did that and it took me 5 minutes and 35 seconds to scroll through all 738 items. I found no Railway and Parcel Post stamps.
I tried the auction search. I searched for Belgium Railway stamps. I got two commemorative stamps with pictures of trains, not Belgian Railway stamps. I searched for Belgium Parcel Post stamps and also got nothing. To find anything with search you have to use the exact terminology that the seller used. So the auction search is sort of hit or miss. Granted that there were no Railway stamps on the auction but I had to look to find out.
I then tried the same scenario on the approval system. You bring up the list of approval categories and click on Other Western Europe and a page with 85 books pops up. You click on “Title†in the heading and the computer sorts the books in alphabetical order by title. Since almost all book titles start with country name you have all books sorted in alphabetical country order. A quick scroll down to the “Bâ€s and I found 11 books of Belgium. A quick glance and I found 1 book with BOB stamps in the title. So in approximately 10 seconds and 3 clicks of the mouse I had a book open was searching for railway stamps. I can search a 20 Page book in about a minute and 15 seconds. So in 1 minute and 25 seconds I had completed my search. That means the search time on approvals is just a fraction of the time required for an auction search. Although I found a number of railway or parcel post stamps I did not find the stamps that I needed. The point being that my approval search took 1 minute and 25 second whereas my auction search took 5 minutes and 35 seconds.
So where should the stamp limit of an approval book be set. I think that it should be set on a technical basis. That is, where the the code size of a book and its pages matches the code size of a certain number of auction lots. I would think that the lines of code to run a book are slightly larger the code to run an auction item. I would think that an approval book of 10 items would take about the same disk space and computer run time as would 10 auction lots. If a book of 10 items (stamps) will run as fast as 10 auction lots, then the stamp limit should be 10 stamps. Computer efficiency, not an arbitrary number, should be the limiting factor on the number of stamps in a book.
I have sold on the Stamporama auction in the past. My percentage of lots sold averaged about 5% of lots entered. Before the guidelines became rules I had entered over 200 approval books. My sales percentages ran approximately 60% per book, a difference of night and day. Most of my books contained MNH stamps. Due to the great variance in prices in MNH material, the vast majority of my books contained less than 100 stamps. You cannot sell medium and higher priced items in approval books today. They vary too much in price to fit 100 stamps in 24 one price pages.
A bit more on the auction. The auction is an auction in name only. As I was scrolling through the 738 items in the Other Western Europe category I counted just 6 items out of 738 that had more than one bid. That means that .88% would be sold by auction, i.e., multiple bids. The other 99.12% actually default, in reality, to just being a fixed price sale since they would be sold with only one bid. The auction is an auction in name only. In reality it is a fixed price sale system just like the approval books. The difference, the approval system is user time efficient, i.e., it takes less time to find what you want and the auction wastes more of your precious time that you have to “play†with your stamps. That is the bottom line. The approval system is buyer time efficient and the auction is what people would call a dog in computer lingo. It takes much, much more time to find what you need on the auction.
Could reducing or removing limits cause more books to be uploaded than our allotted disk space allow? Possibly. However, there are ways to control the amount of books. If it became necessary we could put a limit on the number of books one member could have online at any one time. Another way to limit books is to have a mandatory retirement time. That time could be 6 months, 9 months or 1 year at the very longest. The time could be set by the approval book committee with input from the membership. Tim could set up a program that would automatically retire books when they reached their time limit. Some people like to collect sale statistics and others save the scans of stamps that did not sell to use them in future books. Then at a time (1 month or 2 months) after the books are retired a program could automatically delete the retired book. Thus the system could automatically keep the system clean with no help needed from volunteers or Tim. Today you can find a few books that have been online over a year. A mandatory retirement system would fix that.
I would like to read the facts from the mandatory 100 stamp backers on how their 100 stamp limit has enhanced the members buying experience. What improvement does the 100 stamp limit bring to Stamporama? I would say none. It severely limits medium to higher priced material from being listed in approval books and I have seen no decrease in cheaper auction lots.
If we must have the 100 stamp rule coud we modify it to say 100 stamps or 24 pages? Granted you could get a book of 24 cheap stamps but I think that most people would have more than 24 cheap stamps in a book. However, you could put a $20.00 or some minimum total value for the 24 page book to keep out a 24 page book of all cheap stamps. Is there any wiggle room in the 100 stamp limit?
Sorry for the book but I just wanted to present what I believe would be a great improvement to the Stamporama membership, reducing or eliminating the stamp limit on approval books. Granted, better material can be listed in the auction but it can only be there for 14 days max if I am correct. You have to either cut your prices or you have to constantly relist it for it to be available more than 14 days. I also believe that we could “capture†more new members from the vast majority of visitors we get if we had long term listings (approval books) with higher priced material in them. Then they could see the better material for 6, 9 or 12 months instead of just 14 days. If a visitor were looking for a MNH U.S. plate block of 834 and it was listed on auction, if he did not visit during the 14 days it was on the auction, we would lose him as a member. If the 834 was in an approval book, the window to capture a new member would be 6 months to 1 year, depending on the time limit set. I believe that approval books with better stamps listed will capture far more members than if they are listed in 14 day auctions, the longest time for an auction lot.
I rest my case. Whatever happens happens and I will go with the majority. I have no hard feeling against anyone. I just think the 100 stamp rule for approval books is a detriment, not a benefit for Stamporama members and potential members (visiting guests). What do you think?
James M. McCain
Cactusjack
10 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
I agree with you.
I've been buying from approval books for a while, and just started selling from them last week, so I've had experience from the buyer's side and am beginning to have insight into the creation and assembly process from the seller's perspective.
Basically, the lower the minimum requirement, the more specific the title can be, and thus better able to match up buyer and seller.
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
Hi Everyone;
Cactusjack said:
"It severely limits medium to higher priced material from being listed in approval books
and I have seen no decrease in cheaper auction lots."
Medium to higher priced material belongs in auctions, cheaper stamps, if you have enough to
meet the minimum stamp rule belong in approvals.
I'm just not seeing this as a big problem.
Just Chillin'....
TuskenRaider
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
I read with interest the whole post, and it seems to me that you are pleading for a review of the AUCTION platform, more than one of the 100 stamp rule of Approvals, because what you want is to make Approval Books handle stamps that Auctions do not handle well for you (and all sellers who list on Auctions).
You are trying to make your high valued, one stamp per page (each at its own price) fit the Approval Book platform, which it was NEVER set up to accomodate.
So, rather that force fit it to Approvals, I say, why not take a good look at what is wrong with Auctions.
Now just a few words about Approvals. It was designed for the lower cost stamps to facilitate their trading among club members. It was hoped that it would attract the auction sellers who list very low cost stamps in Auctions, but it was clear from day one that it would not draw them all. It was not designed as a business proposition for dealers to sell low cost stamps. (Any one who has put books together can testify that it would not make financial sense). Above all, it was intended to facilitate the trading of lower valued stamps among members, and help them dispose of their duplicates.
That is why we set up a single price/page for every item on the page. If you are going to price stamps exactly by the penny one at a time and one per page, it is NOT the goal of Approval...as we want to encourage pricing that encourages trading among members and not a commercial platform. The limit of 100 stamps was discussed long and hard..and it was a compromise between those who wanted a much bigger limit and those who wanted none. Approval are BOOKS of a certain SIZE modelled on the APPROVAL Books of the APS. This was always what guided the design team, and we purposely did not allow individual pricing of each stamp. Trying to do it by listing one stamp per page is highjacking the whole concept. The minimum size is intended to make it efficient for collectors to go through a sizeable number of stamps in a collectable topic, without wasting time (as you described in Auctions, going from one listing to another). Given that you can have duplication, I think the 100 stamp limit is reasonable and quite frankly a bit low!
There are exceptions allowed and one can ask the moderator (myself, or any one else who cares to take the job) for a variance in the 100 stamp rule....I can think for example of a narrow subject, or a country with limited stamps, where the rule could and should be waved...but it is an exception that has to be requested. We already wave the rule for covers, sets, s/s etc...
Now for AUCTIONS. I have been listing my higher priced items under Auctions recently and I agree with ALL your comments. I can even make more remarks and suggest many changes that would improve the experience...which currently is quite disappointing..from a seller standpoint. The problem is NOT with Approval Books, but with Auctions. I would suggest that we revisit this, and I will start a dedicated topic for this discussion, so that it gets its proper platform, and does not muddy this discussion on Approvals.
rrr...
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
" In most cases the titles of approval books are too broad - which is another consequence of the 100-stamp requirement."
I agree. I have been asking all who list new Approval Books to provide more details in their titles, so that it will help a potential buyer know what is being offered just from the title, without having to open the book.
But the title size is limited, so one has to be efficient. The 100 stamp limit has in most cases little to do with the title being too vague. And you do not expect individual stamp listing in a book cover page..the cover is the title! Now on Auctions, I think the title could be as specific as you are suggesting, to enhance the search function.
rrr...
Login to Like
this post
From CactusJack:
"Another way to limit books is to have a mandatory retirement time. That time could be 6 months, 9 months or 1 year at the very longest. The time could be set by the approval book committee with input from the membership. Tim could set up a program that would automatically retire books when they reached their time limit."
Another good idea which I have advocated. Automatic Approval Book retirement after
1. A given duration (6 months, 9 months, 1 year)
2. A certain level of depletion. (70%, 80%, 90%) (but only after a minimum time of say several (3?) months.
It is a fact that Approvals get very high interest levels when posted, and that purchases slowly vane, but never die out completely with time, or with percentage of items sold. It is all about efficiency for the buyer!
This has been discussed before. No decision has been taken. While a compromise decision will not please everyone, isn't it time to set up a rule on automatic book retirement? Then Tim can implement it, when he has some free time.
rrr
Login to Like
this post
One thing that would make it easier when buying through the approvals would be if the sold out pages did not appear to the buyer. That will cut down on the time taken to look for stamps in that area. They do have to appear to the sellers, of course.
4 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
"Approval are BOOKS of a certain SIZE modelled on the APPROVAL Books of the APS."
A good start perhaps, but as many have noted, SOR Approvals are nothing like APS approvals, so why should the SOR format continue to be guided by something it is not?
"Above all, it was intended to facilitate the trading of lower valued stamps among members, and help them dispose of their duplicates."
Then it does a poor job. I have a couple hundred glassines with duplicate or unwanted stamps sorted by country, but few have anywhere near 100 stamps in them. Mixing used and unused together would bring some closer to 100, but would result in a broader and thus less successful book. The same would be true of combining countries to try to reach the minimum.
Quick estimate: 250 glassines times perhaps 40 stamps per glassine equals about 10,000 stamps that might suddenly appear in the approvals system (just from me) if the limit was relaxed.
Chris
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
Each approval book does not have to be just one country. For example, you can group countries from the same geographic area (East Europe, South America, Oceania, etc.), the same colonial group (British, Spanish, French, etc.). I'm sure you could put together books using your duplicates that way.
Login to Like
this post
Umm, I believe I said that, and said it would result in a broader, less-successful book, but if that's what you're encouraging, who am I to fight mediocrity?
Chris
Login to Like
this post
In my experience books that combine countries or group used and mint together are just as successful as those that are very strictly / narrowly defined. Or even more so. There just is no predicting. What counts is interesting stamps at good prices
3 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
It is much more efficient to list things in the approval system. I can list a 100 stamp approval book in about the time it takes me to list 10 auction lots. So in reality it takes about 10 times longer to list action lots than to create approval books. The auction wastes a lot of the seller's time. And as I discussed in my original posting, the search time to find what you want to buy as a buyer is far faster with the approval system than with the auction. So the approval system wins hands down in both selling and buying efficiency.
A couple of more examples as to why I think that the approval system is superior to the auction. In December of last year I listed 12 Faroe Island used stamps for 14 days on the auction. In those 14 days they received zero views, that is, no one even looked at them. About a week later I entered an approval book of just greater than 100 used Faroe Island stamps. I included the 12 Faroe Islands stamps that were previously in the auction. 10 of the 12 stamps that were previously in the auction sold within the first 36 hours.
Another example: do a current auction search on Great Britain used stampsÂ. The auction search returns zero lots. Wouldn't you think that a visitor would probably use that search criteria if he was specifically looking for Great Britain used? If you do a search on just Great Britain you still get zero lots. Now if you go straight to the Category List you will find that Great Britain has 447 lots. The search function of the auction is not very useful at all to view limited items.
Stamporama has to compete with all Internet auctions, both big (eBay, Delcampe, etc.) and small (eBid, Stampstogo, etc.). We also have to compete with other stamp societies like APS and sites for collectors of certain countries, topics, etc. Many of those sites also have stamp sales. I think that Stamporama is one of the few, if not the only site with online approval books. I believe if we tweak and tune up the approval system I believe that we can increase our membership dramatically if we can offer reasonably priced stamps in a supper efficient selling platform. That platform is the approval system. That is my firm belief.
The approval system (if tweaked) is by far and away the best sales system and would set us apart in the online stamping community. Most everybody has auctions, few have approval systems.
Just my 2 cents worth.
James M. McCain
Cactusjack
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
I have to add my two cents here...
Stamporama is NOT EBay, it is NOT BidStart or Delcampe. IT IS A CLUB FOR MEMBERS!
We might as well start charging commissions like the others if you want the Approvals/Auctions to run like them.
I am tired of people complaining when the leadership have done so much to make this a great place, just because it doesn't do what THEY want.
The Approvals WORK! I have not seen so much transactions going on because it precisely fills a niche for the members. Like Ralph, I think the auctions can be helped, and I think the new option for members to advertise through the DB will help. BOB
10 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
Forgive my ignorance, but don't APS approval books have different prices for each stamp in them? If the goal was to model SOR approval books after APS approval books, then why must each page have the same price?
I'm just curious.
Another thing is why couldn't actual physical approval books be available for circulation? That's another topic I guess.
Adam
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
I'm sure that physical approval books would work fine. All a seller would need to do is make up an approval book, find someone in SOR who would be interested in buying from that book, mail it to the individual and wait for it to come back with payment for items kept. Or SOR can hire a couple of people to act as a clearinghouse. Though, that would probably mean we'll need to set up some kind of dues structure for all members.
Seriously, I don't think this would work for SOR. The virtual approval books work fine for me. And thanks SOR for making them possible!
Tad
3 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
Physical approval books are fine if one wants to do it member to member. The seller takes all the risk if they don't come back. If SOR were to accept and circulate physical approval books, that would take more than just hiring someone to direct the distribution of the books. SOR would be liable to the sellers if the books were lost, stolen or damaged. Not feasible.
The SOR approval books are not an exact version of the APS sales books. The SOR system is based on them, but not identical to them. No other web site has this type of system. It is very ingenious, in my opinion.
One price per approval book page is necessary because the programming needed to permit individual pricing per stamp would be very extensive.
Chris - sorry, I missed that in your post. If having multiple countries in an approval book isn't your cup of tea, that's your choice. No one is forced to do that. The stamps don't come to any harm sitting in glassines. Mediocrity has nothing to do with it.
Bob - The subject comes up every now and then as people work the sales systems and think of possible enhancements or improvements. I don't see any harm in them discussing what they think. A club by its nature is inclusive. Thoughts and ideas should never be censored or discouraged from being expressed. I think everyone knows that ideas may or may not be acted upon, or the ideas might get discussed behind the scenes for a time to weigh their merits.
Login to Like
this post
Just my two cents.. I have been selling here via approval books since October. I have sold over 11,000 stamps already. These are either duplicates of collections I have or I have been selling off collections my father had accumulated over his lifetime that I just am not collecting myself. I think the current process works well and I have no issue with the 100 stamp limit. I always try to go with something a little higher. When I have stamps from some countries that do not meet the 100 count limit - I have successfully merged them with other similar countries. (example - I only had a small amount of stamps from Dominican Republic and a small amount from Haiti. Together I had enough for a nice book and the stamps have sold well). When I have a handful of stamps that have a higher catalog value I add a few pages of higher priced items to the same book with the lower priced items (even if I have to leave portions of the page blank). What I started to do after a period of time is reduce the prices of the what is left and after another short period I simply retire (Delete) the book. In a few cases I have taken the left overs and put them up as a lot in an Auction and have sold them off that way. My bottom line - Don't Fix Something That Is Not Broken !
9 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
Well, I have to answer some of the statements generated by my approval book suggestion. I apologize. I did not make myself clear when mentioning eBay, Delcampe, etc. While in competition with them we can beat them by offering something they do not offer and that is the approval sales. In no way was I suggesting that we be more like them. I meant to suggest just the opposite, that we need to differentiate ourselves more, one that would support better sets and singles. I believe that that differentiation could be expanded with better stamps and an improved approval system. I hope that I just cleared up what I was trying to suggest. In no way would I ever suggest commissions. By the way, adding commissions was not even mention by me at all in the discussion. I would highly object to commissions.
Yes, the approvals work but I was suggesting that I believe that they can work even better. And no, I don’t think the auction can be helped. Its efficiency is doomed due to its design. To really improve the auction I believe that it would take a total rewrite. To improve the auction search might even require a major change to the database. Either one would be an enormous task.
Once again I will state the facts as to why I believe the 100 stamp rule should be relaxed. First and foremost the rule was implemented to remove the cheaper stamps that are weighing down the auction. The 100 stamp rule was a total failure in cleaning up the auction. There are still tons of cheaper material in the auction. The message has been for sellers to put better items on the auction. That is also been a failure. Better material has mostly disappeared from both the auction and approval books. Entering auction lots is 90% more time inefficient than entering the stamps in an approval book. Again, I can upload one 100 page approval book in the time it takes to upload 10 auction lots. That is a 10 to 1 ratio. My sales from my approval books ran at 60% in the past. My sales from auction lots ran at 5%. Therefore I would probably be lucky to sell 5% of my auction lots which took 10 times as long to enter. That just doesn’t make any sense. It is that time inefficient entry and diamal sales is the major reason that there are currently so few better items in the auction.
One of the major ways Stamporama get members is visitors wanting to buy stamps offered on Stamporama. The more stamps and better stamps that they have to view, the more likely we are to pick them up as new members. To purchase stamps a visitor has to join the club.
By the way, the super efficient search in the approval book system is actually a sort. By clicking on Title at the top of the Category List in the approval system, it sorts the Book Titles in alphabetic order. Then it is just a matter of using the mouse scroll wheel to find the Book Title in which you are interested. It will be easy to improve the approval search. We can highly recommend how books should be titled. I would recommend that the first parameter of the title should be the name of the country. The second parameter should be the condition of the stamps, MNH, Hinged, etc. The third parameter should be the type of stamps, sets and singles, booklets, Souvenir Sheets, Plate Blocks, etc. The fourth parameter should be either the range of Scott numbers, i.e. #803 to #1950 or the range of years of issue, i.e., Years 1930 through 1969. We that information in a matter of a few seconds you can be searching books that contain the stamps for which you are looking.
In parting I was not suggesting that Stamporama is about to implode. We are doing just fine. I was just making a suggestion about ways that I thought that Stamporama could become even better. It is obvious that I didn’t convince anyone that my suggestion were worthwhile. So I am outta here on improving the approval sales. Obviously the vast majority think that approval sales are just fine. As for the auction problems (if there are any), I will leave that to others.
James M. McCain
Cactusjack
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
Hi Everyone;
I'm very happy with both Approvals & Auctions and have many repeat sales from loyal satisfied buyers.
Don't fix what ain't broke!
Keepin' it simple....
TuskenRaider
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
James, it can take some time before changes are accepted or made. SOR has only one person who does all the web site programming, and his to do list is quite long. He actually has been working on some bug fixes in the sales area that I found, and he made some other changes in the sales are that a couple of others suggested. So, don't give up. Notes are made, and things get discussed. Our web master is the lone ranger, and he tries to have a full-time life outside of SOR too.
Login to Like
this post
Hi,
After reading all the current comments, I would like to add my own observations.
1. I love the Approval setup we have here. I recently returned to collecting a few months ago and found this site. I must say that I have really enjoyed the exchanges I have had with others and the ones I read here.
2. The approval and to a lesser extent the auctions was a big draw for me. I have only a few thousand stamps right now. Many of my country collections have less than 50 stamps. I have found the approvals to be a great way for me to start adding to my collection.
3. I have found it much easier to use the approvals than to try to trade stamps with others. Many of you have much more extensive collections than I, and I would never be able to give you new stuff at the current time.
4. I don't mind going through books that are almost sold out as long as the seller has other books to go through so I can get a decent number in an order.
With that all said, I find it difficult to try to list some books due to the 100 limit, but don't want to make it a free for all with no limits. Maybe we could see how many stamps are for sale in books on a given day. I see that many books after a few days have less than 100 stamps.
Maybe we could move it down gradually and stop when there are problems, and also combine it with a mandatory retirement of books to keep the clutter down. We could try maybe 80 stamp limit with 90% sell through as a retirement point. (that would only be a difference of 2 stamps between a book with the 100 minimum and one with 80 minimum at the 90% sell through.
Those are a couple of possibilities. But I am happy with what has been built here and in no way want to destroy that.
Have a great day! 
Login to Like
this post
This is about retiring Approval Books, discussed under the same heading as the 100 stamp minimum rule.
Tim has informed me that we currently do not have computer capacity issues to necessitate keeping less books active, so the need to limit how long Approval books stay active is not currently mandated by the SOR hardware or software. It is a function of the desirability of keeping depleted books on the shelf.
Since this issue has been discussed with good and valid arguments for and against mandatory retirement, we will not touch it for now, even if the Approval design committee had voted on a limit (7.5 months), but also had decided not to activate it until we had more real time knowledge of actual conditions and usage.
We can revisit this decision when necessary. From what we know today, it is not optimum.
I would urge sellers with old depleted books to retire them (and reissue them if it makes sense), but it is your individual choice for now. Fully sold out books are however removed automatically from the list.
rrr...
Login to Like
this post
Just to keep myself more organized - I have implemented a system for myself. I will keep all books active for 4 months and then in the 5th month - I will reduce the price of what is left in the book at 50% off. Then on the 1st day of the 6th month I will retire them. That means come August 1 - all of the books I currently have at 50% off will be retired and soon after deleted. Then on the same day all of the books I put up during the month of April will go on sale at 50% off. I will continue this process ongoing. I will then either add other stamps with the leftovers and create new books for the future - or try selling off the leftovers in an auction lot. That means my books will only be active for a total of 5 months at a time.
Login to Like
this post
"I will keep all books active for 4 months and then in the 5th month - I will reduce the price of what is left in the book at 50% off. Then on the 1st day of the 6th month I will retire them. "
Good plan Steve (cardstamp).
I will follow you and implement my own version, with a FINAL SALE (on top of all prior reductions) on ALL Approval Books OLDER than 5 months and ALL Books OLDER THAN 6 MONTHS will immediately be retired, and this will continue on an on-going basis.
I also have gone through all my Active Approval books with greater than 50% deletion...irrespective of age... and am putting the remaining items on sale which will average 15-33% off, depending on the page, and the range of items. This will be an on-going process.
While I realize that this post can be seen as self promotion
and could probably be posted elsewhere...I am keeping the general discussion thread alive on the subject of Number of items, and more specifically here on Book retirement. This is meant to illustrate and suggest methods (your choice) to implement Approval Book retirements. Thanks Steve for the thought. rrr...
Login to Like
this post
I don't have any problems with the discussion here about seller's plans regarding older approval books. The discussion, however, should not turn into a barrage of sales announcements.
Login to Like
this post
Although it went into effect some time ago I still object to the 100 stamp rule for approval books. I am going to try one more time to plead my case. My plea is not designed as a criticism of anyone. I simply disagree with 100 stamp mandatory rule for approval books and I want to provide facts to plead my case for minimal limits on approval books.
The approval books were designed to take the load of 5 and 10 cent lots off of the auction. That has not happened. The same sellers of cheaper stamps still sell on the auction because it is the sales vehicle they feel most comfortable with. I have no problem with that and believe that a member should be able to sell their stamps where they feel the most comfortable. So the original reason for approval system has not worked. However, the approval system originally grew and evolved into something different than the designers had envisioned. While it did not remove the cheaper stamps from the auction, it became a very popular stamp sales system. In fact, early on it became the premier selling system. Stamporama overall sales and membership greatly increased with the implementation of the approval system. I don’t believe anyone would disagree with that. I liken the approval system to a hairy ugly caterpillar that was designed to take cheap lots off of the Auction but then morphed into a beautiful butterfly, i.e., a lean mean buying and selling machine. I would like to add that the members who buy stamps have already voted. They voted for the approval system as it originally existed with their pocketbooks. If I am not mistaken the sales from approval books exceed those auction sales.
I will state facts to prove my points on reducing the 100 stamp limit. There is a reason for the approval system’s phenomenal growth. It is a much more user time efficient buying mechanism for the stamps than is the auction. Here are some facts. Last November I was looking for some Belgian Railway and Parcel Post stamps. I went to the auction and found 738 items listed under the Other Western Europe Category. Then to find the Belgian Railway and Parcel Post stamps you have to scroll through the entire 738 items. I did that and it took me 5 minutes and 35 seconds to scroll through all 738 items. I found no Railway and Parcel Post stamps.
I tried the auction search. I searched for Belgium Railway stamps. I got two commemorative stamps with pictures of trains, not Belgian Railway stamps. I searched for Belgium Parcel Post stamps and also got nothing. To find anything with search you have to use the exact terminology that the seller used. So the auction search is sort of hit or miss. Granted that there were no Railway stamps on the auction but I had to look to find out.
I then tried the same scenario on the approval system. You bring up the list of approval categories and click on Other Western Europe and a page with 85 books pops up. You click on “Title†in the heading and the computer sorts the books in alphabetical order by title. Since almost all book titles start with country name you have all books sorted in alphabetical country order. A quick scroll down to the “Bâ€s and I found 11 books of Belgium. A quick glance and I found 1 book with BOB stamps in the title. So in approximately 10 seconds and 3 clicks of the mouse I had a book open was searching for railway stamps. I can search a 20 Page book in about a minute and 15 seconds. So in 1 minute and 25 seconds I had completed my search. That means the search time on approvals is just a fraction of the time required for an auction search. Although I found a number of railway or parcel post stamps I did not find the stamps that I needed. The point being that my approval search took 1 minute and 25 second whereas my auction search took 5 minutes and 35 seconds.
So where should the stamp limit of an approval book be set. I think that it should be set on a technical basis. That is, where the the code size of a book and its pages matches the code size of a certain number of auction lots. I would think that the lines of code to run a book are slightly larger the code to run an auction item. I would think that an approval book of 10 items would take about the same disk space and computer run time as would 10 auction lots. If a book of 10 items (stamps) will run as fast as 10 auction lots, then the stamp limit should be 10 stamps. Computer efficiency, not an arbitrary number, should be the limiting factor on the number of stamps in a book.
I have sold on the Stamporama auction in the past. My percentage of lots sold averaged about 5% of lots entered. Before the guidelines became rules I had entered over 200 approval books. My sales percentages ran approximately 60% per book, a difference of night and day. Most of my books contained MNH stamps. Due to the great variance in prices in MNH material, the vast majority of my books contained less than 100 stamps. You cannot sell medium and higher priced items in approval books today. They vary too much in price to fit 100 stamps in 24 one price pages.
A bit more on the auction. The auction is an auction in name only. As I was scrolling through the 738 items in the Other Western Europe category I counted just 6 items out of 738 that had more than one bid. That means that .88% would be sold by auction, i.e., multiple bids. The other 99.12% actually default, in reality, to just being a fixed price sale since they would be sold with only one bid. The auction is an auction in name only. In reality it is a fixed price sale system just like the approval books. The difference, the approval system is user time efficient, i.e., it takes less time to find what you want and the auction wastes more of your precious time that you have to “play†with your stamps. That is the bottom line. The approval system is buyer time efficient and the auction is what people would call a dog in computer lingo. It takes much, much more time to find what you need on the auction.
Could reducing or removing limits cause more books to be uploaded than our allotted disk space allow? Possibly. However, there are ways to control the amount of books. If it became necessary we could put a limit on the number of books one member could have online at any one time. Another way to limit books is to have a mandatory retirement time. That time could be 6 months, 9 months or 1 year at the very longest. The time could be set by the approval book committee with input from the membership. Tim could set up a program that would automatically retire books when they reached their time limit. Some people like to collect sale statistics and others save the scans of stamps that did not sell to use them in future books. Then at a time (1 month or 2 months) after the books are retired a program could automatically delete the retired book. Thus the system could automatically keep the system clean with no help needed from volunteers or Tim. Today you can find a few books that have been online over a year. A mandatory retirement system would fix that.
I would like to read the facts from the mandatory 100 stamp backers on how their 100 stamp limit has enhanced the members buying experience. What improvement does the 100 stamp limit bring to Stamporama? I would say none. It severely limits medium to higher priced material from being listed in approval books and I have seen no decrease in cheaper auction lots.
If we must have the 100 stamp rule coud we modify it to say 100 stamps or 24 pages? Granted you could get a book of 24 cheap stamps but I think that most people would have more than 24 cheap stamps in a book. However, you could put a $20.00 or some minimum total value for the 24 page book to keep out a 24 page book of all cheap stamps. Is there any wiggle room in the 100 stamp limit?
Sorry for the book but I just wanted to present what I believe would be a great improvement to the Stamporama membership, reducing or eliminating the stamp limit on approval books. Granted, better material can be listed in the auction but it can only be there for 14 days max if I am correct. You have to either cut your prices or you have to constantly relist it for it to be available more than 14 days. I also believe that we could “capture†more new members from the vast majority of visitors we get if we had long term listings (approval books) with higher priced material in them. Then they could see the better material for 6, 9 or 12 months instead of just 14 days. If a visitor were looking for a MNH U.S. plate block of 834 and it was listed on auction, if he did not visit during the 14 days it was on the auction, we would lose him as a member. If the 834 was in an approval book, the window to capture a new member would be 6 months to 1 year, depending on the time limit set. I believe that approval books with better stamps listed will capture far more members than if they are listed in 14 day auctions, the longest time for an auction lot.
I rest my case. Whatever happens happens and I will go with the majority. I have no hard feeling against anyone. I just think the 100 stamp rule for approval books is a detriment, not a benefit for Stamporama members and potential members (visiting guests). What do you think?
James M. McCain
Cactusjack
10 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
re: The 100 Stamp Minimum for Approval Books
I agree with you.
I've been buying from approval books for a while, and just started selling from them last week, so I've had experience from the buyer's side and am beginning to have insight into the creation and assembly process from the seller's perspective.
Basically, the lower the minimum requirement, the more specific the title can be, and thus better able to match up buyer and seller.
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
re: The 100 Stamp Minimum for Approval Books
Hi Everyone;
Cactusjack said:
"It severely limits medium to higher priced material from being listed in approval books
and I have seen no decrease in cheaper auction lots."
Medium to higher priced material belongs in auctions, cheaper stamps, if you have enough to
meet the minimum stamp rule belong in approvals.
I'm just not seeing this as a big problem.
Just Chillin'....
TuskenRaider
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
Approvals
re: The 100 Stamp Minimum for Approval Books
I read with interest the whole post, and it seems to me that you are pleading for a review of the AUCTION platform, more than one of the 100 stamp rule of Approvals, because what you want is to make Approval Books handle stamps that Auctions do not handle well for you (and all sellers who list on Auctions).
You are trying to make your high valued, one stamp per page (each at its own price) fit the Approval Book platform, which it was NEVER set up to accomodate.
So, rather that force fit it to Approvals, I say, why not take a good look at what is wrong with Auctions.
Now just a few words about Approvals. It was designed for the lower cost stamps to facilitate their trading among club members. It was hoped that it would attract the auction sellers who list very low cost stamps in Auctions, but it was clear from day one that it would not draw them all. It was not designed as a business proposition for dealers to sell low cost stamps. (Any one who has put books together can testify that it would not make financial sense). Above all, it was intended to facilitate the trading of lower valued stamps among members, and help them dispose of their duplicates.
That is why we set up a single price/page for every item on the page. If you are going to price stamps exactly by the penny one at a time and one per page, it is NOT the goal of Approval...as we want to encourage pricing that encourages trading among members and not a commercial platform. The limit of 100 stamps was discussed long and hard..and it was a compromise between those who wanted a much bigger limit and those who wanted none. Approval are BOOKS of a certain SIZE modelled on the APPROVAL Books of the APS. This was always what guided the design team, and we purposely did not allow individual pricing of each stamp. Trying to do it by listing one stamp per page is highjacking the whole concept. The minimum size is intended to make it efficient for collectors to go through a sizeable number of stamps in a collectable topic, without wasting time (as you described in Auctions, going from one listing to another). Given that you can have duplication, I think the 100 stamp limit is reasonable and quite frankly a bit low!
There are exceptions allowed and one can ask the moderator (myself, or any one else who cares to take the job) for a variance in the 100 stamp rule....I can think for example of a narrow subject, or a country with limited stamps, where the rule could and should be waved...but it is an exception that has to be requested. We already wave the rule for covers, sets, s/s etc...
Now for AUCTIONS. I have been listing my higher priced items under Auctions recently and I agree with ALL your comments. I can even make more remarks and suggest many changes that would improve the experience...which currently is quite disappointing..from a seller standpoint. The problem is NOT with Approval Books, but with Auctions. I would suggest that we revisit this, and I will start a dedicated topic for this discussion, so that it gets its proper platform, and does not muddy this discussion on Approvals.
rrr...
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
Approvals
re: The 100 Stamp Minimum for Approval Books
" In most cases the titles of approval books are too broad - which is another consequence of the 100-stamp requirement."
I agree. I have been asking all who list new Approval Books to provide more details in their titles, so that it will help a potential buyer know what is being offered just from the title, without having to open the book.
But the title size is limited, so one has to be efficient. The 100 stamp limit has in most cases little to do with the title being too vague. And you do not expect individual stamp listing in a book cover page..the cover is the title! Now on Auctions, I think the title could be as specific as you are suggesting, to enhance the search function.
rrr...
Login to Like
this post
Approvals
re: The 100 Stamp Minimum for Approval Books
From CactusJack:
"Another way to limit books is to have a mandatory retirement time. That time could be 6 months, 9 months or 1 year at the very longest. The time could be set by the approval book committee with input from the membership. Tim could set up a program that would automatically retire books when they reached their time limit."
Another good idea which I have advocated. Automatic Approval Book retirement after
1. A given duration (6 months, 9 months, 1 year)
2. A certain level of depletion. (70%, 80%, 90%) (but only after a minimum time of say several (3?) months.
It is a fact that Approvals get very high interest levels when posted, and that purchases slowly vane, but never die out completely with time, or with percentage of items sold. It is all about efficiency for the buyer!
This has been discussed before. No decision has been taken. While a compromise decision will not please everyone, isn't it time to set up a rule on automatic book retirement? Then Tim can implement it, when he has some free time.
rrr
Login to Like
this post
03:17:09pm
re: The 100 Stamp Minimum for Approval Books
One thing that would make it easier when buying through the approvals would be if the sold out pages did not appear to the buyer. That will cut down on the time taken to look for stamps in that area. They do have to appear to the sellers, of course.
4 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
re: The 100 Stamp Minimum for Approval Books
"Approval are BOOKS of a certain SIZE modelled on the APPROVAL Books of the APS."
A good start perhaps, but as many have noted, SOR Approvals are nothing like APS approvals, so why should the SOR format continue to be guided by something it is not?
"Above all, it was intended to facilitate the trading of lower valued stamps among members, and help them dispose of their duplicates."
Then it does a poor job. I have a couple hundred glassines with duplicate or unwanted stamps sorted by country, but few have anywhere near 100 stamps in them. Mixing used and unused together would bring some closer to 100, but would result in a broader and thus less successful book. The same would be true of combining countries to try to reach the minimum.
Quick estimate: 250 glassines times perhaps 40 stamps per glassine equals about 10,000 stamps that might suddenly appear in the approvals system (just from me) if the limit was relaxed.
Chris
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
05:45:31pm
re: The 100 Stamp Minimum for Approval Books
Each approval book does not have to be just one country. For example, you can group countries from the same geographic area (East Europe, South America, Oceania, etc.), the same colonial group (British, Spanish, French, etc.). I'm sure you could put together books using your duplicates that way.
Login to Like
this post
re: The 100 Stamp Minimum for Approval Books
Umm, I believe I said that, and said it would result in a broader, less-successful book, but if that's what you're encouraging, who am I to fight mediocrity?
Chris
Login to Like
this post
Approvals
re: The 100 Stamp Minimum for Approval Books
In my experience books that combine countries or group used and mint together are just as successful as those that are very strictly / narrowly defined. Or even more so. There just is no predicting. What counts is interesting stamps at good prices
3 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
re: The 100 Stamp Minimum for Approval Books
It is much more efficient to list things in the approval system. I can list a 100 stamp approval book in about the time it takes me to list 10 auction lots. So in reality it takes about 10 times longer to list action lots than to create approval books. The auction wastes a lot of the seller's time. And as I discussed in my original posting, the search time to find what you want to buy as a buyer is far faster with the approval system than with the auction. So the approval system wins hands down in both selling and buying efficiency.
A couple of more examples as to why I think that the approval system is superior to the auction. In December of last year I listed 12 Faroe Island used stamps for 14 days on the auction. In those 14 days they received zero views, that is, no one even looked at them. About a week later I entered an approval book of just greater than 100 used Faroe Island stamps. I included the 12 Faroe Islands stamps that were previously in the auction. 10 of the 12 stamps that were previously in the auction sold within the first 36 hours.
Another example: do a current auction search on Great Britain used stampsÂ. The auction search returns zero lots. Wouldn't you think that a visitor would probably use that search criteria if he was specifically looking for Great Britain used? If you do a search on just Great Britain you still get zero lots. Now if you go straight to the Category List you will find that Great Britain has 447 lots. The search function of the auction is not very useful at all to view limited items.
Stamporama has to compete with all Internet auctions, both big (eBay, Delcampe, etc.) and small (eBid, Stampstogo, etc.). We also have to compete with other stamp societies like APS and sites for collectors of certain countries, topics, etc. Many of those sites also have stamp sales. I think that Stamporama is one of the few, if not the only site with online approval books. I believe if we tweak and tune up the approval system I believe that we can increase our membership dramatically if we can offer reasonably priced stamps in a supper efficient selling platform. That platform is the approval system. That is my firm belief.
The approval system (if tweaked) is by far and away the best sales system and would set us apart in the online stamping community. Most everybody has auctions, few have approval systems.
Just my 2 cents worth.
James M. McCain
Cactusjack
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: The 100 Stamp Minimum for Approval Books
I have to add my two cents here...
Stamporama is NOT EBay, it is NOT BidStart or Delcampe. IT IS A CLUB FOR MEMBERS!
We might as well start charging commissions like the others if you want the Approvals/Auctions to run like them.
I am tired of people complaining when the leadership have done so much to make this a great place, just because it doesn't do what THEY want.
The Approvals WORK! I have not seen so much transactions going on because it precisely fills a niche for the members. Like Ralph, I think the auctions can be helped, and I think the new option for members to advertise through the DB will help. BOB
10 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
re: The 100 Stamp Minimum for Approval Books
Forgive my ignorance, but don't APS approval books have different prices for each stamp in them? If the goal was to model SOR approval books after APS approval books, then why must each page have the same price?
I'm just curious.
Another thing is why couldn't actual physical approval books be available for circulation? That's another topic I guess.
Adam
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: The 100 Stamp Minimum for Approval Books
I'm sure that physical approval books would work fine. All a seller would need to do is make up an approval book, find someone in SOR who would be interested in buying from that book, mail it to the individual and wait for it to come back with payment for items kept. Or SOR can hire a couple of people to act as a clearinghouse. Though, that would probably mean we'll need to set up some kind of dues structure for all members.
Seriously, I don't think this would work for SOR. The virtual approval books work fine for me. And thanks SOR for making them possible!
Tad
3 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
11:47:50pm
re: The 100 Stamp Minimum for Approval Books
Physical approval books are fine if one wants to do it member to member. The seller takes all the risk if they don't come back. If SOR were to accept and circulate physical approval books, that would take more than just hiring someone to direct the distribution of the books. SOR would be liable to the sellers if the books were lost, stolen or damaged. Not feasible.
The SOR approval books are not an exact version of the APS sales books. The SOR system is based on them, but not identical to them. No other web site has this type of system. It is very ingenious, in my opinion.
One price per approval book page is necessary because the programming needed to permit individual pricing per stamp would be very extensive.
Chris - sorry, I missed that in your post. If having multiple countries in an approval book isn't your cup of tea, that's your choice. No one is forced to do that. The stamps don't come to any harm sitting in glassines. Mediocrity has nothing to do with it.
Bob - The subject comes up every now and then as people work the sales systems and think of possible enhancements or improvements. I don't see any harm in them discussing what they think. A club by its nature is inclusive. Thoughts and ideas should never be censored or discouraged from being expressed. I think everyone knows that ideas may or may not be acted upon, or the ideas might get discussed behind the scenes for a time to weigh their merits.
Login to Like
this post
Approvals
re: The 100 Stamp Minimum for Approval Books
Just my two cents.. I have been selling here via approval books since October. I have sold over 11,000 stamps already. These are either duplicates of collections I have or I have been selling off collections my father had accumulated over his lifetime that I just am not collecting myself. I think the current process works well and I have no issue with the 100 stamp limit. I always try to go with something a little higher. When I have stamps from some countries that do not meet the 100 count limit - I have successfully merged them with other similar countries. (example - I only had a small amount of stamps from Dominican Republic and a small amount from Haiti. Together I had enough for a nice book and the stamps have sold well). When I have a handful of stamps that have a higher catalog value I add a few pages of higher priced items to the same book with the lower priced items (even if I have to leave portions of the page blank). What I started to do after a period of time is reduce the prices of the what is left and after another short period I simply retire (Delete) the book. In a few cases I have taken the left overs and put them up as a lot in an Auction and have sold them off that way. My bottom line - Don't Fix Something That Is Not Broken !
9 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
re: The 100 Stamp Minimum for Approval Books
Well, I have to answer some of the statements generated by my approval book suggestion. I apologize. I did not make myself clear when mentioning eBay, Delcampe, etc. While in competition with them we can beat them by offering something they do not offer and that is the approval sales. In no way was I suggesting that we be more like them. I meant to suggest just the opposite, that we need to differentiate ourselves more, one that would support better sets and singles. I believe that that differentiation could be expanded with better stamps and an improved approval system. I hope that I just cleared up what I was trying to suggest. In no way would I ever suggest commissions. By the way, adding commissions was not even mention by me at all in the discussion. I would highly object to commissions.
Yes, the approvals work but I was suggesting that I believe that they can work even better. And no, I don’t think the auction can be helped. Its efficiency is doomed due to its design. To really improve the auction I believe that it would take a total rewrite. To improve the auction search might even require a major change to the database. Either one would be an enormous task.
Once again I will state the facts as to why I believe the 100 stamp rule should be relaxed. First and foremost the rule was implemented to remove the cheaper stamps that are weighing down the auction. The 100 stamp rule was a total failure in cleaning up the auction. There are still tons of cheaper material in the auction. The message has been for sellers to put better items on the auction. That is also been a failure. Better material has mostly disappeared from both the auction and approval books. Entering auction lots is 90% more time inefficient than entering the stamps in an approval book. Again, I can upload one 100 page approval book in the time it takes to upload 10 auction lots. That is a 10 to 1 ratio. My sales from my approval books ran at 60% in the past. My sales from auction lots ran at 5%. Therefore I would probably be lucky to sell 5% of my auction lots which took 10 times as long to enter. That just doesn’t make any sense. It is that time inefficient entry and diamal sales is the major reason that there are currently so few better items in the auction.
One of the major ways Stamporama get members is visitors wanting to buy stamps offered on Stamporama. The more stamps and better stamps that they have to view, the more likely we are to pick them up as new members. To purchase stamps a visitor has to join the club.
By the way, the super efficient search in the approval book system is actually a sort. By clicking on Title at the top of the Category List in the approval system, it sorts the Book Titles in alphabetic order. Then it is just a matter of using the mouse scroll wheel to find the Book Title in which you are interested. It will be easy to improve the approval search. We can highly recommend how books should be titled. I would recommend that the first parameter of the title should be the name of the country. The second parameter should be the condition of the stamps, MNH, Hinged, etc. The third parameter should be the type of stamps, sets and singles, booklets, Souvenir Sheets, Plate Blocks, etc. The fourth parameter should be either the range of Scott numbers, i.e. #803 to #1950 or the range of years of issue, i.e., Years 1930 through 1969. We that information in a matter of a few seconds you can be searching books that contain the stamps for which you are looking.
In parting I was not suggesting that Stamporama is about to implode. We are doing just fine. I was just making a suggestion about ways that I thought that Stamporama could become even better. It is obvious that I didn’t convince anyone that my suggestion were worthwhile. So I am outta here on improving the approval sales. Obviously the vast majority think that approval sales are just fine. As for the auction problems (if there are any), I will leave that to others.
James M. McCain
Cactusjack
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: The 100 Stamp Minimum for Approval Books
Hi Everyone;
I'm very happy with both Approvals & Auctions and have many repeat sales from loyal satisfied buyers.
Don't fix what ain't broke!
Keepin' it simple....
TuskenRaider
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
10:13:35pm
re: The 100 Stamp Minimum for Approval Books
James, it can take some time before changes are accepted or made. SOR has only one person who does all the web site programming, and his to do list is quite long. He actually has been working on some bug fixes in the sales area that I found, and he made some other changes in the sales are that a couple of others suggested. So, don't give up. Notes are made, and things get discussed. Our web master is the lone ranger, and he tries to have a full-time life outside of SOR too.
Login to Like
this post
re: The 100 Stamp Minimum for Approval Books
Hi,
After reading all the current comments, I would like to add my own observations.
1. I love the Approval setup we have here. I recently returned to collecting a few months ago and found this site. I must say that I have really enjoyed the exchanges I have had with others and the ones I read here.
2. The approval and to a lesser extent the auctions was a big draw for me. I have only a few thousand stamps right now. Many of my country collections have less than 50 stamps. I have found the approvals to be a great way for me to start adding to my collection.
3. I have found it much easier to use the approvals than to try to trade stamps with others. Many of you have much more extensive collections than I, and I would never be able to give you new stuff at the current time.
4. I don't mind going through books that are almost sold out as long as the seller has other books to go through so I can get a decent number in an order.
With that all said, I find it difficult to try to list some books due to the 100 limit, but don't want to make it a free for all with no limits. Maybe we could see how many stamps are for sale in books on a given day. I see that many books after a few days have less than 100 stamps.
Maybe we could move it down gradually and stop when there are problems, and also combine it with a mandatory retirement of books to keep the clutter down. We could try maybe 80 stamp limit with 90% sell through as a retirement point. (that would only be a difference of 2 stamps between a book with the 100 minimum and one with 80 minimum at the 90% sell through.
Those are a couple of possibilities. But I am happy with what has been built here and in no way want to destroy that.
Have a great day!
Login to Like
this post
Approvals
re: The 100 Stamp Minimum for Approval Books
This is about retiring Approval Books, discussed under the same heading as the 100 stamp minimum rule.
Tim has informed me that we currently do not have computer capacity issues to necessitate keeping less books active, so the need to limit how long Approval books stay active is not currently mandated by the SOR hardware or software. It is a function of the desirability of keeping depleted books on the shelf.
Since this issue has been discussed with good and valid arguments for and against mandatory retirement, we will not touch it for now, even if the Approval design committee had voted on a limit (7.5 months), but also had decided not to activate it until we had more real time knowledge of actual conditions and usage.
We can revisit this decision when necessary. From what we know today, it is not optimum.
I would urge sellers with old depleted books to retire them (and reissue them if it makes sense), but it is your individual choice for now. Fully sold out books are however removed automatically from the list.
rrr...
Login to Like
this post
Approvals
re: The 100 Stamp Minimum for Approval Books
Just to keep myself more organized - I have implemented a system for myself. I will keep all books active for 4 months and then in the 5th month - I will reduce the price of what is left in the book at 50% off. Then on the 1st day of the 6th month I will retire them. That means come August 1 - all of the books I currently have at 50% off will be retired and soon after deleted. Then on the same day all of the books I put up during the month of April will go on sale at 50% off. I will continue this process ongoing. I will then either add other stamps with the leftovers and create new books for the future - or try selling off the leftovers in an auction lot. That means my books will only be active for a total of 5 months at a time.
Login to Like
this post
Approvals
re: The 100 Stamp Minimum for Approval Books
"I will keep all books active for 4 months and then in the 5th month - I will reduce the price of what is left in the book at 50% off. Then on the 1st day of the 6th month I will retire them. "
Good plan Steve (cardstamp).
I will follow you and implement my own version, with a FINAL SALE (on top of all prior reductions) on ALL Approval Books OLDER than 5 months and ALL Books OLDER THAN 6 MONTHS will immediately be retired, and this will continue on an on-going basis.
I also have gone through all my Active Approval books with greater than 50% deletion...irrespective of age... and am putting the remaining items on sale which will average 15-33% off, depending on the page, and the range of items. This will be an on-going process.
While I realize that this post can be seen as self promotion
and could probably be posted elsewhere...I am keeping the general discussion thread alive on the subject of Number of items, and more specifically here on Book retirement. This is meant to illustrate and suggest methods (your choice) to implement Approval Book retirements. Thanks Steve for the thought. rrr...
Login to Like
this post
10:13:00pm
re: The 100 Stamp Minimum for Approval Books
I don't have any problems with the discussion here about seller's plans regarding older approval books. The discussion, however, should not turn into a barrage of sales announcements.
Login to Like
this post