lemaven

16 Jun 2016
07:24:51pm

I decided to be better organized to clear out THE HOARD through Auctions and Approvals by concentrating on one Scott catalog volume at a time and the most broadly held countries. "N-Sam" was an easy first choice.

After getting through many tedious hours with Romania and Poland (multiple thousands of stamps with maybe just a couple dozen appreciably above Minimum CV) I went through a couple hundred Peru. Then I opened up my envelope of pages and loose Paraguay. There were very few "oldies" but many over-sized commemoratives with the usual ubiquitous paintings, flowers, etc and "famous people" I didn't recognize... Based on past experience I decided to save some time by just dumping them in a big glassine and marked it "5c each" for future reference. Then I found one that looked potentially interesting so decided to look up the CV. Imagine my surprise when I discovered many dozens of my 5c lot were listed at $1, $2 and more!

What the heck? Anyone able to unravel this mystery? I'm befuddled...



Thanks, Dave.

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lemaven

16 Jun 2016
09:10:14pm

re: Why Do Paraguay Stamps Have Such High CVs?

Man, you're such a cynic Michael! I still can't figure out why that theory doesn't apply more broadly though!

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youpiao

17 Jun 2016
05:32:59pm

re: Why Do Paraguay Stamps Have Such High CVs?

Michael is correct, though it's not just to fleece the collector, but their domestic postal patrons as well. Paraguay is recognized as one of the most corrupt nations in the world, and their postal service is apparently right in the thick of it, with postal rates guaranteed to support postal officials in the lifestyles to which they are accustomed.

I found an amateur radio forum discussing the high cost of sending QSL cards; here is a post from a member in Asuncion, Paraguay, from 2011:

Hi postal rates increase 100% here
SA $3
Rest of the Wordl $4
anyway looking for a qsl mgr.
PD. IRC is $1 if you are sending a post...

Here is more, from a blog post entitled "Paraguay Postal Abuse," along with a reader comment, from 2014: http://correoparaguayo.blogspot.com/2011/10/nuevas-tarifas-economicas-30-de-jornal.html

New economic rates: 30% of minimum daily wage in January
New economic rates: 30% of minimum daily wage
EVA CAROLINA Welko BAREIRO INCREASE RATES OF BASIC hurting POPULATION

The Paraguayan Mail has new rates for international economic shipments to Europe are 700% higher than the fees charged by the Brazilian public mail for the same service. Rates for shipments Paraguay> Europe represent 300% of the fees charged by post offices in Europe for economic delivery Europe> Paraguay.

Today, the Paraguayan mail is charging 30% of daily minimum wage by more economical delivery of a letter from 10gr to Europe, 25% of daily minimum wage by more economical shipping to US citizens. In the US and the European Union is paying the equivalent of $ 0.95 on average for economic shipments to Paraguay from those localidadaes.

From Monday October 3rd bells start in social media to notify the public and authorities of the sharp decline, mismanagement and abuse in new rates established by Eva Carolina Bareiro of Welko, director of the Paraguayan mail.

Note:
- This page is not owned by the Correo Paraguayo not have legal connection with that institution.
- This page was created to denounce irregularities publishes the Paraguay post office.


Comment:
Jean-Paul W.May 26, 2014 at 6:14 AM
I am a retired Belgian publisher living since about 7 years in Paraguay.
I had the intention to publish here in Paraguay. That means printing and binding our books in Asuncion and to send them from here into the world via Correo Paraguayo (DHL, FedEx, TNT all were at that time far to expensive for printed matter). About to print our 3rd book we had the surprise (without any previous notice. Even employees did not know before) of having to pay huge fees to send our books via APR as we did before. Suddenly I had two pay a multimillion sum for sending 20kg of books. There was no trace of that crazy increasing in their Internet Site. Nothing! Just a printed sheet for the employee (not even a hand out for customers!!). The result for me was clear: I had to cancel the printing of the new book which was then printed in Amsterdam. Book binding and sending all from Amsterdam: 50% cheaper than here. A shame for Paraguay. Such a lovely country directed by corrupt thieves. Someone came in into the post office right after me. He had sold hundreds of little items (things from Aregua) via eBay (these were prepaid, including sending!!). He had no choice but accepting the new rules. The poor man was devastated and had to go back first to get more money from his bank. I do not know how much he lost, but from his face, it was substantial ! If companies want to settle in this country, they have to be very prudent. Large companies either pay a "coima" to the minister in charge, or, better, do not start any business here at all.

Now, on top of the extortionist postal rates, you have to take into account Scott's standard valuation method. For most countries' stamps, Scott uses a flat 2X face value as their nominal catalog value (CV). Some countries get a higher multiple, Paraguay being one such, with their stamps being valued at 3X (or more) face value (FV).

Examples from my 2012 Scott:
#2858, issued July 2008: FV = G11,000 ($1.94), Scott CV = $7.50 (3.8X FV)
#2853-54, issued Sep 2007: FV = G13,000 ($2.29), SCV = $7.50 (3.3X FV)
#2846, issued Oct 2007: FV = G700 (12 cents US), SCV = $1.00 (8.3X FV)

Apparently, though, collectors are willing to pay these prices. A spot check of ebay "Sold" listings shows many sales at or near full SCV.

Ted

 
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