Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
11:09:36am
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I find it difficult to find "classic" stamps to sell. Most of what comes up for auction locally are stamps from the 70's 80's and 90's.
Earlier collections attract a premium but are few and far between. The other problem is the condition of what is offered for sale with many of the stamps being damaged, or suffer from foxing, thins, holes and browning of the gum/paper. You also have the problem of wrinkling and creasing of hinged mint stamps in these older collections.
Early Poland and Russia are especially prone to wrinkling and browning.
Quality items command a higher price and is it worth the "risk" as there is no guarantee that one may be able to achieve a worthwhile return.
I have listed some "quality" items in the past and have them lanquish on here at 20% of catalogue.
I normally purchase mixed boxes, take out what I want for my own collection and sell some of the excess here.
The 14 day limit of the Auction here may also be a factor in reducing the choice on here for some sellers.
I have been active on this site for a number of years and the almost constant moans that "I don't want to see the same old stamps time after time " brigade does not exactly encourage sellers of "classic" material.
The small number of members here is also a factor to be considered.
EDIT A
When you consider that there are a lowly amount of items up for auction today, 5800 at the moment, choice here is very limited. (when the total number of stamps issued by Poland & Russia together is higher than 5800)
EDIT B
Just a thought:- If the 14 day limit was removed and 30 sellers listed 500 stamps each over the month the choice for members would increase threefold. If they listed 1000 stamps each the choice would increase sixfold to 30,000.
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02:03:52pm
Good points and very well thought out and stated, as usual, Ian. I understand totally but it still doesn't help old fashioned collectors like me. I still occasionally find good classic stuff here so I really shouldn't complain. It still amazes me a bit that there is as much interest in the newer material as there is. I really prefer the older engraved material but the problem is that the more I buy the less I need to buy. The big question is whether I want to keep adding new countries. I'm considering a few countries that I have good collections of already, but we'll see!
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" It still amazes me a bit that there is as much interest in the newer material as there is. "
It is one of the joys of our hobby that one can collect what they like, what they are interested in and what one learns through sites like Stamporama.
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"Is what people are collecting changing and some of you are not looking for the classic stamps because of price? Just curious!!"
When I rebooted my collecting a couple of years ago, I was adamant I was only going to collect stamps of certain countries prior to some arbitrary cut-off date (pre-1960 or so). Over time I found the idea of trying to "complete" a country to be unappealing and now I buy mostly modern issues, which for most of the countries I collect (Latin America) are much harder to come by than most of the classic material (and I happen to like much of the recent output too). When I devote myself to collecting a country I try to collect everything I can, with the hope of someday having a representative (though incomplete) collection--if I ever completed a country I'd be afraid I'd lose interest in it.
My $0.02,
Steve
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03:55:38pm
"if I ever completed a country I'd be afraid I'd lose interest in it"
It depends on the country! I completed The UN (up to my 1988) cutoff and haven't really looked at it since - but the stamps are pretty boring anyway!! I'm about to complete B.C. and can't stop checking it out, I can't really believe I will actually complete it. I completed the local post from Kaulbach Island in Nova Scotia and check it out often. I've "completed" Nyassa since I don't want to deal with the two printings of a certain series and I check it out regularly since the stamps are gorgeous!! It really does depend on how much you enjoy the stamps from that country or area.
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For worldwide collecting my Scott Internationals end with the year 1969 which is the birth year of my youngest. So all the stuff created in the past 53 years does not have much appeal to me. I do have Argentina and Guatemala collections that go into the early 90's.
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Doug:-
I was thinking at least 42 days maximum but also with a minimum of 14 days.
This would allow the number of items available for Auction to build to a higher number over a period of time thus a greater choice for members.
Over the past wee while the no of items in the Auction has been around 5000 items per day. What is unclear is that how many of the 5000 are actually new to the market and how many items have been relisted once, twice, thrice or even more.
The system also allows sellers to relist from one day to 14 days. How many members are relisting items on a short no of days? ie 1,2,3,4,5,6 or 7 days thus giving the impression of seeing the same stamps time after time after time. Using the Bulk Upload system it is easy to relist the same items every second day thus these items appear in the New Items or Closing in 24 Hours every 48 hours.
When it comes to the Approvals System the choice for members has increased dramatically. Today there are around 620 Books while the average over the last couple of months was 520. Even more interesting is that the number of Large books is 111 of which 10 are Covers and High Value Books is 2.
The question is " Are the Approval Books taking over from the Auctions?"
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As a buyer, a long auction end date would be agonizing. Waiting so long for it to close would be hard. As well I check listing almost daily, seeing the same lots over and over makes me feel like nothing is new. I like shorter end dates both as a seller and as a buyer.
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"a long auction end date would be agonizing."
LarryV:- Yes it would be but it appears that the majority of listings are Buy It Now.
The number of items that actually receive more than one bid is extremely small compared with the number listed. ie last month only 247 items had more than one bid.
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After collecting on and off for over 60 years, I am now a small seller (750 or so offerings on Hipstamp). The majority of my offerings are Canada and Newfoundland up to late 1940's. I mainly buy collections at online auction houses (ie Vance). I take them apart and list separately or in small sets. I occasionally buy on Ebay, but hard to find bargains, and too often stamps are misdescribed.
I've never shopped on this site....no particular reason. But after reading this thread, I looked at the Canadian offerings here. By far, the overwhelming majority are inexpensive "modern" stamps. I was hard pressed to find anything priced over $5, and most of those were a bit long in the tooth. I was really surprised. My "store" is not unique, but I seldom list for less than $2, and have a few listings over $100. They don't go fast, but they are selling.
How the heck could 2 sites have such a disparity in offerings? It's honestly huge (at least for Canada).
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One has to remember that Stamporama is a club of collectors mostly selling their duplicates not commercial ventures having to pay various "fees". Therefore logically the commercial ventures MUST sell higher value items to cover costs.
The no of members here is around 400. There are around 60 members who regularly sell in the auctions and/or the approvals
How many subscribers has Hipstamp? 100,000+ they boast. They have 1,160 Stores. Therefore logically they are going to have a bigger better choice than what can be offered here on Stamporama.
We call ourselves collectors whereas in actual fact we are not collectors but hoarders!!
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Dear Guys,
Although I do recognize the need for a focus upon the trading/selling/ buying aspect of what we do, that is not the whole of SOR.
I would argue that indeed it is the lesser of the value of SOR, rather than the most.
To me, the friendships and contacts forged over the years speak more deeply to my soul, and it is this that we must never forget. From the time of Jerry to the present, that camaraderie needs to be kept in mind. I fear that sometimes we lose sight of that. That must not be going forward.
Dan C.
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"I would argue that indeed it is the lesser of the value of SOR, rather than the most."
Good statement and I agree.
It is only through questions and discussions that we learn not just about our hobby but other subjects.
1 Member
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Great explanations guys.Thanks! What I like about this place is the vast knowledge of postage stamps by members and their willingness to share.
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07:54:13am
" ... We call ourselves collectors
whereas in actual fact
we are not collectors
but hoarders!! ..."
Yes, I confess.
On another comment;
".... As a buyer, a long auction end date would be agonizing.
Waiting so long for it to close would be hard. ....."
By the time 30 or 42 days have elapsed, I've often forgotten
what issues I bid on, or if I bid at all.
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The recent mail delays have been great fun. Every piece of mail I get is a total surprise package because I've forgotten what I bought!!
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This is my diabetic cat OBI! I think, therefore I am - I think! Descartes, sort of!
27 Nov 2022
11:09:36am
I am amazed by the number of, what I would call newer, stamps being offered on the selling venues here. In some areas, like newer Canada for example, the stamps quite often get gobbled up - depending on price, I guess. I almost totally collect classics myself, even though the definition can be a bit loose. For example Canada is pre-1988, Russia and Poland are pre-1985, but most of the other areas are pre-1955. Is it that people are actually trying to be current on some countries or that their cutoff is just later than mine? With the huge number of stamps that most countries are issuing it would be very difficult to stay up to date. With Canada I have all the year sets after my 1988 cut off but so many are missing from those sets that it would be rather stupid to use a normal album. So I do what a lot of you do and use stock books for that area as well as a few others. Is what people are collecting changing and some of you are not looking for the classic stamps because of price? Just curious!!
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01:54:07pm
Auctions - Approvals
re: Number of non-classic stamps being offered!
I find it difficult to find "classic" stamps to sell. Most of what comes up for auction locally are stamps from the 70's 80's and 90's.
Earlier collections attract a premium but are few and far between. The other problem is the condition of what is offered for sale with many of the stamps being damaged, or suffer from foxing, thins, holes and browning of the gum/paper. You also have the problem of wrinkling and creasing of hinged mint stamps in these older collections.
Early Poland and Russia are especially prone to wrinkling and browning.
Quality items command a higher price and is it worth the "risk" as there is no guarantee that one may be able to achieve a worthwhile return.
I have listed some "quality" items in the past and have them lanquish on here at 20% of catalogue.
I normally purchase mixed boxes, take out what I want for my own collection and sell some of the excess here.
The 14 day limit of the Auction here may also be a factor in reducing the choice on here for some sellers.
I have been active on this site for a number of years and the almost constant moans that "I don't want to see the same old stamps time after time " brigade does not exactly encourage sellers of "classic" material.
The small number of members here is also a factor to be considered.
EDIT A
When you consider that there are a lowly amount of items up for auction today, 5800 at the moment, choice here is very limited. (when the total number of stamps issued by Poland & Russia together is higher than 5800)
EDIT B
Just a thought:- If the 14 day limit was removed and 30 sellers listed 500 stamps each over the month the choice for members would increase threefold. If they listed 1000 stamps each the choice would increase sixfold to 30,000.
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This is my diabetic cat OBI! I think, therefore I am - I think! Descartes, sort of!
27 Nov 2022
02:03:52pm
re: Number of non-classic stamps being offered!
Good points and very well thought out and stated, as usual, Ian. I understand totally but it still doesn't help old fashioned collectors like me. I still occasionally find good classic stuff here so I really shouldn't complain. It still amazes me a bit that there is as much interest in the newer material as there is. I really prefer the older engraved material but the problem is that the more I buy the less I need to buy. The big question is whether I want to keep adding new countries. I'm considering a few countries that I have good collections of already, but we'll see!
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this post
02:11:44pm
Auctions - Approvals
re: Number of non-classic stamps being offered!
" It still amazes me a bit that there is as much interest in the newer material as there is. "
It is one of the joys of our hobby that one can collect what they like, what they are interested in and what one learns through sites like Stamporama.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: Number of non-classic stamps being offered!
"Is what people are collecting changing and some of you are not looking for the classic stamps because of price? Just curious!!"
When I rebooted my collecting a couple of years ago, I was adamant I was only going to collect stamps of certain countries prior to some arbitrary cut-off date (pre-1960 or so). Over time I found the idea of trying to "complete" a country to be unappealing and now I buy mostly modern issues, which for most of the countries I collect (Latin America) are much harder to come by than most of the classic material (and I happen to like much of the recent output too). When I devote myself to collecting a country I try to collect everything I can, with the hope of someday having a representative (though incomplete) collection--if I ever completed a country I'd be afraid I'd lose interest in it.
My $0.02,
Steve
1 Member
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This is my diabetic cat OBI! I think, therefore I am - I think! Descartes, sort of!
27 Nov 2022
03:55:38pm
re: Number of non-classic stamps being offered!
"if I ever completed a country I'd be afraid I'd lose interest in it"
It depends on the country! I completed The UN (up to my 1988) cutoff and haven't really looked at it since - but the stamps are pretty boring anyway!! I'm about to complete B.C. and can't stop checking it out, I can't really believe I will actually complete it. I completed the local post from Kaulbach Island in Nova Scotia and check it out often. I've "completed" Nyassa since I don't want to deal with the two printings of a certain series and I check it out regularly since the stamps are gorgeous!! It really does depend on how much you enjoy the stamps from that country or area.
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Auctions
re: Number of non-classic stamps being offered!
For worldwide collecting my Scott Internationals end with the year 1969 which is the birth year of my youngest. So all the stuff created in the past 53 years does not have much appeal to me. I do have Argentina and Guatemala collections that go into the early 90's.
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06:23:31pm
Auctions - Approvals
re: Number of non-classic stamps being offered!
Doug:-
I was thinking at least 42 days maximum but also with a minimum of 14 days.
This would allow the number of items available for Auction to build to a higher number over a period of time thus a greater choice for members.
Over the past wee while the no of items in the Auction has been around 5000 items per day. What is unclear is that how many of the 5000 are actually new to the market and how many items have been relisted once, twice, thrice or even more.
The system also allows sellers to relist from one day to 14 days. How many members are relisting items on a short no of days? ie 1,2,3,4,5,6 or 7 days thus giving the impression of seeing the same stamps time after time after time. Using the Bulk Upload system it is easy to relist the same items every second day thus these items appear in the New Items or Closing in 24 Hours every 48 hours.
When it comes to the Approvals System the choice for members has increased dramatically. Today there are around 620 Books while the average over the last couple of months was 520. Even more interesting is that the number of Large books is 111 of which 10 are Covers and High Value Books is 2.
The question is " Are the Approval Books taking over from the Auctions?"
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09:38:12pm
Approvals
re: Number of non-classic stamps being offered!
As a buyer, a long auction end date would be agonizing. Waiting so long for it to close would be hard. As well I check listing almost daily, seeing the same lots over and over makes me feel like nothing is new. I like shorter end dates both as a seller and as a buyer.
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this post
05:14:23am
Auctions - Approvals
re: Number of non-classic stamps being offered!
"a long auction end date would be agonizing."
LarryV:- Yes it would be but it appears that the majority of listings are Buy It Now.
The number of items that actually receive more than one bid is extremely small compared with the number listed. ie last month only 247 items had more than one bid.
Login to Like
this post
re: Number of non-classic stamps being offered!
After collecting on and off for over 60 years, I am now a small seller (750 or so offerings on Hipstamp). The majority of my offerings are Canada and Newfoundland up to late 1940's. I mainly buy collections at online auction houses (ie Vance). I take them apart and list separately or in small sets. I occasionally buy on Ebay, but hard to find bargains, and too often stamps are misdescribed.
I've never shopped on this site....no particular reason. But after reading this thread, I looked at the Canadian offerings here. By far, the overwhelming majority are inexpensive "modern" stamps. I was hard pressed to find anything priced over $5, and most of those were a bit long in the tooth. I was really surprised. My "store" is not unique, but I seldom list for less than $2, and have a few listings over $100. They don't go fast, but they are selling.
How the heck could 2 sites have such a disparity in offerings? It's honestly huge (at least for Canada).
Login to Like
this post
03:31:14pm
Auctions - Approvals
re: Number of non-classic stamps being offered!
One has to remember that Stamporama is a club of collectors mostly selling their duplicates not commercial ventures having to pay various "fees". Therefore logically the commercial ventures MUST sell higher value items to cover costs.
The no of members here is around 400. There are around 60 members who regularly sell in the auctions and/or the approvals
How many subscribers has Hipstamp? 100,000+ they boast. They have 1,160 Stores. Therefore logically they are going to have a bigger better choice than what can be offered here on Stamporama.
We call ourselves collectors whereas in actual fact we are not collectors but hoarders!!
Login to Like
this post
re: Number of non-classic stamps being offered!
Dear Guys,
Although I do recognize the need for a focus upon the trading/selling/ buying aspect of what we do, that is not the whole of SOR.
I would argue that indeed it is the lesser of the value of SOR, rather than the most.
To me, the friendships and contacts forged over the years speak more deeply to my soul, and it is this that we must never forget. From the time of Jerry to the present, that camaraderie needs to be kept in mind. I fear that sometimes we lose sight of that. That must not be going forward.
Dan C.
8 Members
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Login to Like.
05:52:39pm
Auctions - Approvals
re: Number of non-classic stamps being offered!
"I would argue that indeed it is the lesser of the value of SOR, rather than the most."
Good statement and I agree.
It is only through questions and discussions that we learn not just about our hobby but other subjects.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: Number of non-classic stamps being offered!
Great explanations guys.Thanks! What I like about this place is the vast knowledge of postage stamps by members and their willingness to share.
Login to Like
this post
Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
30 Nov 2022
07:54:13am
re: Number of non-classic stamps being offered!
" ... We call ourselves collectors
whereas in actual fact
we are not collectors
but hoarders!! ..."
Yes, I confess.
On another comment;
".... As a buyer, a long auction end date would be agonizing.
Waiting so long for it to close would be hard. ....."
By the time 30 or 42 days have elapsed, I've often forgotten
what issues I bid on, or if I bid at all.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: Number of non-classic stamps being offered!
The recent mail delays have been great fun. Every piece of mail I get is a total surprise package because I've forgotten what I bought!!
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