Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
There is quite a bit of material of interest, but as a personal remark. all prices seem to be at around 2/3 of Cat listing.
No auction material.
I did a few comparisons to see how pricing ranks relative to others. Not very competitive, if one looks at other offerings, but not as outrageous as some I have seen...(where do they pull these prices from?)
Prices are a bit high for my taste, unless it is truly rare and impossible to find material. But I guess many will pay 1/2 to 2/3 of cat for the stamps they really want.
I suppose there may be some I need among 250.000 items, so my goal is to only look at the rare missing items I need and ignore the rest.
Does anyone at APS look at the pricing of their competition, and how many comparable items are on sale?
How do you feel about it?
rrr...
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Ralphy, I keep going back to HipStamp, in the hope of finding something at a decent price, especially now that I am stuck at home due to poor weather conditions.
I am too amazed at the prices I see there, the quality of some material listed, the repetitiveness of some listings, the few items ofinterest and generally at the uselessness of the site to me in particular.
Stamporama and Ebay are way better, although I have trouble finding good material on Ebay too as of the past year or two.
Looks a little bleak from my point of view. On the positive side of things for sellers, offerings are getting fewer and the prices they fetch are getting higher
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Shipping and handling within the US is a flat rate of $5 because everything is shipped first class parcel. They adhere to UPU regulations for shipment to Canada and other destinations. Don't be surprised at the cost - they aren't making money.
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For what I collect, the APS pricing is "OK," no better or worse than eBay or Hipstamp (nor Delcampe, etc.). There are a couple of good items listed through APS that are priced well, and I'm a bit surprised no-one has purchased them (I don't need them, or I would have). I haven't had much luck on Hipstamp or its previous incarnations over the years -- not really Hip's fault, though -- if it isn't listed I can't buy it! There is some very nice material in my area listed on both Hip and eBay, and it is typically listed for a bit less on Hipstamp. The listing dealer also has has the material listed on his website for less than either eBay or Hip, so if there is something I want, I just go to his website and buy it (or make an offer via phone or email).
There are some other decent items listed on Hip -- not scarce, just good quality from what I can tell -- that are priced right.
I haven't purchased anything from APS over the years as I simply haven't found anything I want in acceptable condition.
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It would be interesting to hear sellers perspectives - are they selling? I know some here sell on hipstamp. I never have made a purchase at hipstamp.
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I sell on Hipstamp (Troutbum Stamps) mostly Canada and provinces, and some BC Caribbean. Less than a year so far. What specific questions do you have? Happy to give you my thoughts. BTW.....I believe it's only the APS listings charging minimum $5 USA shipping. Other Hip dealers set their own terms/rates.
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There was a comment that APS store items were higher priced but are they higher priced compared to other sellers? I know some sellers here would charge more on hipstamp than SOR. I have no idea how the hipstamps fees add to a price there.
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Hipstamp, in the program I'm in, charges 3 cents to list, and around 9% of the sale amount. There is an annual fee as well, but I don't remember off the top of my head.I don't worry too much about listing/selling cost as I figure if there are a large number of sellers, then it must be somewhat competitive. I'm more concerned about visitors and shoppers. So far, I would like sales to pick up, but I think (hope) it's coming as I get new buyers. I average probably 3-4 buyers a week. Some buyers purchase a single, some sets, and some multiple individual stamps. I specialize in a few countries, so as to be better at IDs, and hope for regular repeat business. That is happening, albeit slowly. I try to not list anything under $2, and have a few listings over $100. I try to sell mostly unused stamps from mid 1800s up to 1940.
Looking at Canada stamps for sale here, I see nothing over a few dollars. Was I looking in the wrong place? If not, it just appears that HS and Stamprama are in two completely different markets. No problem with that.
I was an on and off collector for 60 years, but now I buy exclusively for resale, with most of my stuff from collection auction sites. Win some, lose some. I have never purchased stamps on APS. I peruse Ebay, but only occasionally purchase. I find most of their offerings for what I'm looking for to be way overpriced. And I return around 25% of items I purchase due to incorrect descriptions, or faults not disclosed. One regular seller there has decent stamps and low starting auction prices, but IMO uses shill bidders to drive up prices. I am close to the point I will quit looking there at all and stick with auctions. Way too soon to see if my "store" will be successful, but I'm having much fun! And for a full time retiree it fills a large void, when I'm not fishing.
If there are any other questions re: Hipstamp, please ask. Like Stamporama, I find most folks at HS to be wonderful folks, and who help each other regularly answering questions and sharing knowledge.
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I too have a store hosted by HipStamp and business is actually pretty good. Growing every month and year over year.
A couple basic comments regarding the ASP HipStamp store. Fundamentally, the only difference between the former APS StampStore and the "new" APS store is that APS no longer hosts StampStore themselves. They are just hosted by HipStamp now thus saving APS a lot of money (I guess). There are several hundred individual sellers who sell through the APS store and those sellers (APS members) set their own pricing for the items they list in the APS store. The only thing APS actually does is scan the images, list the items in the store, and maintain, process, and ship the sold items. Essentially the APS StampStore staff act just like any other seller on the HipStamp platform except they do not actually provide the material nor set the price. So, the "new" APS store on HipStamp is basically just like the old StampStore, just hosted by HS now.
Grego
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Hello friends!
Do not forget that the prices are not set by the APS, they only receive the stamps from the members and then put them on direct sale. The worrying thing is that many of these lots are fake, others are badly cataloged (perforations, watermark, type of paper, etc.), the registered mail service in the 31x23.7cm envelope in thick carton they usually send is USD$31.10 a Mexico!.
Regards,
Rodolfo
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Good point Rodolfo. Another thing to note is that while someone who wishes to sell something through the APS store must me an APS member, there is no requirement for them to actually be a stamp dealer. There are some who surely are but most likely they are just collectors who are members who are selling extras and duplicates from their own collection. On the flip side, many HipStamp stores are run by professional (either part-time or full-time) stamp dealers, many with years or decades of experience in the business (for better or worse).
Grego
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I have also noticed a number of mis identified stamps...always seemingly favoring the seller. I have the habit of notifying the seller when I notice it, especially in areas which are harder to id...such as Middle East stamps where I specialize, but have had no response from the APS store. Could it be that because they have to refer it to the seller, the lines of communications are not functioning. I checked, and nothing has been corrected in the listings.
The $5 shipping charge is certainly a turn off, no matter what the justification is. You will not see me pick up a low cost stamp with such a shipping add on fee. so what is the point of even listing low cost stamps? As I said before I will probably only use the APS listings on Hipstamp to find the rare and expensive material I am missing...IF the price is right!
rrr...
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APS, HipStamp, SOR, etc.
They are all different platforms with different costs.
Selling through the APS (sales books and online) is easy as members do not have to mess around with shipping sold items. To that end, selling members pay a hefty consignment and handling fees that can be around 40%. Expect pricing of stamps to have to account for that.
HipStamp fees vary based on the seller's store level. It has been partially discussed already here, but you won't find that many stamps there priced at 90% off catalogue value. I believe that most sellers price their material between 40% to 60% of catalogue value.
Stamporama only charges a few dollars a year for selling members. Yes, you will find stamps priced well below those being sold on other platforms. High valued stamps historically rarely sell on SOR.
One will find mis-identified items on all selling platforms. That will never change.
High valued stamps are harder to find, so one will have to dig around various online sites, auction houses, approval dealers, etc. to find them.
One can complain about the pricing of stamps on any platform. Don't like the price? Contact the seller and see if a deal can be worked out, or move on. Try selling stamps on the various platforms for yourself, and see how you would price items based on the fees required to be paid. One will find very quickly that pricing too low will cost.
Greg has stated many times here that his pricing on SOR is lower than on other platforms due to the low cost of doing business. I sell on the three platforms stated in my reply. I concur with what Greg has stated. I also agree with his latest comments elsewhere in this discussion board regarding member attitudes here regarding buying.
Buy or don't buy is an individual's decision. There are many different avenues to go to to find the stamps to fill those pesky empty spaces. Explore them all. None is any better or worse than the other.
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Micheal:-
I tried the link at the bottom of your post to your Hipstamp Store. It doesn't work.
To everyone else:-
Try the links that you have posted in the Members Area or the bottom of your posts. Many, Many, Many of them do not work!!
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Michael's link worked fine for me.
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07:18:56pm
I thought it was working for me, it took me in but this was shown as well.
"We couldn't find any matching listings for your search."
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Michael's link worked fine for me.
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Michael doesn't ship outside the US, so I can't see any listings either.
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I did look at some listings in the APS Stamp Store yesterday. The mailing costs were a detraction - US $5 min and $1.00 for each 10 additional items. They state they ship in stiff packaging.
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Thanks Dave that explains a lot!!
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In my purchases, APS used this type of covers.
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I did notify the APS store about a "reprint" (fake) and it was immediately removed. FYI Sp. Andorra #62. So someone is monitoring!
The "reprint" has FAUX at the bottom left. There are two stamps clearly noted as such (with token pricing of $1.29), but the APS store one at full price with the "reprint" mark is gone.
Interesting to see the pricing range on such a stamp. I will never understand how some sellers operate.
rrr...
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Like Ian,
The link on my postings doesn't work, but it does if you go to the Members Area. Is there a glitch in the system?
Discover hipstamps not long ago and my first impression was, who buys stamps at these prices?
Didn't bother to bookmark the site.
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Stamp Collecter
I had to laugh when I read your "who buys these stamps at these prices" comment. I sell on Hipstamp and occasionally peruse Ebay for singular inventory buys. I ask myself every time the same question when looking through mint Canada offerings. The"ending soonest" category is overwhelmingly full of auctions with overpriced items with zero bids. Just sayin.
Not sure what you were looking for on Hipstamp, but I don't agree with your assessment. Hip has a ton of sellers who appear to be doing quite well.
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My last catalog and by last I mean LAST, is the 2017 Ed. of Scott, hipstamps has some stamps listed at full catalog value.
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Some stamps actually do sell for catalog, and above. I know one HS seller who regularly sells very quality material at quite (IMO) high prices. He also is extremely knowledgeable of his products and the market. Certainly this is not even close to the norm....depends on the stamp. Before I set a price on my own wares, I research prior selling prices on HS. I can tell you with certainty that any sales even mildly approaching cat value are few and far between.You are whitewashing HS unfairly IMO.
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I was looking to fill some holes in my Japan collection, mind you nothing expensive and mostly minimum CV stamps but paying catalog or even double and some times triple is just not my cup of tea. If you feel that I'm whitewashing HS, well you are entitled to your opinion but I prefer to search for stamps somewhere else.
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As is your right.
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When I first looked at HipStamp I thought the same thing... the prices were outrageous! Then I wound up on a few sellers mailing lists and discovered the concept. They regularly post 10% off, 20% off, even 50% off sales. So those prices are jacked to allow for the "sales", which may actually get the stuff down near market price!
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I'm preparing to sell a few stamps on Hipstamp via the APS Stamp Store. The service offered through APS membership makes me think it will be easier than if I setup a personally managed Hipstamp or eBay account. The initial cost is low and if I sell a percentage goes back to the APS, nothing wrong with that.
Geoff
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I'm unaware of any "concept" on Hipstamp of jacking up list prices and then offering huge discounts. I use discounts primarily to try to move slow stuff, countries I no longer want to offer, or just to try to generate some activity. To say this gimmick is rampant is just not fair. And it certainly is demeaning to HS buyers. Most knowledgable buyers are usually pretty attune to market value when shopping. Are there outliers who practice this "concept"?....Sure. But quite far from the norm in my experience
I can't believe the negativity some folks on this board display re: Hipstamp.
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08:21:32am
I really can't speak to places like Hipstamp but I know of several local antique dealers who would put some prices up quite a bit and then announce a big 25% sale. Very sad to see but it happens. I'm pretty sure other types of stores do it regularly as well!!
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"I went and had a look at their store not bad till you see the postage same price as buying from APS site, $18 to ship one stamp ,they have got to be joking !!!!! Brian"
I ordered some lower cost stamps to infill my Falkland Islands collection, plus a very nice early issue used Bermuda QV with a "K1" cancellation from the APS / Hipstamp store last week. It arrived just three days later. I paid $5.00 postage and handling nothing near the $18 Brian experienced.
David
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At any given time, there are thousands of stamps on Hipstamp discounted at least 50%
Currently, there are 203,912 such listings. I have no idea how anyone can discount that much, and it's the same sellers over and over. So, yes, they're inflating prices.
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Brian lives in Australia and APS ships items legally. If I go to my local PO and ship a 2 ounce first class parcel with ANYTHING other than a document to Australia the cost is $20.35 to do so legally.
APS is not going to violate the law - most dealers do.
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"Currently, there are 203,912 such listings. I have no idea how anyone can discount that much, and it's the same sellers over and over. So, yes, they're inflating prices."
Outside of the random infrequent sales by small dealers with as basic store to generate business - the majority of these "bogus" sales are generated by the large stores with a premium subscription.
I have been with them since the days of Stampwants, Bidstart, Stanley Gibbons (the dark ages), and now Hipstamp and have had ONE sale to generate business when sales plummeted 80 per cent under Gibbons. I price items to sell - when you do that there is no need for constant sales.
When I buy on Hipstamp (mostly for resale) I browse the small sellers - not the large shops. Easy to find bargains if you spend time looking in the right places,.
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I have a HipStamp store and can appreciate all the comments made, here. It is true, there are quite a few sellers who routinely price their items at 1 or 2 times catalog value, just to run their fake “sales.” I have complained directly to HipStamp about it many times. I’ve tried to explain that that will only hurt HipStamp’s reputation in the long run, but so far it’s been to no avail.
One problem is that many many collectors do not utilize Scott Catalogues (and apparently don’t bother to do comparison shopping) and so are happy to get a perceived “bargain.”
JCPenney found this out. For many years they were using the “Sale!” model and always offering %Off coupons. Then they decided to do away with all the sales and coupons, and switch to an “Everyday low price” model. Even though the new everyday non-sale prices were no higher than what they had been paying before, with sales and coupons, customers stayed away in droves. They no longer perceived the prices as being bargains.
The HS sellers who use the fake Sale scheme are taking advantage of that aspect of human nature. It is fueled, also, by the fact that HS has a search filter to enable customers to “Show Only items on sale 50% or more.”
Of course many customers browsing the listings want to easily find what’s on sale, and when they switch on the 50% Off filter you’ve eliminated 98% of the competition from the customer’s view.
For example, I just checked Germany. Doing a search on the word “Germany” brings up 295,282 listings among 686 dealers. Switch on the 50% Off filter, and now there are only 4,636 listings among 13 dealers. A 98% drop.
The problem is that Rosenberg doesn’t care. It doesn’t matter to him which dealer is making the sale as long as he is getting his cut. He is just fine with letting the shysters do their thing; their money spends just as well.
The only thing that keeps me selling on HS is the fact that ebay is an even worse platform to sell on, and that there is no other viable alternative. Stamps2Go has the most horrible user interface imaginable, Delcampe is Eurocentric and shipping to Europe is simply not (legally) viable, and no other site gets enough traffic to support one dealer, let alone a whole marketplace.
So, until a white knight comes along and gives Rosenberg what he’s obviously conniving for - another lucrative buyout offer - we (the HS dealers who actually care about our customers and offer fair prices and good service) will have to trudge on as best we can.
Thanks for letting me vent.
Ted
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Thank you, Ted!
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The "Fake Sale" is really just economic theory in practice. At any given price, there are a certain set of buyers. As price goes up, the number of buyers drops. The fake sale approach just tries to find those buyers at a higher price first then reduce price to improve selling potential. This is tandem with using "on sale" to make it also appear a better bargain than it is.
One business motto is do not leave money on the table - meaning try to get as much as you can first then adjust price. Do not give your best price first.
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Ted:
"So, until a white knight comes along and gives Rosenberg what he’s obviously conniving for - another lucrative buyout offer"
I don't think there is one in the wings, and the software as it has evolved is really doing a terrible job. I feel, unless it is rewritten from scratch, no buy-out candidate is going to consider it, especially after SG.
But Rosenberg is going to make his cut and not care that much about what you and i think. He only "improves" what he wants.
He is the only game in town now in N America, after ebay which increasingly turns off sellers and buyers alike. And as you said, Delcampe is too Eurocentric.
For the proper use of the 50% 25% or whatever sales filters HS offers, do it by seller only. it works.
My opinion.
rrr...
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Brian lives in Australia and APS ships items legally. If I go to my local PO and ship a 2 ounce first class parcel with ANYTHING other than a document to Australia the cost is $20.35 to do so legally.
So I buy a stamp for $2-00 and the USPS wants to charge $20-35 to ship it to Australia they want their head read IMHO .Is this their directive or the UPU? as I don't think we have the same rule over here?
What is their reasoning behind it?Why is it classed as a parcel?
Brian
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There are MANY previous threads on this - go to search and search for UPU - here are 3 of them.
https://stamporama.com/discboard/disc_ma ...
https://stamporama.com/discboard/disc_ma ...
https://stamporama.com/discboard/disc_ma ...
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Almost every seller on SoR, Ebay, Ebid, Hipstamp, Delcampe etc etc etc, defies the UPU. I've had numerous (and I mean dozens) of incoming letters opened by Australia Post for the Border Force, and none have been held, taxed or returned.
It's an entirely unenforceable regulation that is usually avoided by calling the contents "old paper", "printed material" or similar. This is also the reason why many sellers don't include invoices with the material.
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Approvals
APS store on Hipstamp, I have been looking at it as of late. 250,000 items plus listed!
There is quite a bit of material of interest, but as a personal remark. all prices seem to be at around 2/3 of Cat listing.
No auction material.
I did a few comparisons to see how pricing ranks relative to others. Not very competitive, if one looks at other offerings, but not as outrageous as some I have seen...(where do they pull these prices from?)
Prices are a bit high for my taste, unless it is truly rare and impossible to find material. But I guess many will pay 1/2 to 2/3 of cat for the stamps they really want.
I suppose there may be some I need among 250.000 items, so my goal is to only look at the rare missing items I need and ignore the rest.
Does anyone at APS look at the pricing of their competition, and how many comparable items are on sale?
How do you feel about it?
rrr...
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re: APS store on Hipstamp
Ralphy, I keep going back to HipStamp, in the hope of finding something at a decent price, especially now that I am stuck at home due to poor weather conditions.
I am too amazed at the prices I see there, the quality of some material listed, the repetitiveness of some listings, the few items ofinterest and generally at the uselessness of the site to me in particular.
Stamporama and Ebay are way better, although I have trouble finding good material on Ebay too as of the past year or two.
Looks a little bleak from my point of view. On the positive side of things for sellers, offerings are getting fewer and the prices they fetch are getting higher
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06:09:13pm
Auctions - Approvals
re: APS store on Hipstamp
Shipping and handling within the US is a flat rate of $5 because everything is shipped first class parcel. They adhere to UPU regulations for shipment to Canada and other destinations. Don't be surprised at the cost - they aren't making money.
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re: APS store on Hipstamp
For what I collect, the APS pricing is "OK," no better or worse than eBay or Hipstamp (nor Delcampe, etc.). There are a couple of good items listed through APS that are priced well, and I'm a bit surprised no-one has purchased them (I don't need them, or I would have). I haven't had much luck on Hipstamp or its previous incarnations over the years -- not really Hip's fault, though -- if it isn't listed I can't buy it! There is some very nice material in my area listed on both Hip and eBay, and it is typically listed for a bit less on Hipstamp. The listing dealer also has has the material listed on his website for less than either eBay or Hip, so if there is something I want, I just go to his website and buy it (or make an offer via phone or email).
There are some other decent items listed on Hip -- not scarce, just good quality from what I can tell -- that are priced right.
I haven't purchased anything from APS over the years as I simply haven't found anything I want in acceptable condition.
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re: APS store on Hipstamp
It would be interesting to hear sellers perspectives - are they selling? I know some here sell on hipstamp. I never have made a purchase at hipstamp.
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re: APS store on Hipstamp
I sell on Hipstamp (Troutbum Stamps) mostly Canada and provinces, and some BC Caribbean. Less than a year so far. What specific questions do you have? Happy to give you my thoughts. BTW.....I believe it's only the APS listings charging minimum $5 USA shipping. Other Hip dealers set their own terms/rates.
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re: APS store on Hipstamp
There was a comment that APS store items were higher priced but are they higher priced compared to other sellers? I know some sellers here would charge more on hipstamp than SOR. I have no idea how the hipstamps fees add to a price there.
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re: APS store on Hipstamp
Hipstamp, in the program I'm in, charges 3 cents to list, and around 9% of the sale amount. There is an annual fee as well, but I don't remember off the top of my head.I don't worry too much about listing/selling cost as I figure if there are a large number of sellers, then it must be somewhat competitive. I'm more concerned about visitors and shoppers. So far, I would like sales to pick up, but I think (hope) it's coming as I get new buyers. I average probably 3-4 buyers a week. Some buyers purchase a single, some sets, and some multiple individual stamps. I specialize in a few countries, so as to be better at IDs, and hope for regular repeat business. That is happening, albeit slowly. I try to not list anything under $2, and have a few listings over $100. I try to sell mostly unused stamps from mid 1800s up to 1940.
Looking at Canada stamps for sale here, I see nothing over a few dollars. Was I looking in the wrong place? If not, it just appears that HS and Stamprama are in two completely different markets. No problem with that.
I was an on and off collector for 60 years, but now I buy exclusively for resale, with most of my stuff from collection auction sites. Win some, lose some. I have never purchased stamps on APS. I peruse Ebay, but only occasionally purchase. I find most of their offerings for what I'm looking for to be way overpriced. And I return around 25% of items I purchase due to incorrect descriptions, or faults not disclosed. One regular seller there has decent stamps and low starting auction prices, but IMO uses shill bidders to drive up prices. I am close to the point I will quit looking there at all and stick with auctions. Way too soon to see if my "store" will be successful, but I'm having much fun! And for a full time retiree it fills a large void, when I'm not fishing.
If there are any other questions re: Hipstamp, please ask. Like Stamporama, I find most folks at HS to be wonderful folks, and who help each other regularly answering questions and sharing knowledge.
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12:34:08pm
re: APS store on Hipstamp
I too have a store hosted by HipStamp and business is actually pretty good. Growing every month and year over year.
A couple basic comments regarding the ASP HipStamp store. Fundamentally, the only difference between the former APS StampStore and the "new" APS store is that APS no longer hosts StampStore themselves. They are just hosted by HipStamp now thus saving APS a lot of money (I guess). There are several hundred individual sellers who sell through the APS store and those sellers (APS members) set their own pricing for the items they list in the APS store. The only thing APS actually does is scan the images, list the items in the store, and maintain, process, and ship the sold items. Essentially the APS StampStore staff act just like any other seller on the HipStamp platform except they do not actually provide the material nor set the price. So, the "new" APS store on HipStamp is basically just like the old StampStore, just hosted by HS now.
Grego
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Auctions
re: APS store on Hipstamp
Hello friends!
Do not forget that the prices are not set by the APS, they only receive the stamps from the members and then put them on direct sale. The worrying thing is that many of these lots are fake, others are badly cataloged (perforations, watermark, type of paper, etc.), the registered mail service in the 31x23.7cm envelope in thick carton they usually send is USD$31.10 a Mexico!.
Regards,
Rodolfo
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12:45:28pm
re: APS store on Hipstamp
Good point Rodolfo. Another thing to note is that while someone who wishes to sell something through the APS store must me an APS member, there is no requirement for them to actually be a stamp dealer. There are some who surely are but most likely they are just collectors who are members who are selling extras and duplicates from their own collection. On the flip side, many HipStamp stores are run by professional (either part-time or full-time) stamp dealers, many with years or decades of experience in the business (for better or worse).
Grego
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Approvals
re: APS store on Hipstamp
I have also noticed a number of mis identified stamps...always seemingly favoring the seller. I have the habit of notifying the seller when I notice it, especially in areas which are harder to id...such as Middle East stamps where I specialize, but have had no response from the APS store. Could it be that because they have to refer it to the seller, the lines of communications are not functioning. I checked, and nothing has been corrected in the listings.
The $5 shipping charge is certainly a turn off, no matter what the justification is. You will not see me pick up a low cost stamp with such a shipping add on fee. so what is the point of even listing low cost stamps? As I said before I will probably only use the APS listings on Hipstamp to find the rare and expensive material I am missing...IF the price is right!
rrr...
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03:05:25pm
re: APS store on Hipstamp
APS, HipStamp, SOR, etc.
They are all different platforms with different costs.
Selling through the APS (sales books and online) is easy as members do not have to mess around with shipping sold items. To that end, selling members pay a hefty consignment and handling fees that can be around 40%. Expect pricing of stamps to have to account for that.
HipStamp fees vary based on the seller's store level. It has been partially discussed already here, but you won't find that many stamps there priced at 90% off catalogue value. I believe that most sellers price their material between 40% to 60% of catalogue value.
Stamporama only charges a few dollars a year for selling members. Yes, you will find stamps priced well below those being sold on other platforms. High valued stamps historically rarely sell on SOR.
One will find mis-identified items on all selling platforms. That will never change.
High valued stamps are harder to find, so one will have to dig around various online sites, auction houses, approval dealers, etc. to find them.
One can complain about the pricing of stamps on any platform. Don't like the price? Contact the seller and see if a deal can be worked out, or move on. Try selling stamps on the various platforms for yourself, and see how you would price items based on the fees required to be paid. One will find very quickly that pricing too low will cost.
Greg has stated many times here that his pricing on SOR is lower than on other platforms due to the low cost of doing business. I sell on the three platforms stated in my reply. I concur with what Greg has stated. I also agree with his latest comments elsewhere in this discussion board regarding member attitudes here regarding buying.
Buy or don't buy is an individual's decision. There are many different avenues to go to to find the stamps to fill those pesky empty spaces. Explore them all. None is any better or worse than the other.
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06:40:24pm
Auctions - Approvals
re: APS store on Hipstamp
Micheal:-
I tried the link at the bottom of your post to your Hipstamp Store. It doesn't work.
To everyone else:-
Try the links that you have posted in the Members Area or the bottom of your posts. Many, Many, Many of them do not work!!
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re: APS store on Hipstamp
Michael's link worked fine for me.
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This is my diabetic cat OBI! I think, therefore I am - I think! Descartes, sort of!
27 Dec 2022
07:18:56pm
re: APS store on Hipstamp
I thought it was working for me, it took me in but this was shown as well.
"We couldn't find any matching listings for your search."
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re: APS store on Hipstamp
Michael's link worked fine for me.
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re: APS store on Hipstamp
Michael doesn't ship outside the US, so I can't see any listings either.
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I did look at some listings in the APS Stamp Store yesterday. The mailing costs were a detraction - US $5 min and $1.00 for each 10 additional items. They state they ship in stiff packaging.
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06:35:56am
Auctions - Approvals
re: APS store on Hipstamp
Thanks Dave that explains a lot!!
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re: APS store on Hipstamp
In my purchases, APS used this type of covers.
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I did notify the APS store about a "reprint" (fake) and it was immediately removed. FYI Sp. Andorra #62. So someone is monitoring!
The "reprint" has FAUX at the bottom left. There are two stamps clearly noted as such (with token pricing of $1.29), but the APS store one at full price with the "reprint" mark is gone.
Interesting to see the pricing range on such a stamp. I will never understand how some sellers operate.
rrr...
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re: APS store on Hipstamp
Like Ian,
The link on my postings doesn't work, but it does if you go to the Members Area. Is there a glitch in the system?
Discover hipstamps not long ago and my first impression was, who buys stamps at these prices?
Didn't bother to bookmark the site.
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re: APS store on Hipstamp
Stamp Collecter
I had to laugh when I read your "who buys these stamps at these prices" comment. I sell on Hipstamp and occasionally peruse Ebay for singular inventory buys. I ask myself every time the same question when looking through mint Canada offerings. The"ending soonest" category is overwhelmingly full of auctions with overpriced items with zero bids. Just sayin.
Not sure what you were looking for on Hipstamp, but I don't agree with your assessment. Hip has a ton of sellers who appear to be doing quite well.
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re: APS store on Hipstamp
My last catalog and by last I mean LAST, is the 2017 Ed. of Scott, hipstamps has some stamps listed at full catalog value.
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re: APS store on Hipstamp
Some stamps actually do sell for catalog, and above. I know one HS seller who regularly sells very quality material at quite (IMO) high prices. He also is extremely knowledgeable of his products and the market. Certainly this is not even close to the norm....depends on the stamp. Before I set a price on my own wares, I research prior selling prices on HS. I can tell you with certainty that any sales even mildly approaching cat value are few and far between.You are whitewashing HS unfairly IMO.
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I was looking to fill some holes in my Japan collection, mind you nothing expensive and mostly minimum CV stamps but paying catalog or even double and some times triple is just not my cup of tea. If you feel that I'm whitewashing HS, well you are entitled to your opinion but I prefer to search for stamps somewhere else.
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re: APS store on Hipstamp
When I first looked at HipStamp I thought the same thing... the prices were outrageous! Then I wound up on a few sellers mailing lists and discovered the concept. They regularly post 10% off, 20% off, even 50% off sales. So those prices are jacked to allow for the "sales", which may actually get the stuff down near market price!
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10:51:28pm
re: APS store on Hipstamp
I'm preparing to sell a few stamps on Hipstamp via the APS Stamp Store. The service offered through APS membership makes me think it will be easier than if I setup a personally managed Hipstamp or eBay account. The initial cost is low and if I sell a percentage goes back to the APS, nothing wrong with that.
Geoff
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re: APS store on Hipstamp
I'm unaware of any "concept" on Hipstamp of jacking up list prices and then offering huge discounts. I use discounts primarily to try to move slow stuff, countries I no longer want to offer, or just to try to generate some activity. To say this gimmick is rampant is just not fair. And it certainly is demeaning to HS buyers. Most knowledgable buyers are usually pretty attune to market value when shopping. Are there outliers who practice this "concept"?....Sure. But quite far from the norm in my experience
I can't believe the negativity some folks on this board display re: Hipstamp.
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This is my diabetic cat OBI! I think, therefore I am - I think! Descartes, sort of!
06 Mar 2023
08:21:32am
re: APS store on Hipstamp
I really can't speak to places like Hipstamp but I know of several local antique dealers who would put some prices up quite a bit and then announce a big 25% sale. Very sad to see but it happens. I'm pretty sure other types of stores do it regularly as well!!
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"I went and had a look at their store not bad till you see the postage same price as buying from APS site, $18 to ship one stamp ,they have got to be joking !!!!! Brian"
I ordered some lower cost stamps to infill my Falkland Islands collection, plus a very nice early issue used Bermuda QV with a "K1" cancellation from the APS / Hipstamp store last week. It arrived just three days later. I paid $5.00 postage and handling nothing near the $18 Brian experienced.
David
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re: APS store on Hipstamp
At any given time, there are thousands of stamps on Hipstamp discounted at least 50%
Currently, there are 203,912 such listings. I have no idea how anyone can discount that much, and it's the same sellers over and over. So, yes, they're inflating prices.
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08:52:14am
Auctions - Approvals
re: APS store on Hipstamp
Brian lives in Australia and APS ships items legally. If I go to my local PO and ship a 2 ounce first class parcel with ANYTHING other than a document to Australia the cost is $20.35 to do so legally.
APS is not going to violate the law - most dealers do.
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09:05:09am
Auctions - Approvals
re: APS store on Hipstamp
"Currently, there are 203,912 such listings. I have no idea how anyone can discount that much, and it's the same sellers over and over. So, yes, they're inflating prices."
Outside of the random infrequent sales by small dealers with as basic store to generate business - the majority of these "bogus" sales are generated by the large stores with a premium subscription.
I have been with them since the days of Stampwants, Bidstart, Stanley Gibbons (the dark ages), and now Hipstamp and have had ONE sale to generate business when sales plummeted 80 per cent under Gibbons. I price items to sell - when you do that there is no need for constant sales.
When I buy on Hipstamp (mostly for resale) I browse the small sellers - not the large shops. Easy to find bargains if you spend time looking in the right places,.
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I have a HipStamp store and can appreciate all the comments made, here. It is true, there are quite a few sellers who routinely price their items at 1 or 2 times catalog value, just to run their fake “sales.” I have complained directly to HipStamp about it many times. I’ve tried to explain that that will only hurt HipStamp’s reputation in the long run, but so far it’s been to no avail.
One problem is that many many collectors do not utilize Scott Catalogues (and apparently don’t bother to do comparison shopping) and so are happy to get a perceived “bargain.”
JCPenney found this out. For many years they were using the “Sale!” model and always offering %Off coupons. Then they decided to do away with all the sales and coupons, and switch to an “Everyday low price” model. Even though the new everyday non-sale prices were no higher than what they had been paying before, with sales and coupons, customers stayed away in droves. They no longer perceived the prices as being bargains.
The HS sellers who use the fake Sale scheme are taking advantage of that aspect of human nature. It is fueled, also, by the fact that HS has a search filter to enable customers to “Show Only items on sale 50% or more.”
Of course many customers browsing the listings want to easily find what’s on sale, and when they switch on the 50% Off filter you’ve eliminated 98% of the competition from the customer’s view.
For example, I just checked Germany. Doing a search on the word “Germany” brings up 295,282 listings among 686 dealers. Switch on the 50% Off filter, and now there are only 4,636 listings among 13 dealers. A 98% drop.
The problem is that Rosenberg doesn’t care. It doesn’t matter to him which dealer is making the sale as long as he is getting his cut. He is just fine with letting the shysters do their thing; their money spends just as well.
The only thing that keeps me selling on HS is the fact that ebay is an even worse platform to sell on, and that there is no other viable alternative. Stamps2Go has the most horrible user interface imaginable, Delcampe is Eurocentric and shipping to Europe is simply not (legally) viable, and no other site gets enough traffic to support one dealer, let alone a whole marketplace.
So, until a white knight comes along and gives Rosenberg what he’s obviously conniving for - another lucrative buyout offer - we (the HS dealers who actually care about our customers and offer fair prices and good service) will have to trudge on as best we can.
Thanks for letting me vent.
Ted
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re: APS store on Hipstamp
Thank you, Ted!
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re: APS store on Hipstamp
The "Fake Sale" is really just economic theory in practice. At any given price, there are a certain set of buyers. As price goes up, the number of buyers drops. The fake sale approach just tries to find those buyers at a higher price first then reduce price to improve selling potential. This is tandem with using "on sale" to make it also appear a better bargain than it is.
One business motto is do not leave money on the table - meaning try to get as much as you can first then adjust price. Do not give your best price first.
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re: APS store on Hipstamp
Ted:
"So, until a white knight comes along and gives Rosenberg what he’s obviously conniving for - another lucrative buyout offer"
I don't think there is one in the wings, and the software as it has evolved is really doing a terrible job. I feel, unless it is rewritten from scratch, no buy-out candidate is going to consider it, especially after SG.
But Rosenberg is going to make his cut and not care that much about what you and i think. He only "improves" what he wants.
He is the only game in town now in N America, after ebay which increasingly turns off sellers and buyers alike. And as you said, Delcampe is too Eurocentric.
For the proper use of the 50% 25% or whatever sales filters HS offers, do it by seller only. it works.
My opinion.
rrr...
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Brian lives in Australia and APS ships items legally. If I go to my local PO and ship a 2 ounce first class parcel with ANYTHING other than a document to Australia the cost is $20.35 to do so legally.
So I buy a stamp for $2-00 and the USPS wants to charge $20-35 to ship it to Australia they want their head read IMHO .Is this their directive or the UPU? as I don't think we have the same rule over here?
What is their reasoning behind it?Why is it classed as a parcel?
Brian
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08:32:01pm
Auctions - Approvals
re: APS store on Hipstamp
There are MANY previous threads on this - go to search and search for UPU - here are 3 of them.
https://stamporama.com/discboard/disc_ma ...
https://stamporama.com/discboard/disc_ma ...
https://stamporama.com/discboard/disc_ma ...
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re: APS store on Hipstamp
Almost every seller on SoR, Ebay, Ebid, Hipstamp, Delcampe etc etc etc, defies the UPU. I've had numerous (and I mean dozens) of incoming letters opened by Australia Post for the Border Force, and none have been held, taxed or returned.
It's an entirely unenforceable regulation that is usually avoided by calling the contents "old paper", "printed material" or similar. This is also the reason why many sellers don't include invoices with the material.
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