closing times for wednesday listings

[KWALITY STAMPS 10]

I feel that BoB should have a cut off time for the crazy Wednesday listings, it gets quite irritating that you make sure your listing is up, pay your R20 to make sure it is on the front page and then suddenly, on the Wednesday, all your listings are scattered all over the place because someone has come in late and listed 20 items. I would appreciate feedback on this.

 

Also, how about some of the crap that gets listed, including forgeries that are listed as genuine with extremely high cv's, yet you can see they are forgeries. I agree with Dstorm, some sort of group to control and keep the crap out. Most buyers on BoB are new, they think that they are buying investment stamps, i wonder what will happen in 10 years time when they try and sell the item? Anyway, i am now rambling on. The mind boggles, many things to discuss and not enough time.

 

Maybe an idea would be, that by the Sunday morning or the end of the day, before BoB turn on the next weeks listing, you must have loaded at least 80% of your listings, with the remaining 20% by end of business of Tuesday. (This week, on Sunday, their was about 140 listings, nealry all of it was good material, really good material, I got excited, finally, BoB was going back to the good old days, no so many listings and good quality stuff. by the end of Monday, their was 180 listings, still good stuff. I went on this morning and their was 287 listings and i had to trawl through so much **** to find the items i had spotted the previous day. (I know, i knwo, some people will say but you should have tracked it) Tracking is fine if it is a few items, but when you identify 40 items, well.. Anyway. I hope you all did well tonight.

 

Happy bidding and so on - Savo

[dstorm 10]

Hello Savo

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

Whether a person lists 50 stamps catalogued at R10-00 each or one catalogued at R10 000-00 is immaterial to me. I feel that the item(s) should be correctly described. Some of the very cheap stamps are surprisingly difficult to find!

 

I agree, while forgeries should be allowed (this is a very important collecting / study field by itself) they should in ALL cases carry a disclaimer. But this is simply not happening. People are burning their fingers and they just do not know it!

 

Regards

 

Jacques

[KWALITY STAMPS 10]

Thanks Jacques

Finally I am on... Can anyone stop me... anyway.. I do agree, 100 items or 1 item, description is the key. My favourite, I don't really know the value, but a friend told me it is worth ... or when someone puts up a whole sheet of badly cancelled stamps and then tells you that they are worth x amount.. This type of thing does create a bad name for dealers. Because of sites like BoB, a whole new wave of collectors have come into the fore, most of these guys haven't seen the Gibbon's catalogue and so, they have to take the dealer's word and that is a tricky thing. What is a stamp worth? The catalogue says £200, is it really worth £200 (maybe we should do a whole discussion around this topic, this might actually help the buyers) as I am getting away from the main topic which is the cutting off time for BoB on the Wednesday listings? Let's get some feedback on that one.

[gabriel 1 11]

Hi

 

You guys have no idea how long it took me to find a Basutoland 3 penny stamp unmounted mint in order to complete the definitive set. The 1954 definitive set, Cat R350, not as common as say Small Wars, Cat R465.

 

As far as description is concerned, if you are not sure or have no idea, don't try and make it up, there is a big difference between Lightly Hinged and Unmounted Mint. Wmk crown over CC, CA or cabled anchor?, they all impact what stamp you have. Shades are often very difficult to determine, especially with used stamps.

 

As sellers we have a responsibility to try and give the potential buyer as much info on the item as possible. Items should only be scanned and not photographed, reference, if possible should be made to catalogues or other sources eg Barefoot, Putzel etc

 

Another option available if you have an item that could be very rare but you are not 100% sure, is to apply for a PFSA Certificate. Once you have received the certificate, you can sell with confidence and because there will be no doubt surrounding the item, you will probably get a better price.

 

The forgery issue is a joke, I don't even want to comment on this.

 

My 5c worth

 

Gabriel1

[KWALITY STAMPS 10]

I agree

 

Before I go, I thought I better agree with Gabriel, if you are not sure, then just ask, in my case i normally phone or show Jacques, he has a great wealth of knowledge and should be on some advisory commitee, a questionable stamp and then he will clarify it for me.

 

I also agree, scanning rather than pictures, this is one of those rare moments where a picture doesn;t say a thousand words, but ratehr the scanning does. So come on guys, scanners are cheap, you are using a computer to load your items, attach a scanner and viola.

 

must go

savo

[dstorm 10]

Thanks Gabriel1: Items should only be scanned and not photographed.

 

Thanks Savo: scanning rather than pictures.

 

Where do you buy a printer nowadays that does not have a scanner attached? Yes, you do get the (semi) professional ones, all priced a few thousand upwards.

 

A seller who uses a photo instead of a quality scan is hiding something. Take the photo, attach the camera to the computer, download the picture. Why go to all this trouble? Why not simply scan in the first place? Rather use a brown filter to hide the rust intrusion? (which devalues a stamp by up to 95%?).

 

As Gabriel1 said: “And description is the key. My favourite, I don't really know the value, but a friend told me it is worth….â€

 

A couple of weeks ago a VERY SUCCESFULL REGULAR seller had a normal Roto 2/6 up on auction, stating that some expert told him that it was in fact the London 2/6. You could see it a mile away! Is this not criminal? Did he not admit his own lack of knowledge in the first place? I never had the heart to go back and look what this common pair eventually sold for. But some trusting (and very valuable) collector got taken for a ride.

 

As Savo said, we are gaining so many new collectors. BidorBuy gave a new dimension to dealing in this country and we should be thankful for that. I am in the game long term. What can we do to make the “fly by nighters†toe the line?

 

Regards

 

Jacques

[ISITAMPO AFRICA 10]

General

 

I have started to read most items posted in the stamp forum as there are many topics I must say I find it quite informative and then quite funny. Discussions over the spelling of Collectable versus Collectible to the hidden identity of Gabriel1. What does disgust me is that people can take a BSAC 10 pound stamp which is revenue used which I have traded at R350-450 and list at R20 000 plus this scares me. Pricing is always a interesting game and yes catalogues are not always 100% accurate. As a auctioneer finding the market value of a item is always interesting. My first question is what would I pay this becomes my lower estimate or my reserve price. Placing this item in a healthy competitive auction normally establishes my market price. However items also hit record highs and the find an acceptable market value eg. recently a group of special Mandela covers were sold the first set sold on auction at R1250, the second set at R750 and the third set at R650. The market value is now R450 to save the product and keep the price stable it has now been removed from the market place until the selling climate is right or demand is shown again.

After all how does one piece of paper have more value than another.

The answer is simple market and collector perception. Lets say I have a product how can I maximise the items market value. Firstly if unusual I can certify the item, I can then place an artical in one of the Philatelic magizines (people like stories ie why is the item rare who owned it how did the item come about etc) this is the added value ie add information (knowledge) to a product it does not just benifit the researcher but the end buyer to. Visual exposure is next quality scan showing all positives and maybe also defects, give honest information do not disguise the fact or rather ignore the fact that there is something wrong eg of hidden information and questions that should be asked was the item postally used or was it used for revenue purpouses easy one think about it how many items in 1898 had a 10 pound stamp when postage was between half a penny to a few shillings for a registered or parcel item. Then it also gets tricky has the item been cleaned meaning was it pen cancelled for revenue, the pen mark removed and then regummed to appear mint. Obviously one does not ask this when spending a hundred rand but when one gets to a thousand plus one needs to check this. Is the responsibility of a site that sells stamps not two fold, lets educate the buyer so he can buy better build a great collection which will give him resale potential in the future and make him proud to show to fellow collectors. And does the seller or dealer not feel that he should build a positive healthy image in the stap trade reputation is the key to survival, not of the individual seller or dealer but to the hobbies survival. Have a great Christmas and a happy new year to all. Clinton G