Calling Attention To Seller Stamp Misidentifacation
I do a lot of browsing and purchasing on Hipstamp. While looking at the stamps, Ii sometimes notice items that are listed with the wrong Scott catalogue number. The items I'm referring to are obviously misidentified, not a stamp that has very subtle differences that are open to debate or need a thorough examination to determine the correct identity. Not wanting to come across as a "know it all" or looking to cause any conflict I usually do not contact the seller about their mistaken catalogue listing. My main objective of contacting a seller would be to help any unsuspecting buyer to not purchase a stamp that is not what they assume it to be. If i were a seller I would want to be informed of any listing mistake that i have posted. Is there some type of protocol on this subject?
Comments
I hate it when I happen to stumble across one of my own, sometimes obvious, errors and I see it has had 200 views, and nobody ever contacted me about it. (Over on HipComic, I found one of my books listed for $1995, because I omitted the decimal point when I entered the price.)
So, yeah, more often than not, the dealer will be grateful for the heads up. And if he's not, at least you've done your part to help a prospective customer.
When I contact another seller, I usually say something like - You might want to take a look at... because I think ...
Like Phil said, the main thing is to be polite.
There are also a couple sellers I know of that have staff that do listings ...and things happen. Wish I could afford me some of that staff, without the things happening I'd be getting stuff done.
Most comments are gracious, but I have also had a couple tell me how stupid I was for making the error. I appreciate either, as I want my listings to be correct, and I thank them for their help either way.
Some however, become defensive, or just ignore it, and when it's something blatant (which I define as more than double CV, particularly for issues that are often 'abused') then I take a second course of action, and I report the item to Hipstamp. Usually that will get the item pulled.
Of course you have a few delusional sellers out there asking crazy pricing for real items... I try to "nudge" them in the right direction, but at the end of the day, it's their option. Sure if you want to ask 3x CV for a Columbian set, you're welcome to do so, and then watch it sit there for 5 years without ever selling...
I think there are 2 types of suppliers here:
Dealers and Sellers
Dealers are the real deal, have in interest in the material they are selling, take every reasonable means to do things right, and when there are mistakes, they do the right thing.
Sellers are just out to get the most out of any listing no matter what. There is one seller here who is ENTIERLY blatant about this, and continuously has their material listed at 2 or 3 times CV, with terrible examples (that you wouldn't pay 20% - 30% of CV for). And it baffles me because it just sits there for year over year, and they have a few 10s of sales a month equating to less than $100. Why? Why why why would you even bother with this?
So any time I see something I'm interested in from a dealer I don't know, the first thing I do is go to their store, sort on "Price high to low", and then look at the material they are offering, including descriptions.
Sellers that just have a 3 -5 word title and a 3 -5 word description for every listing, I just move on from. Anyone that just relies on "See image" and there is only a front photo at low resolution, I just move on from. They aren't taking this seriously, and they are just sellers, not dealers.
Collectors/customers out there in the world would be well advised to take Scott's tips to heart and try to do business with reputable and experienced dealers who take pride in their offerings and their ethics. It will pay for itself in the short and long run.