Ok, Ok Michael I gotta comment on your post three postings back about the costco guy. We sell tons of Latin America on Hipstamp, we sold our native Eastern Europe for three decades and decided to try something new and fresh, not a lot of people doing Latin America, just based on what we saw being advertised at the time say 5 or 6 years back. And just an FYI hipstamp is a fantastic test marketplace, if tomorrow you wake up with an uncontrollable urge to spend a few grand on MNH Bangladesh collections for resale, this site is the place to move them. Anyway, I digress. So were listing material, you know the .25 material, hey we all have those spaces to fill too! and we get a joker who comes along and says, "hey! will you accept .20 for that Venezuela stamp? Seriously? How much of a discount do you really want on a .25, .35, .45 cent stamp? And then this chaser always follow, " well I won't be buying your overpriced junk any time soon"! Then " Such and such is selling it for .17 cents. OK, cool, so why are you still here breaking my .... when you could just buy it from so and so? I like a deal as much as the next guy or gal and if the offer is sensible sure we'll deal, but wow, and we get that a lot, well not as much anymore. A lot of that happened on marketplace, hopefully they stayed there!
And if you read Linn's that's fine, loved racing to work at the stamp & Coin shoppe Saturday mornings in the 70's and placing the new issue in my hot little hands, the articles have just faded away. Anyone remember Dale Pulvers Mexico articles? I collect mexico because of those articles, and joined MEPSI too. How about Michael Rogers Ottoman Empire cancelled in the Yemen articles, there were two of them? Now that's me & kitty's playground! Miss those days, Oh well. Not a Linn's basher, just getting old I suppose, ha!
Most of us are getting old. LOL I have been doing this for almost 50 years now selling in a few stores, a lot of shows and on the internet but one thing I have learned an item is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. I myself also miss the old Linn's but "the times they are a changing".
Michael has the right idea when you list items on eBay and then sync them on here. I am finally going to start doing that since I have been on eBay since '99 plus a few other sites but Mark has a good thing going here as long as he keeps the marketing thing going. There is a lot of Marketing things that can be done as I have had a lot of experience doing that when I was running shows back in the early '80's to the mid '90's. That is what gets the message out to the people.
Having been in the coin business also one thing that everyone has to realize including the buyers is that what once was a quarter back in the early '60's is now a lot more money. That quarter is now worth $3.00+ on the market. Postage back then was 4 cents and it is now 50 cents. Sorting and listing an item takes time and time is money. Many of our customers have not come to that realization. My dad who is 93 is aghast that a gallon of gas which used to be a quarter is now $3.00. That is the reality.
I am just selling off all of the excess items I have accumulated over the years from collections I have bought and have no cost left in them at all. This is just something I do in my retirement to keep me busy. Unfortunately a lot of the people I that we deal with are also up there in age and they need to be trained as to what life was back then and what it is now.
Bill I am old. In 1970 I bought a perfect used Mustang 289 convertible for $600 then a used 62 corvette 327 in showroom condition for $2000. You can't do that now!!! Talk about prices, I see the average selling price of both say a stamp and coin ( I collect both ) at fair buy it now price,say $30.Then others list the exact same ones for hundreds of dollars more. I also see buyers bid way higher than what they could have paid for the exact now price listing. People are strange (the Doors). Oh yes also rented 3bdr house across from the beach on Maui Hi. yes those were the days my friend I thought they'd never end.
$300 Maui house back in 1975. Hotel room in Waikiki $10 a night one block to beach !!! been there done that. Wish I'd saved all my silver quarters then.
I as a buyer very rarely use ebay now, I consider the quality, the sellers, and the format of the Hip site are more superior including the atmosphere being more relaxing than the so called feebay. I must admit I had a lot of problems working the navigation and format of Hipstamp site out at the start but I am now getting around this quite ok. The communication has been great from people answering my queries from the seller to managemment. I have not yet had one instance of lack of comminication between buyer and seller, I have also have received many forum and help responses from management.
Once I never received feedback but I can say now that the lack of communication and many times the lack of feedback that eventuated on Ebay were over the top. I also found (as far as Australian Ebay goes) the philatelic auctions are absolutely cut throat. There are to many rough handling collectors selling off their poor quality stock at premium prices. I had one example of receiving a $70 hard to come by Australian pre decimal with a tear halfway through the stamp and receiving an abusive comminique from the seller that I tore it myself?? There must have been gremlins in the mail that day!
On Ebay I have received Adhesions, creases, rough handling dimples and tricky trumped up descriptions. These are the very reasons I am with Hip, I have only had one instance of lack of feedback on this site and from the forums to management to sellers comminques Hip have excelled compared to Ebay. Finally, and I am not peeing in someones pocket when I make this statement, I love the consistant Mint to MNH quality I am receiving from sellers on my Hipstamp purchases compared to Aus ebay.
Cheers Pete, East Gippsland, Australia
ps There are many fair dinkum sellers on Aus Ebay but sifting the bad out and finding them is the problem
Comments
Most of us are getting old. LOL
I have been doing this for almost 50 years now selling in a few stores, a lot of shows and on the internet but one thing I have learned an item is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.
I myself also miss the old Linn's but "the times they are a changing".
Michael has the right idea when you list items on eBay and then sync them on here. I am finally going to start doing that since I have been on eBay since '99 plus a few other sites but Mark has a good thing going here as long as he keeps the marketing thing going. There is a lot of Marketing things that can be done as I have had a lot of experience doing that when I was running shows back in the early '80's to the mid '90's. That is what gets the message out to the people.
Having been in the coin business also one thing that everyone has to realize including the buyers is that what once was a quarter back in the early '60's is now a lot more money. That quarter is now worth $3.00+ on the market. Postage back then was 4 cents and it is now 50 cents. Sorting and listing an item takes time and time is money. Many of our customers have not come to that realization. My dad who is 93 is aghast that a gallon of gas which used to be a quarter is now $3.00. That is the reality.
I am just selling off all of the excess items I have accumulated over the years from collections I have bought and have no cost left in them at all. This is just something I do in my retirement to keep me busy. Unfortunately a lot of the people I that we deal with are also up there in age and they need to be trained as to what life was back then and what it is now.
Once I never received feedback but I can say now that the lack of communication and many times the lack of feedback that eventuated on Ebay were over the top. I also found (as far as Australian Ebay goes) the philatelic auctions are absolutely cut throat. There are to many rough handling collectors selling off their poor quality stock at premium prices. I had one example of receiving a $70 hard to come by Australian pre decimal with a tear halfway through the stamp and receiving an abusive comminique from the seller that I tore it myself?? There must have been gremlins in the mail that day!
On Ebay I have received Adhesions, creases, rough handling dimples and tricky trumped up descriptions. These are the very reasons I am with Hip, I have only had one instance of lack of feedback on this site and from the forums to management to sellers comminques Hip have excelled compared to Ebay. Finally, and I am not peeing in someones pocket when I make this statement, I love the consistant Mint to MNH quality I am receiving from sellers on my Hipstamp purchases compared to Aus ebay.
Cheers Pete, East Gippsland, Australia
ps There are many fair dinkum sellers on Aus Ebay but sifting the bad out and finding them is the problem