Weird Instruction on Listing Page

I (figuratively) never list manually. Just now while doing a manual listing, I came across this "warning" box:
Image1

What does this even mean???
As far as I can see, there is nothing on the listing form that even pertains to HipValue, much less have anything to do with ensuring Country, Catalog Number; and Category show it. What's up with that

Comments

  • 9 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • That's the default message one gets if the system can't recognize the item you are listing. If it were to recognize the listing, it would instead tell you what the "HipValue" for that item averages.
  • edited December 2022 0 LikesVote Down
    Then that is even weirder, because I filled in that information on the listing form. They can't use that information to determine the HipValue?

    Edit: Evidently not; none of the other listings for Southern Rhodesia #42-54 show a HV.
  • I pity those that treat "Hipvalue" as gospel. The used Hipvalue of a US Scott #210 USED is ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, drumroll please - $7.00. :)
    A stock-sheet of 50 used #210 would be hard pressed to get $7.00. The same is true for many of the early cheaps - #213 at $2.75, #231 at $1.00.
  • No, "HipValue" is an aggregate of items sold on the site. It's their algorithm. I find it of very little value because it combines anything with a particular Scott # and country. Used, MNH, On cover, NG, OG, FDC, doesn't distinguish. So the aggregated value is of little use unless ALL of the listings it's using are of the same overall condition (it also does not distinguish centering). So these issues all combined are left with an almost always very low-ball amount, which I think is now causing more distraction to buyers than usefulness, because they see my XF MNH listing at $3,000 and "HipValue" is telling them $76 (extrapolating an example, but I've seen this kind of disparity in Value vs Listing). So the buyer looks at that and goes "Wow, that' guy is crazy", and then they skip my listing and go buy some used, creased, improperly described item for $76, and they get what they pay for. But if you ask them about the stamp later they will say "I got a $5,000 for $76 on HipStamp, that place is great!"

    Yeah, mixed message there right?
  • It is misleading the way they have it set up. I suspect this is Hip's version of eBay's 'sold' category where you can look up what similar items previously sold for. The only way to get any worth out of HipValue is to go to the actual page itself and find items that are similar to yours, ignoring their aggregate value in its entirety.
  • Agree George.
    I think it started out ok, but as it's grown, the "normalization" is detrimental to high value items.
    Ironically, if they built the route correctly, (and by that I mean making it easy to programmatically improve the capability over time), then it should not be a big deal to at least separate by category, and preferably by category (used, unused, on cover, etc), and by centering (even if it is "self proclaimed" centering), or better, only aggregate centering when there is an accompanying graded cert.
    Lots of ways to make that feature actually useful. It's the right idea with the wrong implementation.
  • Hip value is a bunch of garbage since the average price is no where near the value they use.
    They do not want to use the way eBay does and just list the sold items.
    Very poor programming.
  • I actually look at HipValue when posting. But, I dig deeper and look at the actual recent sales before deciding on a price to set. In a few instances recently, I increased my asking price a bit, and sold the stamps. The number itself doesn't mean anything to me....it's the recent sales (plural) of similar (condition) stamps. If there are no recent sales, I don't factor HipValue into my pricing.
  • I consider Scott and SMQ when deciding value. I never look at recent Hip sales, or HipValue when setting starting prices, or store prices.
    Scott is not without it's faults, but typically is reasonably in the realm for most Front of Book, and the "Usual suspect" from Back of Book. But, when you get into the lesser known areas like Private Die, Essays, and Tax stamps, it is sometimes wildly inaccurate. SMQ only works for Front of Book, and typical BoB, with a few territories thrown in, but none of the more interesting revenues, tax, beer, cordial and wine... so those you just need to "know your material'.
Sign In or Register to comment.