Carol Brooks: My example did not say we would ban perfins, fancy cancels, numeral cancels. My example was #246 used and if you look at the current listings there are no perfins, fancy cancels or numeral cancels shown and while perfins are fairly common on #246 they would not be affected. On another site I mentioned that a "Formosa" squared circle had sold twice while I was there and one time for over $10,000. CDN. Pages of the same common stamp with no merit to them are not the same as what you are talking about with fancy cancels, etc. We shouldn't fear monger.
How would you differentiate perfins, cancels, blocks, etc when they all included the same catalog number in the description? The "sorter" is going to look for the catalog number and seller and when it sees that John Doe has 500 of one catalog number how are you going to have it differentiate perfins from precancels from blocks, etc.
If I am not allowed to offer legitimately different variations of the same stamp I will be out of here. Life is way too short to have someone decide that what I am listing is too close to something else I am listing. I have 20 or more copies of many of almost identical perfins - all have different numbers because there are small variations in the punch holes (AT&T for example). So if I list 20 copies of one Scott number all having AT&T perfins (all different) do I need to pay extra?
It is a legitimate question and a legitimate problem. A computer can't tell the difference and I don't think that Hipstamp has the manpower to police all of the sellers to make certain that they aren't exceeding some limit. Why the insistence on complicating life?
If we had the ability to block sellers would you be happy or is there some reason that won't work?
You have previously compared listings of Canada #246 used (Scott 25c) with Great Britain #33 and say you sold a plate 222 used (I guess) and this catalogues US$52,50 in 2015 Scott's. Great Britain #33 comes with plates from 71 to 225 as you know with plate 73 listed as US.$500,000 used or more in current Scott catalogue. This number 33 also comes with numerous letters in corners in a reconstructed sheet. Are you saying that if you had too many GB #33 listed you would object to paying a few cents for a listing of one of the scarce plates. Since there are so many variations of this stamp I doubt they would try to charge you any extra fee for listing one of the variations. I know if I had a GB #33 plate 73 I would not object to paying a small fee for listing it if I had too many GB #33 used listed. My talk of a fee was to give an idea for all the people who want to get the poor and repeated listings out of Hip Stamps. Just food for thought. Most participants on this site are working on a better Hip Stamps.
As someone who uses Hipstamps (as a buyer) on a daily basis I am generally prepared to trawl through any number of repeat listings to try and find a specific stamp and have dealt with sellers to find stamps I need if I feel they may a stamp variety I am chasing that may not have appeared in their multi-listing. I have no problem with wading through multiple listings of the same stamp in the hope of finding a stamp that I need. I may only spend a couple of hundred dollars a month on Hipstamps but it is certainly more than I spend anywhere else these days.
My feeling is that sellers have every right to display all their wares, even if it means I have to spend a little extra time in the search. What would be fantastic is if every dealer listed only the stamps that I need! That would be the ultimate Hipstamp experience..
How is my blocking a seller going to affect sales? I have or had no intention of buying from said "blocked seller" anyway. My blocking a seller will have no effect on your searches, only mine. Please give us the block seller option.
Some sellers have used the Hip option of blocking buyers and it sounds like a good idea to me for buyers to be able to block sellers. I live in Canada and some sellers (one I tried to check store items at) have blocked buyers from Canada from looking at lots listed in such a sellers store on Hip Stamp. A Canadian can go to such a store but the material is not displayed for a buyer in Canada to examine. He just sees the introductory few items leading into the store and the rest is not available to even be able to look at.
I believe Hipstamp blocks viewing inventory of sellers who do not sell to the country you are registered in. Sellers do not have the ability to block anyone as far as I know. Not certain but it might be possible to view such inventory using incognito mode (chrome) or private mode (firefox).
I have not been in this thread for a while, and saw that you wrote the following on July 16:
“How would you differentiate perfins, cancels, blocks, etc when they all included the same catalog number in the description? The "sorter" is going to look for the catalog number and seller and when it sees that John Doe has 500 of one catalog number how are you going to have it differentiate perfins from precancels from blocks, etc.”
I have put the following words in my title: Precancel, Circular Cancel, Slogan Cancel, plate no, perfin.
You can go to my store and put these words in the search and all my items will come up. My store is HdStampHunter. I used to have this info in my description, and moved them to the title. The search engine finds my identified items.
We used to be able to create custom searches in BidStart. Unfortunately, we can no longer do that, so this fix works just fine.
I generally do that and also add stock numbers to CDS, Fancy, slogan and other categories as well as identify the perfins by Perfins Club number. Just checked my store and need to add a bunch of everything .... if only I could stay awake 24 hours a day !!
My concern was what criteria would be used to determine what constituted a duplicate listing. I have hundreds of fancy cancels on #65's and thousands on 3 cent banknotes - if all the crawler is going to look for is catalog number they would all be duplicate listings. To think that a human would look at each situation defies logic. I suppose that I could use Skinner-Eno, Herst (Zareski or Sampson). Salkind or Cole numbers but would the crawler pick up on those, or would it even pick up on the major categories that used to be custom searches on Bidstart (CDS, etc) in determine who would be charged extra.
My other concern is what business is it of anyone what a dealer chooses to list. I have no identical used #65's (or mint ones for that matter). Each copy is different from the other in centering, cancellation, perf separation neatness, freshness, color, condition, faults, etc. If I want to offer all grades (from AV to XF), colors, cancellations, and things like double impressions why should I be forced to pay extra just because the catalog number (but not the stamp) is identical?
Just my opinion - I know others love to dictate what other dealers should do.
Regarding the question of whether this site should provide buyers the ability to block sellers, I do not believe that this should be permitted. As a seller, and thus who pays fees for the use of the site, I believe that the site has the obligation to bring as many buyers into the site as it can for its sellers. Permitting buyers to programmatically block sellers from their searches imposes limits by the site management on the number of buyers a seller will have access to, thus potentially impacting potential sales for that seller. With the direct limitation of buyers having access to a seller's items, will the site reduce the fees for each seller for each user who blocks that seller?
Buyers who do not want to see a certain seller's items need to find their own way to avoid that seller through the available search engines, but not through direct intervention by the site programming. Such interferes in the role between the site and its sellers.
Whether I am a buyer or a seller, I should have the ability to block another person. This in no way impacts on my sales, or on the other person's sales. In BidStart, we had the option to block someone. I have been with StampWants/BidStart since 2005, and we had this feature then. I actually used it twice in that timeframe, once to block a buyer that I had a bad experience with, and once to block a seller that I did not want to have business with.
My blocking someone does not impact on sales, since I do not want to deal with that person for whatever reason. It simply removes their items from my view. And since there are thousands of buyers on the site, how can one or two people wanting to remove a certain person from view justify reducing the monthly fees?
There is not a way without programming it into the system, to filter someone out of a general search. What are you going to put in the search criteria box? USA 255 except for StampSeller25?
Mark, I'd really appreciate the option to block a seller. I've told you about RETIRED who sells cheap junk stamps at high prices, ripping off newer collectors, bit nothing is done about it.
Forgive me for butting in here, but sometimes people forget that this is not their website. They are guests and users here. nothing more. As such, they don't make demands. They politely make requests. If things don't move along to one's liking, that's too bad. The choice is to be patient, or leave. If you want the "perfect" website, you can always create your own.
I communicated directly with Mark when Bidstart became HipStamp regarding blocking sellers, so this certainly isn't a new issue.
I want to block all sellers that:
1. refuse to show a pic of every item 2. use stock images 3. upload pictures where it is possible to count individual pixels 4. list rubbish 5. refuse to sell to Australia, or expect payment in cash or cheque 6. list by Scott number, such as "Australia 54" (wait while I scurry to my dusty Scott to identify stamp and YEAR!) 7. charge additional item fees
There's many more reasons, but you get my gist. This is a major failing of HipStamp, and the reason I don't spend much here. Like Mark, (who is a friend of mine), I have cash to spend, but I do it, in the main, elsewhere. I don't fill album slots, I hunt for varieties and interesting pieces. Accordingly, I can't simply search by catalogue number, I need to browse. As HipStamp stands, I can't do this without slipping into a coma after seeing dozens of the same 2c stamp. If I can't find them, I can't buy them.
The issues I've listed above apply to Delcampe as well, but I can, and do, block sellers there. I sell on Ebay, Ebid, and my own website, but not on Delcampe or HipStart, as I doubt I would be found amongst the dross.
Dave, I personally disagree with your #6. Here in America I mainly rely on Scott Catalogue as a reference. I use Scott's because I simply can not afford every single reference catalogue printed on the face of the Earth. If this offends you, then do not purchase items from my store, it's okay. As far as everything else you have listed I agree. Might as well be able to block certain buyers while we're at it.
Of course, no one can afford every catalogue, but simply adding a year to the title helps everyone. Hipstamp isn't an American site, there's no such thing these days, so at least a nod to non-Scott users would be helpful
Dave, this will be a tongue-in-cheek comment, so please don't take this seriously, okay?
So far from what I've seen as a want list for sellers to list on the title is catalogue number from various publishers, the condition of the stamp, the year, the name of the stamp, mint, used, hinged, unhinged, the shipping costs, any and all faults, and probably many other parts of information all within 60 something characters. This is not possible as I see it. What is wrong with all of that information in the description area?
I know when I'm after a stamp I read the description and while some will tell me all about the life and times and not a bit about the stamp, I still am willing to open the listing and check it out.
I guess I can please some of the buyers, but not all of the buyers. However I think we all agree the blocking feature is a wonderful tool.
Comments
I believe that subject is then deserving of it's own thread.
If I am not allowed to offer legitimately different variations of the same stamp I will be out of here. Life is way too short to have someone decide that what I am listing is too close to something else I am listing. I have 20 or more copies of many of almost identical perfins - all have different numbers because there are small variations in the punch holes (AT&T for example). So if I list 20 copies of one Scott number all having AT&T perfins (all different) do I need to pay extra?
It is a legitimate question and a legitimate problem. A computer can't tell the difference and I don't think that Hipstamp has the manpower to police all of the sellers to make certain that they aren't exceeding some limit. Why the insistence on complicating life?
If we had the ability to block sellers would you be happy or is there some reason that won't work?
My feeling is that sellers have every right to display all their wares, even if it means I have to spend a little extra time in the search. What would be fantastic is if every dealer listed only the stamps that I need! That would be the ultimate Hipstamp experience..
So when I'm in a buying mood, how do I exclude seeing all my own listings ???
My blocking a seller will have no effect on your searches, only mine. Please give us the block seller option.
I have not been in this thread for a while, and saw that you wrote the following on July 16:
“How would you differentiate perfins, cancels, blocks, etc when they all included the same catalog number in the description? The "sorter" is going to look for the catalog number and seller and when it sees that John Doe has 500 of one catalog number how are you going to have it differentiate perfins from precancels from blocks, etc.”
I have put the following words in my title: Precancel, Circular Cancel, Slogan Cancel, plate no, perfin.
You can go to my store and put these words in the search and all my items will come up. My store is HdStampHunter. I used to have this info in my description, and moved them to the title. The search engine finds my identified items.
We used to be able to create custom searches in BidStart. Unfortunately, we can no longer do that, so this fix works just fine.
Sincerely, Steve
My concern was what criteria would be used to determine what constituted a duplicate listing. I have hundreds of fancy cancels on #65's and thousands on 3 cent banknotes - if all the crawler is going to look for is catalog number they would all be duplicate listings. To think that a human would look at each situation defies logic. I suppose that I could use Skinner-Eno, Herst (Zareski or Sampson). Salkind or Cole numbers but would the crawler pick up on those, or would it even pick up on the major categories that used to be custom searches on Bidstart (CDS, etc) in determine who would be charged extra.
My other concern is what business is it of anyone what a dealer chooses to list. I have no identical used #65's (or mint ones for that matter). Each copy is different from the other in centering, cancellation, perf separation neatness, freshness, color, condition, faults, etc. If I want to offer all grades (from AV to XF), colors, cancellations, and things like double impressions why should I be forced to pay extra just because the catalog number (but not the stamp) is identical?
Just my opinion - I know others love to dictate what other dealers should do.
https://www.hipstamp.com/listing/2017-p-bu-shield-penny-only-time-the-mint-printed-p-in-history-will-end-soon/17389593
I found this and others with this search
https://www.hipstamp.com/category/united-states/?sort=started_desc&parent_id=12&country=2084
Buyers who do not want to see a certain seller's items need to find their own way to avoid that seller through the available search engines, but not through direct intervention by the site programming. Such interferes in the role between the site and its sellers.
Whether I am a buyer or a seller, I should have the ability to block another person. This in no way impacts on my sales, or on the other person's sales. In BidStart, we had the option to block someone. I have been with StampWants/BidStart since 2005, and we had this feature then. I actually used it twice in that timeframe, once to block a buyer that I had a bad experience with, and once to block a seller that I did not want to have business with.
My blocking someone does not impact on sales, since I do not want to deal with that person for whatever reason. It simply removes their items from my view. And since there are thousands of buyers on the site, how can one or two people wanting to remove a certain person from view justify reducing the monthly fees?
There is not a way without programming it into the system, to filter someone out of a general search. What are you going to put in the search criteria box? USA 255 except for StampSeller25?
I communicated directly with Mark when Bidstart became HipStamp regarding blocking sellers, so this certainly isn't a new issue.
I want to block all sellers that:
1. refuse to show a pic of every item
2. use stock images
3. upload pictures where it is possible to count individual pixels
4. list rubbish
5. refuse to sell to Australia, or expect payment in cash or cheque
6. list by Scott number, such as "Australia 54" (wait while I scurry to my dusty Scott to identify stamp and YEAR!)
7. charge additional item fees
There's many more reasons, but you get my gist. This is a major failing of HipStamp, and the reason I don't spend much here. Like Mark, (who is a friend of mine), I have cash to spend, but I do it, in the main, elsewhere. I don't fill album slots, I hunt for varieties and interesting pieces. Accordingly, I can't simply search by catalogue number, I need to browse. As HipStamp stands, I can't do this without slipping into a coma after seeing dozens of the same 2c stamp. If I can't find them, I can't buy them.
The issues I've listed above apply to Delcampe as well, but I can, and do, block sellers there. I sell on Ebay, Ebid, and my own website, but not on Delcampe or HipStart, as I doubt I would be found amongst the dross.
So far from what I've seen as a want list for sellers to list on the title is catalogue number from various publishers, the condition of the stamp, the year, the name of the stamp, mint, used, hinged, unhinged, the shipping costs, any and all faults, and probably many other parts of information all within 60 something characters. This is not possible as I see it. What is wrong with all of that information in the description area?
I know when I'm after a stamp I read the description and while some will tell me all about the life and times and not a bit about the stamp, I still am willing to open the listing and check it out.
I guess I can please some of the buyers, but not all of the buyers. However I think we all agree the blocking feature is a wonderful tool.