Unfortunately this seller is currently running another auction. I noticed that he is receiving bids from apparently someone new to HipStamp as he only has 23 feedback. Hopefully this won't turn this new collector off.
That's a pretty shady practice, running penny auctions, then making up for the low price with excessive incremental shipping charges. If you don't want your stuff selling for a penny, don't run penny auctions.
The 1990 Montana duck is no longer on sale, but you can still buy it to 6.95 with 5.95 shipping; however if you want the 1988 Montana duck the price is 9.95 with 9.95 shipping. For a shipping bargain try the 1982 South Carolina duck is only 99 cents. If you want a second stamp of any of these, simply double the shipping cost of your choice.
Yes I think we should. One seller, who goes by RETIRED lists common U.S. stamps that should sell for a few pennies at two three or four dollars each. It is sad to see new collectors being ripped off who will then develop a bad impression of Hobby and sellers in general as a result. I have called this to the attention of the administrators of this site but they refuse to do anything about it. By far the overwhelming number of sellers that I have dealt with on this site have been outstanding.
Mark I have a followup question relating to shipping costs. Using the seller in questions various initial and incremental shipping costs, how does HipStamp determine which to use? Also as a buyer would I be obligated to make the purchase if the shipping charges were far greater than I had anticipated? For example, if I had checked the shipping costs on one item and saw both the initial and incremental shipping costs were 99 cents and decided to purchase 5 items with an expected total charge of $4.95 only to find the total cost billed to be $49.95 because one item had shipping costs of $9.95 plus $9.95. I know as a seller, the system charged my buyer the higher cost when two different rates were present in the same order. This happened when stamps were transferred in with a higher shipping costs and I hadn't yet reduced them. Neither of us charged an incremental rate, hence my initial question.
HipStamp will select the highest shipping amount from all items to use first, then use the additional rate for all other items.
If shipping charges are simply higher than you anticipated, because you had not reviewed the per item and additional per item rate on all of the items you were bidding on (this is inapplicable to store items, since you would see the shipping costs before you checked out and paid), you would generally still be responsible for paying for the order. The only exception would be if the shipping amount resulted in a violation of our terms and conditions. For example, you win 20 items at auction for 20¢ total, and the shipping is $50 - this is likely a violation of our terms and conditions - though that's a general statement, and we would need to review any specific cases.
Some collectors like to collect the Edge positions of booklet panes. They even go to the extreme of wanting the squiggly lines of the cancel to line up. This is an inexpensive hoby for many retired collectors. In order to satisfy this need of the penny hole syndrome. I started listing inexpensive stamps. I found they sold better and more actual NET profit was made from these stamps ( about $8 an hour fairly steady ). Figure it out I could list 1,000 in about 4 hours. Identification and checking for obvious faults about 8 hours. Pulling the items to ship about 500 in 8 hours. Minimum wage is $8.75 in most cities $7.75 federally.if you consider in some returns, Refunds and everything else to do this kind of project. Actual net of $5-$6 an hour. However then you can list and make the sale of a better item and make 20% ( Assuming you double your money ) net profit after HipStamp, PayPal, Taxes, C.P.A. Etc... However it is very therapeutic for those involved in collecting inexpensive stamps. This is a Hobby first and not at all about money. Stamp Values have steadily declined over the last 15 years ( with a few exceptions ). The internet flooded the market and is only now finally starting to subside. On orders under a certain amount a shipping charge has to be there. At some point the printer, Computer wear out. Also Paper envelopes. Etc... My biggest was 4 stamps @ .10 and paypal got it all for the stamps. Without my $2 shipping there would be nothing for the .04 HipStamp Fees or the .02 used Glassine ( New are $40 per 1,000 or .04 each ) .01 envelope, Gas and time to go to Post office Etc..... That is why the $2 was only waved after a $30 purchase. This was and is a service to the collecting community. Not everyone can Buy #242's or Zep's everyday. The fact is I'm not selling my $1.00 minimum listing very fast and wish I could go back to the lesser items. But I wanted to try a $1.00 minimum store for 2 years to see if it would work. So far it is a dismal failure Even at less than %50 of Low Brookman retail. Simply put, a living can be made on cheap stamps, But can NOT be made on better items the margin of profit is too small to pay all the fees. Paul Cook
Now all that being said. I was frustrated with the .01 listings and a .25 per item shipping. When I was selling the same item for .10. This was done to stop from paying "StampWant" and "BidStart" fees. Those 2 formats only charged for the actual sale. This site charges for the total including shipping. However the sellers that do this found their listings show up first on the lower to higher price search. Ebay has a higher to lower including shipping. This will not help --- as if you have a minimum shipping of $2 that will be added to each item. Their listing generally are .49 +.25 per item. So the Penny Stamp is .75. The .10 will show as $2.10. There is no easy answer to this. As for the cheap world wide...... I know nothing about world stamps. So I simply listed at a listing fee price and left value to the collectors. I do know some of the Switzerland that I listed Catalogued $1.75. on a spot check. To elaborate on the comment made of narrow margin of profit. A Mint Never Hinged V,f. Zep++++++8% to HipStamps 4% to Paypal off the Top. That means for every $100 I need to get $113. I also am not just putting this in an envelope. insured mail add $3 So now $116. Time for Listing etc.... and everything else involved. I can only pay $80 for every $116 final sale. I make $20. it will sit in the store for over a year Then I can buy lunch. Meanwhile I keep paying those store fees every month. If I take a pound on paper mixture for $20 I can have 4-5,000 .10 to .25 listing and a lot of fun.sorting slogan Cancels, booklet singles, P.N.C's.Etc.... The Zep is Still sitting ther being a Zep. Found many printing and better Perf. Varieties by buying poundage. and even when nothing is found it's still the thrill of the hunt. The Zep is a Zep and lays there just being a Zep. Paul
"Stamp Values have steadily declined over the last 15 years ( with a few exceptions )."
While that is true for some countries, that is not an accurate statement. In my research of the changes in values on the Scott Catalogs, I have found that stamp values have been generally stagnant with some upward movement overall.
For example, my findings in the Scott value changes from the 2015 to the 2017 edition, overall values increased 1.9%. For 2013 to 2015, the overall increase was higher. I don't have the information for the years prior to 2013. I think there were one or two comparison sets. I posted those results on BidStart, but don't know if those are still available. Someone here, perhaps Ted, may have them. My detailed research on the two year sets that I mentioned above are still available in the Discussion Board at Stamporama.
Back to the original theme. I finally found this. Been trying to live up to it for 40 years:
As a Seller...
I pledge to always conduct myself and store as an ethical business; considering customers the most important part of my enterprise.
I pledge to offer an honest price for my products, taking in consideration my costs and fairness in pricing.
I pledge to respond to customer needs in the quickest fashion possible. Including prompt shipping and response to customer concerns.
I pledge to adhere to the belieft that customers, while not always right, are communicating with me for a reason and I must meet their concerns and complaints with the same attitude as I meet their praise.
I pledge to always keep in my mind that I am a member of a community of buyers and sellers who must exist in harmony; I will therefore treat other sellers with the same consideration and care that I treat my customers.
I pledge to maintain the honesty, integrity and trustworthiness that the hobby demands,
Michael Generali Select items can always be found. In some cases even Countries. However I believe if you had 1 copy of every stamp you would have a downward angle. Also I am not refering to Scotts or any Catalouge, But realized prices. Paul
John Eckhardt The off centered stamps are to make clock faces. They try to find dramatically off centered stamps. usually with a very well centered one in the center. These were listed by request at one point. Paul
Paul, I don't have 1 of every copy of every stamp, but I have about 50% of them (based on Scott stating that there are approximately 600,000 listings in their catalogs). I started tracking Scott catalog values about 6 or so years ago, and published the results from each catalog edition analysis online. During that time, I have not noticed a "downward angle".
Evidently we are looking at different factors whereby my observations are based on the actual printed catalogs, not a perceived realization without tracking research (at least you haven't provided any at this time).
Other than that, we will obviously not agree on this subject.
There are all types of stamp collectors/sellers and to each their own. Regular worldwide listings might be around 600K but if you include back of the book and revenues that number increases a lot (think millions of issues). Regarding pricing, I think Paul is referencing lower condition US stamps as opposed to high grade. The high end market does quite well in terms of investment returns. At the end of the day its a beautiful hobby which can be enjoyed for a lifetime and shared with others. If you are going for the gold, perhaps take up mining. If you calculate money spent on stamps, materials, fees, etc and the time a seller puts into it - lets put it this way most do not make much profit. I like to think of the whole en-devour as one giant treasure hunt but sometimes there is no treasure to be found. It is still a lot of fun and sometimes you can find something extraordinary.
LOL. If I were selling stamps for the money, I would have starved to death many years ago. I definitely would do better at a burger joint! That's also why I don't rely on fishing to get my food.
Michael, true. You can program a robot to flip a burger pretty easily but try having it identify a stamp lol. Some of the estate buyers can do well though if they are in the right spot at the right time. Even so the identifying, sorting, researching, organizing, posting, shipping is all work. Another reason most sellers are not posting many stamps but lets hope Paul starts up again unless John made him sign a non compete agreement.
As stated I wanted to try only $1 and up items. So as an experiment it is "a take it slow and observe". As for high end items I had very little success with high grade items ( of course the core stamps were inexpensive $10-$35 per cert} ). Am still thinking the mark-up Vrs. price needed to pay is too slim for the 13-16% needed too cover PayPal and Hipstamps and other costs alone. So it also becomes a bit of a gamble. I currently have very little time in actual listing. But about $5,000 ( including a few bad buys from a reputable dealer that included fakes in his total Cat. ) and lots of research involved. I currently am only reinvesting as items sell. I won't be putting any of my earned money into it. Also the Auctions on this site did not do as well as I wanted. I am trying to upgrade as I reinvest as well as keep a somewhat rounded inventory for variety. As for the High end items there is a big downward push as most stamps sell for less than Cat. So every time they revise they look at the Show dealers and adjust the median Price downwards. Auction items are the upward push,. However even 100 Grade, more common core, don't figure into this much anymore. As I watch sites like this and Ebay, I have noticed a decline in the last year of available material. The plethora of stamps that showed up as people found they could list and sell on the Net. ( as well as a lot of Brick and mortar Inventories being liquidated ) has finally started to decline. Maybe Stamp Values will stabilize. A friend of mine ( From Ghana ) immigrated here. He has well over 1,000,000 Different Design types. About 11 years ago he crossed that threshold. If you read the Catalogue you soon realize Scotts' has deleted whole runs, due to not being regularly issued. These are items that can be found in older Catalogue's.
Everyone needs to remember this site charges 8% that means if I have $100 invested in a stamp I have to get $108.70 not $108.00 The 8% comes from the top. Same with the 4% PayPal is actually 4.5% since it comes of the top. So to net back my $100 I need to charge $113.65. This does nothing to the other bills associated. I am still trying to figure out if there is enough room to pay a fair price for stamps, and what that should be. This also creates a downward push on what people are willing to pay for an item. since they are also looking at the money end Also there are the errors that come with buying and selling ( bad deals, occasional damage Etc... ). This is were all my time and energy is being focused, outside of my full time job. Paul
Comments
If shipping charges are simply higher than you anticipated, because you had not reviewed the per item and additional per item rate on all of the items you were bidding on (this is inapplicable to store items, since you would see the shipping costs before you checked out and paid), you would generally still be responsible for paying for the order. The only exception would be if the shipping amount resulted in a violation of our terms and conditions. For example, you win 20 items at auction for 20¢ total, and the shipping is $50 - this is likely a violation of our terms and conditions - though that's a general statement, and we would need to review any specific cases.
In order to satisfy this need of the penny hole syndrome. I started listing inexpensive stamps. I found they sold better and more actual NET profit was made from these stamps ( about $8 an hour fairly steady ). Figure it out I could list 1,000 in about 4 hours. Identification and checking for obvious faults about 8 hours. Pulling the items to ship about 500 in 8 hours. Minimum wage is $8.75 in most cities $7.75 federally.if you consider in some returns, Refunds and everything else to do this kind of project. Actual net of $5-$6 an hour.
However then you can list and make the sale of a better item and make 20% ( Assuming you double your money ) net profit after HipStamp, PayPal, Taxes, C.P.A. Etc...
However it is very therapeutic for those involved in collecting inexpensive stamps. This is a Hobby first and not at all about money. Stamp Values have steadily declined over the last 15 years ( with a few exceptions ). The internet flooded the market and is only now finally starting to subside.
On orders under a certain amount a shipping charge has to be there. At some point the printer, Computer wear out. Also Paper envelopes. Etc...
My biggest was 4 stamps @ .10 and paypal got it all for the stamps. Without my $2 shipping there would be nothing for the .04 HipStamp Fees or the .02 used Glassine ( New are $40 per 1,000 or .04 each ) .01 envelope, Gas and time to go to Post office Etc.....
That is why the $2 was only waved after a $30 purchase.
This was and is a service to the collecting community. Not everyone can Buy #242's or Zep's everyday.
The fact is I'm not selling my $1.00 minimum listing very fast and wish I could go back to the lesser items. But I wanted to try a $1.00 minimum store for 2 years to see if it would work. So far it is a dismal failure Even at less than %50 of Low Brookman retail.
Simply put, a living can be made on cheap stamps, But can NOT be made on better items the margin of profit is too small to pay all the fees.
Paul Cook
I was frustrated with the .01 listings and a .25 per item shipping. When I was selling the same item for .10.
This was done to stop from paying "StampWant" and "BidStart" fees. Those 2 formats only charged for the actual sale. This site charges for the total including shipping. However the sellers that do this found their listings show up first on the lower to higher price search. Ebay has a higher to lower including shipping. This will not help --- as if you have a minimum shipping of $2 that will be added to each item. Their listing generally are .49 +.25 per item. So the Penny Stamp is .75. The .10 will show as $2.10.
There is no easy answer to this.
As for the cheap world wide...... I know nothing about world stamps. So I simply listed at a listing fee price and left value to the collectors. I do know some of the Switzerland that I listed Catalogued $1.75. on a spot check.
To elaborate on the comment made of narrow margin of profit.
A Mint Never Hinged V,f. Zep++++++8% to HipStamps 4% to Paypal off the Top. That means for every $100 I need to get $113. I also am not just putting this in an envelope. insured mail add $3 So now $116. Time for Listing etc.... and everything else involved. I can only pay $80 for every $116 final sale. I make $20. it will sit in the store for over a year Then I can buy lunch.
Meanwhile I keep paying those store fees every month.
If I take a pound on paper mixture for $20 I can have 4-5,000 .10 to .25 listing and a lot of fun.sorting slogan Cancels, booklet singles, P.N.C's.Etc....
The Zep is Still sitting ther being a Zep.
Found many printing and better Perf. Varieties by buying poundage. and even when nothing is found it's still the thrill of the hunt.
The Zep is a Zep and lays there just being a Zep.
Paul
While that is true for some countries, that is not an accurate statement. In my research of the changes in values on the Scott Catalogs, I have found that stamp values have been generally stagnant with some upward movement overall.
For example, my findings in the Scott value changes from the 2015 to the 2017 edition, overall values increased 1.9%. For 2013 to 2015, the overall increase was higher. I don't have the information for the years prior to 2013. I think there were one or two comparison sets. I posted those results on BidStart, but don't know if those are still available. Someone here, perhaps Ted, may have them. My detailed research on the two year sets that I mentioned above are still available in the Discussion Board at Stamporama.
As a Seller...
I pledge to always conduct myself and store as an ethical business; considering customers the most important part of my enterprise.
I pledge to offer an honest price for my products, taking in consideration my costs and fairness in pricing.
I pledge to respond to customer needs in the quickest fashion possible. Including prompt shipping and response to customer concerns.
I pledge to adhere to the belieft that customers, while not always right, are communicating with me for a reason and I must meet their concerns and complaints with the same attitude as I meet their praise.
I pledge to always keep in my mind that I am a member of a community of buyers and sellers who must exist in harmony; I will therefore treat other sellers with the same consideration and care that I treat my customers.
I pledge to maintain the honesty, integrity and trustworthiness that the hobby demands,
Select items can always be found. In some cases even Countries. However I believe if you had 1 copy of every stamp you would have a downward angle. Also I am not refering to Scotts or any Catalouge, But realized prices.
Paul
The off centered stamps are to make clock faces. They try to find dramatically off centered stamps. usually with a very well centered one in the center. These were listed by request at one point.
Paul
Evidently we are looking at different factors whereby my observations are based on the actual printed catalogs, not a perceived realization without tracking research (at least you haven't provided any at this time).
Other than that, we will obviously not agree on this subject.
As for high end items I had very little success with high grade items ( of course the core stamps were inexpensive $10-$35 per cert} ). Am still thinking the mark-up Vrs. price needed to pay is too slim for the 13-16% needed too cover PayPal and Hipstamps and other costs alone. So it also becomes a bit of a gamble. I currently have very little time in actual listing. But about $5,000 ( including a few bad buys from a reputable dealer that included fakes in his total Cat. ) and lots of research involved.
I currently am only reinvesting as items sell. I won't be putting any of my earned money into it. Also the Auctions on this site did not do as well as I wanted. I am trying to upgrade as I reinvest as well as keep a somewhat rounded inventory for variety.
As for the High end items there is a big downward push as most stamps sell for less than Cat. So every time they revise they look at the Show dealers and adjust the median Price downwards. Auction items are the upward push,. However
even 100 Grade, more common core, don't figure into this much anymore.
As I watch sites like this and Ebay, I have noticed a decline in the last year of available material. The plethora of stamps that showed up as people found they could list and sell on the Net. ( as well as a lot of Brick and mortar Inventories being liquidated ) has finally started to decline.
Maybe Stamp Values will stabilize.
A friend of mine ( From Ghana ) immigrated here. He has well over 1,000,000 Different Design types. About 11 years ago he crossed that threshold. If you read the Catalogue you soon realize Scotts' has deleted whole runs, due to not being regularly issued. These are items that can be found in older Catalogue's.
Everyone needs to remember this site charges 8% that means if I have $100 invested in a stamp I have to get $108.70 not $108.00 The 8% comes from the top. Same with the 4% PayPal is actually 4.5% since it comes of the top.
So to net back my $100 I need to charge $113.65. This does nothing to the other bills associated.
I am still trying to figure out if there is enough room to pay a fair price for stamps, and what that should be. This also creates a downward push on what people are willing to pay for an item. since they are also looking at the money end
Also there are the errors that come with buying and selling ( bad deals, occasional damage Etc... ).
This is were all my time and energy is being focused, outside of my full time job.
Paul