Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Hi Doug,
I am an advocate of history; the keys of the past unlock the future.
In the 1500s going into town market was often a significant weekly outing, requiring planning and a long trip. At the market, a person could purchase a piglet and take it home in a sack (or ‘poke’). Shady sellers would sometimes substitute a valueless cat in place of the piglet knowing the buyer would not open the poke until they got all the way back home and be unwilling to travel back into town. Obviously this is where the saying ‘pig in a poke’ comes from and is also the source of the saying, ‘letting the cat out of the bag’.
Don
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09:36:20pm
So you are thinking that buying a pig sight unseen is risky business ?
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Yes, I have bought items without pictures and with pictures and in general would have to say that the items have about the same likelihood of being as described, i.e. about 98% of the time I get what I am expecting. I know that many people are much more pessimistic about this but it is my experience over the past fifty years of collecting stamps.
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I'm a firm believer that a scan should accompany stamps for sale before 1950. Stamps after this period are generally well centered and cheap enough not to worry much. On anything
having a value of more than a few dollars during this period I would probably want a scan.
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I purchased stamps sight unseen for years before we had the internet. I would not purchase higher value stamps without knowing I could return if not satisfied. But, I still purchase lower value material without seeing the actual stamp. If I have a choice for a given price to choose one with a scan and one without, yes I would choose the one with the scan.
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Sometimes, but not too often.
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i started selling stamps in 1998 on ebay without a scanner...just a description,and i sold a lot of stamps...of course competition was much less back then. If i know who i am buying from ..its less of a "pig in a poke".
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I never buy without an image of the stamp I will receive. I don't buy from sellers who add a stock image to their listings or don't add an image at all. We have the technology these days, and I think some sellers are a little lazy!
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For the most I would want a scan, front and back.
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Agreed. In the old classified ad days we were used to buying stamps sight unseen. That transferred over to eBay's early days before people had scanners and digital cameras. In fact I bought my first scanner and $800 Sony Mavica digital camera specifically to sell things on eBay. I believe I made back that $800 in two months. I noticed my stuff selling for higher prices.
Today I don't buy anything without photos. I'm very picky about cancellations, perforations and centering. I've been looking for high value $3, $4 and $5 Columbians and reject most of them!
Still on eBay, I see bidding wars over lopsided, black blob cancel stamps! Go figger!
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Hi Everyone;
Dave Said;
"I don't buy from sellers who add a stock image to their listings"
Dave; I couldn't agree more!
In my not humble & typically harsh opinion, used stamps, sold with a stock image, is borderline "breach of contract" and an unacceptable trade practice.
So there!
Still just sortin'....
TuskenRaider
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"... borderline "breach of contract" and an unacceptable trade practice ..."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bait-and-switch
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
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re: Question Scan of stamps
Hi Doug,
I am an advocate of history; the keys of the past unlock the future.
In the 1500s going into town market was often a significant weekly outing, requiring planning and a long trip. At the market, a person could purchase a piglet and take it home in a sack (or ‘poke’). Shady sellers would sometimes substitute a valueless cat in place of the piglet knowing the buyer would not open the poke until they got all the way back home and be unwilling to travel back into town. Obviously this is where the saying ‘pig in a poke’ comes from and is also the source of the saying, ‘letting the cat out of the bag’.
Don
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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
24 Mar 2019
09:36:20pm
re: Question Scan of stamps
So you are thinking that buying a pig sight unseen is risky business ?
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re: Question Scan of stamps
Yes, I have bought items without pictures and with pictures and in general would have to say that the items have about the same likelihood of being as described, i.e. about 98% of the time I get what I am expecting. I know that many people are much more pessimistic about this but it is my experience over the past fifty years of collecting stamps.
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Login to Like.
re: Question Scan of stamps
I'm a firm believer that a scan should accompany stamps for sale before 1950. Stamps after this period are generally well centered and cheap enough not to worry much. On anything
having a value of more than a few dollars during this period I would probably want a scan.
Login to Like
this post
re: Question Scan of stamps
I purchased stamps sight unseen for years before we had the internet. I would not purchase higher value stamps without knowing I could return if not satisfied. But, I still purchase lower value material without seeing the actual stamp. If I have a choice for a given price to choose one with a scan and one without, yes I would choose the one with the scan.
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07:22:03am
re: Question Scan of stamps
Sometimes, but not too often.
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Auctions
re: Question Scan of stamps
i started selling stamps in 1998 on ebay without a scanner...just a description,and i sold a lot of stamps...of course competition was much less back then. If i know who i am buying from ..its less of a "pig in a poke".
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re: Question Scan of stamps
I never buy without an image of the stamp I will receive. I don't buy from sellers who add a stock image to their listings or don't add an image at all. We have the technology these days, and I think some sellers are a little lazy!
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09:42:32am
re: Question Scan of stamps
For the most I would want a scan, front and back.
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re: Question Scan of stamps
Agreed. In the old classified ad days we were used to buying stamps sight unseen. That transferred over to eBay's early days before people had scanners and digital cameras. In fact I bought my first scanner and $800 Sony Mavica digital camera specifically to sell things on eBay. I believe I made back that $800 in two months. I noticed my stuff selling for higher prices.
Today I don't buy anything without photos. I'm very picky about cancellations, perforations and centering. I've been looking for high value $3, $4 and $5 Columbians and reject most of them!
Still on eBay, I see bidding wars over lopsided, black blob cancel stamps! Go figger!
Login to Like
this post
re: Question Scan of stamps
Hi Everyone;
Dave Said;
"I don't buy from sellers who add a stock image to their listings"
Dave; I couldn't agree more!
In my not humble & typically harsh opinion, used stamps, sold with a stock image, is borderline "breach of contract" and an unacceptable trade practice.
So there!
Still just sortin'....
TuskenRaider
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re: Question Scan of stamps
"... borderline "breach of contract" and an unacceptable trade practice ..."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bait-and-switch
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
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