Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
The bay is a crazy place. How many times have you seen a single stamp from a s/s actually sell for more than the entire sheet-- even at single sheet prices? I'm thinking about grabbing some of those piles of 100's of US s/s's at near-face (give or take), cutting them up and selling the individual stamps, some with wide margin, some without, in pairs, in blocks. etc. If I'm patient and list them properly, I could make a good deal of easy money. Thoughts? Comments?
Let's pretend I buy a bunch of these beauties and proceed to chop them into little pieces. I wouldn't go near a s/s with a pair of scissors. The lever-operated paper choppers tend to pull and wander near the trailing edge of the cut, so that's out. Somewhere, before I moved, I had (still have) one of those Fiskar cutters that uses the razor wheel. That thing seems like the best choice. I actually have eyes right now on a smaller Fiskars cutter that uses a super-small razor blade. That's what I use to cut stamp mount strips to size, and it works very nicely. What do the pros use? What do you use?
Thanks in advance!
Doug
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Not sure what you're trying to do, or why you think it is a money bag to cut them up. The stamps from souvenir sheets are worth less than the souvenir sheet. On most souvenir sheets, Scott lists the individual stamps as minor numbers to the sheet's major catalog number.
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If the attempt is to find way to take advantage of unusual buying practices, then your approach may fail. You will like get stuck with a lot of stamps. People try by posting something with an outrageously high price and hope to find that one sucker.
You will find stamps or anything sold for more than they are really worth. The question is it sustainable
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Do take a moment to check items that were sold - and at what price - not just items listed for sale.
And, do take a moment to check better things that you can do with souvenir sheets than cut them up:
Souvenir Sheets as Postage The Horror
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
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Thanks for all the responses-
With all due respect, CVs and what a stamp is listed for on eBay don't mean a thing. If we consider that given a statistically significant amount of data from the last 90 days of actual sales prices (incl. shipping), one could construct a case. I believe I have a case. I may be only an intermediate stamp collector, but I'm a well-studied student of human behavior -- it's one of my passions.
I never said that this idea was a rational one, but statically, my research is sound. To ensure sales of a whole lot of stamps, I understand that I'd have to sell them at a price that'd garner more attention than the others, so I certainly wouldn't be getting rich, and by "listing them properly," I mean that I'd have to reduce my time/hassle overhead by selling in bulk, like the "over 75 sold, 25 remaining" thing. That cuts down on listing time and fees, but admittedly, isn't a great approach for selling stamps, as opposed to new socks, because we all like to lay eyes on the actual stamp we're buying. I know I do. But these aren't expensive stamps.
Michael -- I have a catalog... I'll leave it there.
Angor had some salient points. And absolutely yes, yes, yes, I'm looking to take advantage of what you aptly call "unusual buying practices." I'm glad that you gleaned that from my post. And whether it's sustainable, well, that'd be up to me as a seller, if I decide to become one. Yes, I'd have to price competitively to move merchandise. Y'know, it might just be that folks already have the souvenir sheets, but lack some of the singles, just like me. And sure, I'd rather pay a buck for a single than 10 bucks for a sheet of 25 if I only need one. That's actually not so "unusual."
IkeyPikey - I only look at sold listings to determine market value. Not the catalog or asking prices, but thanks. I know you don't know me, and sadly, your advice is actually a great help to the majority of people I know outside of stamping. Just not me. But I thank you. (And yeah, I'd already been through that topic. Beautiful, beautiful stuff.)
Sounds like none of you like the idea, and it sounds like some of you think I haven't done my homework properly. That's life in the forums, I guess -- assuming someone is stupid or incapable of critical thinking. I was hoping for some comments based on an assumption that I wasn't seeking magic beans. (I'm an engineer/physicist.)
Now I feel compelled to throw out some numbers. When I'm buying old stamps, I use the catalog as a very general guide, to the extent that I like to purchase my stamps between 5% and 25% of CV, depending on the quality of the stamp. 5% for hinged, less than stellar centering and medium on the cancel. 25% for unhinged, without flaws, and XF centering. Even more for a jumbo. (Please don't flame me -- it's just a *very* general rule. I beg you.)
So the CV of the #948 is 55c. The a's and b's are 25c each. (You're right, Michael! Should I just give up now?) A look at eBay shows a single #948 at a "buy it now" price of $1 with free shipping. So my 5-25% thing doesn't work for new or common stamps. You could get three of them delivered for $1.49/obo. Or 5 for $3.25. OORRR, 200 for $40 shipped. That's 20c per. That's 33% over face! Where's my 65% of face? Maybe if I bought 1000...
Over the last 90 days, the absolute lowest price paid for the pair of 948a/b was $1.54. That's the *lowest* in the last 90 days. $2.50 was the highest. To be clear, there were only 4 a/b pairs sold over the last 90 days. Soft market, or are they buying sheets and using scissors? Or were these pairs just over-priced? Or are they under-listed? Every single pair listed was sold. Not a one was passed over.
Just for fun, pretend that I bought 200 #948s at 20c/ea. I cut them, sell them for $1.50 with free shipping (costs me 35c, or kinda like nothing if I decide to use up common old stock) That's a gross profit of 95c per item, plus envelope costs. I only have to make one single eBay listing. If the market saturates, I'd have to drop the price until it picks up. But if I was patient, the gross would be $190. That's just for the #948, randomly chosen for an example. Some of the Farleys I based this notion on had some crazy, crazy numbers. The range that people were paying for the same stamp was sometimes 10x, and didn't seem to have any correlation to stamp quality.
A quick check shows the lowest price in the last 90 days for a #730a was $1.10 delivered for a center-cut example. The #730a/731a singles as a pair sell all day long for $2.85 delivered. A MNH #730 sold with ship for $4.29, but the going rate is 7 to 8 bucks. 6 bucks for the #731, for which the lowest sale price of a center-cut single was $1.00. (10) #731s for $54.15. I couldn't find any stacks quickly for the $730, but I found another impatient couple of bidders that paid $38 for a hinged #730. (It's that type of behavior that I, or someone, could, with ever-so-great patience, take advantage of.) So lets say it's $13.00 for both the #730/731. That's 52c a pair for the cut singles. Sell for $2.85 minus 35c postage minus 52c cost, that's basically $2.00 gross profit per pair of sheets, times 25 stamps is 50 bucks. 100 sales of these would make more profit than 200 sales of the #948. Imagine if I could find a bulk supply of each.
So ya see, fellas? The data's clean, the math is clean, except for those pesky envelopes. Selling isn't fun, but if you consider the profits as dedicated stamp money, that makes it fun.
Is anybody going to help me out with the question on cutting? I literally have a few sheets I've been putting off cutting into singles for my album.
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Interesting – after 35 years of business I figure my cost a little differently. First I am going to assume that it is nice to send out a package that appears half way professional – most dealers do. My SWAG for packaging covers envelope, 102 or 107 card, glassine and stiffener (1./3 of a file folder).. That comes to 15 cents plus the cost of postage – I use 55 cents but I will stick with your 35 cents.
948 - you say your cost is 20 cents and you can sell at $1.50 ppd and after adding your 35 cents for envelope and postage you will make 95 cents each gross. 200 sales grosses you $190, although selling 4 every two months it will be a long payback. A more realistic figure adds in the 15 cents packaging which reduces your profit to 80 cents. Ebay will charge you 15 cents, paypal will charge you 34 cents- that's another 49 cents reducing your profit to 31 cents. Your $190 now becomes $62.
Farleys – your cost is 52 cents and you can sell at $2.85 ppd. Adding your 35 cents for envelope and postage you are figuring roughly $2.00 profit, or a total of $50 for 25 sets. Now add in 15 cents for packaging, 29 cents for ebay and 38 cents for paypal – let's say 80 cents which reduces your $2.00 to $1.20 and your profit on 25 sets to $30.
Another factor – remember that ebay is now collecting sales tax for many states and that does now or will soon include NYS. Since NYS dealers (myself included) have to file yearly sales tax records sellers will not be autonomous and sooner or later sales records will also tie into the Federal data bases and they will check your FTR for a Schedule “C”. Time spent working with the Federal government (and my husband spent 20 years) tells me this will eventually happen. Always remember Capone went to jail for tax evasion – not mob activity.
Anyway – best of luck and if you do give it a try let us know how you make out…
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Math has nothing to do with it. (also an engineer-mathematician)
The simple truth is that there is a river of money flowing out there and the world is full of dupes just waiting for a chance to part with it if you package it right.
Find the very best stamps you can, cut up your sheets (provided they are pre 1940-50) in any reasonable way - Staples can provide a good cutter for under $50
THEN send them to a "stamp evaluation company" 
like PSE
They will give you a certificate of grade and a genuineness guarantee - maybe even get it encapsulated.
Next find a known auction house like THIS. and VOILA - you can get 10X-100X what you paid if you get a 95-98 grade or the elusive 98+ Jumbo.
The buyers know NOTHING about stamps, they just want to own what others cannot.
The auction house isn't concerned about CV's, it's commissions that count
Unfortunately your process is flawed as it does not account for all the extra hidden fees, the time involved, the initial low value hence low demand and selling on a medium that doesn't attract the real money.
Myself and the folks here, we are just basic stamp collectors and philatelists who found a hobby they enjoy and learn from it, unfortunately not overly profitable in a monetary sense.
Between what we buy, sell and give away, breaking even is a good day.
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3 Cents--I echo what others have hinted, but since I am blunt, I will just say it.
DON"T CUT THE SOUVENIR SHEETS!! SAVE THEM WHOLE!!
BOB
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07:23:29pm
I know several of the people involved with Stamporama deal in stamps, but for most of us it is just a hobby that we enjoy. For me the main fun comes when I find stamps to add to my collection. I have been collecting for a long time and my collection is quite valuable money wise, but it is more valuable for the entertainment. I still enjoy sitting down and "playing with my stamps" - putting in new stamps I have picked up or changing around ones I have had a long time or just looking through my collection. Over the years I have made many mistakes but that's how we learn. I doubt if any one will ever get rich dealing stamps. Good luck cutting up your souvenir sheets - I hope it's fun for you!
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Wow, Carol, I've been served! Can you sense my tail between my legs? Sheesh. I was careful to include the envelope that I didn't know the price of, and despite having sold many hundreds of odd things on eBay over two decades, I completely neglected the elephant in the room. I don't think I ever sold anything for less than 15 bucks, so I never once noticed the Paypal 30c flat fee. But wow, that's a deal-killer at the low end, where we often find a lot of stamps. I'm thinking I should write an apology letter to the poor soul I bought a nice stamp from in an eBay auction last week for 21c with free shipping. It wasn't my fault that everybody else passed over that stamp. I liked it. It happens. But still...
And you mention the sales tax... I have two pallets filled with boxes in the basement of stuff from our last move labeled "sell on eBay." Once we have to do that sales tax stuff, I'm done with eBay. Who needs that hassle as a very casual seller? I'll have a garage sale instead and donate the rest. So the idea of selling stamps on eBay is long gone. I need to get rid of those high-value boxes asap. But then, there's that reason that I've re-kindled my stamping hobby after a 10-year hiatus. My time has very little value, as I'm stuck in a hospital bed in my living room with my shattered leg in the air almost 24 hours a day. It's been almost 6 months now, and with *luck*, maybe I could try putting a little weight on the thing in another month or so. My wife's not that interested in getting involved in selling all that stuff, but I certainly can't do it. But I could have pulled off the sheet-cutting.
Anyway, Carol, thanks for setting me straight. I messed up pretty bad, didn't I?
Ron -- I appreciate your sarcasm. I do. The stamps sold at that auction house were almost too good to look at. I love stamps for so many reasons, but mostly because I find them beautiful. But is it really fair to judge those that'll spend 5 grand on a 2c Columbian? Sure, there's that "thing" going on that we often attribute to those with so many millions that it's actually a chore to find stuff to buy with all of it. I mean, if they're more into stamps than super-cars, then why not have the best #231 in the world? Y'know, the one who's margins are 3 microns larger than the 2nd-best example. Anyway, Ron, how am I gonna cut 98-grade jumbos from a souvenir sheet without the perfect cutting tool? That question remains unanswered, and even though It's no longer of great importance to me, it might help other SOR members. I searched the web fairly deeply before posting this question here.
Bob -- What to do when our stamp albums contain holes/place holders for stamps cut from souvenir sheets? I don't know about you, but I'm compelled to fill them. If I can save a buck by cutting my own, I'll do just that. If you wanna bug somebody, bug Michael. He uses them for postage...
All -- The cutting question still stands. And it's mostly just a curiosity now. Beyond the question of what type of paper-cutter to employ, how would one go about getting the cut *perfectly* centered? That being asked, I'm one of those that isn't at all bothered my imperfs with wonky edges.
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Carol - I just had a non-philatelic sale on Ebay from a buyer in the Bronx. Ebay added sales tax to the invoice and collected it from the buyer.
Douglas -
"it might just be that folks already have the souvenir sheets, but lack some of the singles, just like me."
You are right in that regard. I had forgotten that some stamp albums include singles from souvenir sheets. People will tend to obtain those singles in order to fill the album spaces. Also, some albums include a page for an entire sheet of stamps, and then pages for the single stamps from that sheet. Examples are the National Parks, Admiral Byrd, "Greeting from the USA" sheets, the wildlife and the birds and flowers sheet. there are several others. With some sheets, such as the US Civil War sheets, album pages will have spaces for the singles from the sheets, but will not include a page for the sheets (I think Scott has a separate National page set for the sheets).
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Carol-
I thought of another non-negligent cost -- printing invoices. If you've got one of those 6-cartridge photo printers that cleans it's nozzles with about a dollar's worth of ink after 60 hours of disuse (they all do it, some more than others), then even that 60c profit just turned into a 40c loss. I think mine's rated at 13c/page, which is painfully high, but it's way, way more than that if you don't use it every 48 hours. So there's that, if, like you say, you want to be somewhat professional.
If I took the time to read every Paypal or eBay policy update their lawyers scratch out and email me (and people think *I'm* verbose), I wouldn't have time to try to wiggle my toes. In fact, after soaking in your post, I went to one of those ebay/paypal calculators and the page did not load properly. Instead of just showing the input and output fields, like it did the second time, it actually threw "the code" all over my screen. "((amount)+(amount*.029)+.30)" or thereabouts. That's the only reason I learned of the 30c flat fee! Because of lousy HTML coding. But since learning of this, I can clearly see now why so many stamp sellers on eBay sell mini-sets instead of the individual stamps - the higher the sale price, the lower the *percentage* of the Paypal fees. Now I understand why there's so much of that -- especially for relatively inexpensive stamps.
Now there's a topic, huh? How many people are looking for a bargain on a short set vs. just needing a single stamp in the series? Molly Pitcher and the Hawaiians (my favorite 80's cover band) are so often found together. And there's Harrison-Wilson (the folksingers). I bought all three Hardings just to get two, because it was cheaper that way. It drives me crazy when I buy, say, a nicer 5c Jamestown solo act, and then a few days later see the whole trio playing for the same or lower ticket price, and with equal quality... I'd become one of those statistics, hadn't I?
Has anybody come across a webpage that has dug deep into the philatelic statistics of eBay? How to find the best bargains? "The Secret eBay Buyer's Guide To Stamps?"
Michael-
I know, right? I'd been thinking about upgrading my album, but in addition to the substantial cost of even a used album, there's often all those additional holes to fill! I think my current album has the balance I like. It does have a space for singles from every souvenir sheet in addition to the sheet. "Requires" connected pairs or blocks of four whenever the sheets are printed with 2 or 4 different stamps on a sheet (in addition to the singles), but nothing beyond a block of four. No strips of 10 or anything. Also, my album will gladly (only) accept single stamps for imperfs and coils, and I'm *extremely* pleased with that bit. I also like that my album ends in 1992! But I do need to have it re-bound. It's getting bulgy. It does have spaces for Farley gutter pairs, but no cross-gutters. Phew!
Thanks everybody. (You too Harvey.)
Doug
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"Has anybody come across a webpage that has dug deep into the philatelic statistics of eBay? How to find the best bargains? "The Secret eBay Buyer's Guide To Stamps?"
The best rule on Ebay for "bargain" classics is that unless you are either a gambler or an expert insist on obtaining a certificate from one of the reputable expertization sources as part of the deal if spending real money. Ebay is full of problematic stamps: reperforated, repaired, eradicated cancels, altered (fake coils and imperfs), forgeries, regummed, "improved" stamps,fake cancels, "created" postal history, and other such things. There are a lot of stamp "doctors" out there who are very good at what they do and they are not expensive ... a lot of it is an ego trip and yes, some of their work ends up with good certs from various sources.
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'
How to best cut souvenir sheets? I'd find a way to use my new toy.
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey (who thinks that we should turn the math around, and ask what is the minimum financially practical lot size on eBay, before allowing for postage & your time)
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Jings!....Crivvens!....Help Ma Boab!
Yuuppp!
It never fails to amaze how little knowledge Sellers and Buyers have of the total costs of Ebay and paypal.
Please remember that Ebay and Paypal charges are laid on the total purchase. i.e. they charge the seller their percentages on the postage/shipping as well!!
So most sales at 99cents are uneconomical in a true cost basis.
Sellers pray that any buyer who bids 99 cents buys several lots from them.
(Just sold sufficient 99 cents lots to gas up the Ferarri!! YEEEEEHHAAAA!)
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Hi Carol-
When you say "insist on obtaining a certificate ," do you insist on that from a seller? If so, and the seller has already inserted a listing, have you ever experienced a time when the seller cancelled his/her auction and waited 4-6 weeks for a cert? I don't see that happening. I see that most sellers offer a 30-day refund policy, but that's not enough time to certify a stamp and ask for your money back. A few sellers guarantee that if you are unable to certify the stamp ID, then they'll refund your money whenever.
Anyway, this really only applies to the advanced collector, don't you think? With the cost of a regular PSE cert at 6% of the CV or $32 min., well, I "try" not to spend that much money on a stamp to begin with. On the other hand, if I bought a collection and found a superb jumbo in there (I've never bought a collection), I would seriously consider sending it out and then inquiring in here about how/where best to sell it. Perhaps at that auction house Ron shared with us. :-)
I love doing restoration/conservation work. It's relaxing, meditative and financially rewarding. I spent a lot of time during my stressful working days restoring valuable antique tools. Disassembly, rust-removal, paint-removal and cleaning made the tool look like new. But the proper acids applied to the myriad metals and oils applied to the wood and some painted bits restored a very natural 19th-century patina. When I'd sell a 25c rusty old saw from a garage sale for $200 on eBay, I was always careful to make it very clear that I had "restored" the piece. Some could probably tell, and some couldn't. I certainly could, because I knew all the tricks. Anyway, I think it would be fun to "doctor" some of my own stamps to make them more attractive. I'll be dead when my album sells for a fraction of it's value. I could probably throw a note in there indicating which stamps had been restored. Although, I'd bet that a set of re-perforation tools could be pretty expensive. Probably a dumb idea.
I get a warm feeling when I see stamp dealers listing stamps as repaired. But I don't really get "re-gummed." Isn't that a used stamp that avoided cancel with new gum on the back? Would anybody pay any more for a "re-gummed" or a MNG "missing gum" stamp than they would for a used stamp with a missing or ultra-light cancel? This confuses me greatly. Is there a consensus or protocol here?
A couple weeks ago, a British seller had a pair of #31s on auction. I was very interested. I looked over his hi-rez scans carefully, and I thought they were the far-less valuable #35s. I wrote to him, asking why he thought they were not #35s, and his response was "Well, upon further inspection, I believe that they are, in fact, #35s. He did not update or cancel his auction, but said that he would make the winning bidder aware of the issue and offer him his money back. I wonder.
Ikey-
Regarding "ikeyPikey (who thinks that we should turn the math around, and ask what is the minimum financially practical lot size on eBay, before allowing for postage & your time), I wholeheartedly agree. I sooo look forward to your report. Please make sure I get it, okay? This is great.
Thanks all,
Doug
PS: Carol- Michael was correct. The NYS marketplace tax law kicked in June 1. I've looked over the state's official documents on the matter, and they're full of lawyer-speak. I'm going to search for a dumbed-down, lay it right out simple explanation. I'm just wondering how much extra NYS tax work I'd have to do to sell that $250 cookie jar that I saved from the dumpster. (It's hideous.) My wife received a tax document a couple years back because she got a 60c royalty fee for something she wrote 15 years ago. It's never happened before! I literally had to create a corporation of sorts because the income was royalties. It took about 4/5 forms and a day of my time. Her book is no longer available on Amazon. Have you ever gotten one of those, Michael?
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Yes, I have gotten 10-99 forms for royalties on my books. When I was still working, the royalties I earned usually raised my taxes more than the royalties that I earned. Now, living on a pension, the royalties don't throw me into higher tax brackets like that anymore.
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If you are spending a few hundred dollars on a stamp you make your bid or offer contingent upon your ability to obtain a certificate from a specific source - be it APS or any of the experts in specific areas of philately with no time limit. If the dealer has a problem with that and you cannot "self-certify" just move on - there are lots of stamps out there. I never ran into that problem because when I get a high dollar stamp or two in a lot or a collection I sell it to other dealers. Dealer to dealer trade in better stamps is generally at a price level well above what shows up on Ebay without any of the hassles.
I greatly admire conservators in all fields. My own abilities are non-existent on paper and pretty much limited to the "instant patina" of briwax on tools and antique metal and wood objects. I had a brick and mortar antique shop in Cazenovia (south of Syracuse) for a short period of time back in the early 90's - way too much overhead..
Stamps are regummed for many reasons. 19th century stamps often have old glue, bad gum, multiple messy hinging, etc which makes them pretty unsightly and unsaleable. Soaking off the gum and perhaps a touch of your favorite liquid can eliminate foxing, enhance colors, even out stains, etc. This gives you a "no gum" stamp which if undamaged is very saleable - I sell a lot of them at 15% of catalog. If the soaking uncovers damage (old repairs, rebacking, hidden thins, etc the stamp will be repaired and regummed to cover up these defects to the naked eye. Regumming is also used as a means of helping to conceal "washed" or eradicated cancels.
Yes, MNG can be worth a lot more than used (even with a trace cancel). Scott prices classic US stamps as gummed, no gum and used. A Scott #114 (my avatar) with gum catalogs $250, no gum $80 and used $20 (2012 pricing).
You have to depend on the integrity of the seller on Ebay these days in situations like the GB stamps. Back when I started and your ID was your email address and bidders weren't hidden you could alert bidders (or the eventual winner) to the problem. Ebay took that away, along with dissolving the discussion group that "outed" bad stamps - that took away their fees. And in fairness it did create a liability problem......still.....
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"Carol - I just had a non-philatelic sale on Ebay from a buyer in the Bronx. Ebay added sales tax to the invoice and collected it from the buyer."
What is going to be really interesting is seeing what happens when I have my first NYS sale on Ebay. I assume they will collect the the tax but since I am also set up to collect the tax will my customer be double charged for the tax and if so what do I do?
NYS has not told us how to address this issue when we file our sales tax return in March - I will have collected NYS tax on all Hipstamp sales and Ebay will have collected sales tax on my Ebay sales. Since they ask for total receipts, gross receipts from Paypal, as well as NYS sales (broken down into the individual counties and many cities) what exactly am I supposed to list - and what happens if indeed the customers have been double charged.
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Carol-
I live in Ontario County, NYS. I bought stamps from 2 sources yesterday (includes past midnight). A few from an eBay dealer in DC, who charged me exactly 7.5% sales tax. (4% NYS + 3.5% Ontario County, I presume, or else his DC tax rate is the same as mine.) The second was your Hipstamp store. Your system charged me 8% sales tax. Is 4% your county's tax rate, or are you in NYC, where the state sales tax is higher at 4.5%?
And I thought all this hoopla was for collecting state sales tax only. I didn't know it included local county sales tax. If you're going to charge me 8%, then I won't be shopping at your store any more! (Totally kidding. I had a lot of fun. There's something for everybody there.)
Damned sales tax. Just another overhead of cash and hassle for everybody.
I found shopping at your Hipstamp store quite successful (for me) and so much less creepy and scary than eBay. It was not unlike the approval books here at SOR, except the part where you see the stamp you've been looking for and when you scroll down to press the "purchase" button, you see "sold." Ugh. I hate that. Pricing on the SOR approval books are all over the map. The few Hipstamp stores I visited were nearly identical in pricing/shipping, and I found the pricing to be very reasonable. I even upgraded my heavily-canceled #114 -- your avatar -- for a mere 64c. Thanks, Carol!
Regarding the double-charging sales tax, Carol, according to my impression of all the NYS rules in play after June 1 -- the bloated legal docs define a "marketplce provider" (aka eBay, SOR, Hipstamp, etc.) has an obligation to collect sales tax on your behalf and remit said directly to your state's authorities, and then send you a tax form at the end of the year stating how much was collected. You'd know better than me what to do with that form. NYS also defines a "marketplace seller." That's you. I got bored and didn't read all of that part. But what I've read sort of implies that if you're selling through a "marketplace provider," then the responsibility for collecting sales tax is on them, and maybe you could just turn off your tax collection? If I were you, I'd ask somebody I know to try to buy a stamp from you and see what happens -- see what amount of tax is calculated. Same, for sure, on eBay.
Good luck with that. It's a rough month to be a NYS stamp dealer. I don't think Cazenovia's considered as cool as it was back in the 90's. Maybe go back to selling antiques? (Less overhead these days, but fewer customers, too?)
Doug
PS: I also got schooled on you collectors of fancy cancels while perusing your shop. I never understood your lot. I do find fancy cancels attractive, it's just that I really, really want to see as much of my stamps as I can. I want nothing more than the revel in the engraver's art. I'm one of those guys that'll buy a MNG that's poorly-centered over a used medium canceled stamp with VF centering at the same price if the stamp is expensive enough that I can't afford to have both. But I get it now!!! You had dozens of lovely cancels on the most common stamps of the 19th century for what, 12c a pop or something? You're really collecting just the cancels, aren't you -- not the highly-coveted stamps with those occlusive gobs of ink mucking them up. I came very, very close to getting sucked into your fancy trap. Perhaps someday down the road? Who doesn't appreciate a fancy red? Learning through Carol... And others.
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Ah yes, 8% and you are in Ontario County and Canandaigua does not have a separate sales tax so your total tax rate is 7.5%. The problem is that some places in NY have a rate of 8.875% and the Hipstamp system and old Ebay system only allow me to use one percentage for the entire state. I chose 8% because most of my NYS sales are downstate. To give an insight into the complexity of the situation here is a short synopsis (edited for clarity) from the NYS Tax Department:
The New York (NY) state sales tax rate is currently 4%. Depending on local municipalities, the total tax rate can be as high as 8.875%.
Other, local-level tax rates in the state of New York are quite complex compared against local-level tax rates in other states. New York sales tax may also be levied at the city/county/school/transportation and SPD (special purpose district) levels.
New York sales tax has numerous local taxing levels that must be monitored and maintained on a regular basis, it is complex and time consuming due to the volume of jurisdictions.
Anyone making retail sales of taxable tangible personal property or services is required to register with the New York Tax Department at least 20 days prior to making taxable sales.
Every sale within NYS has to be looked up as to county as well as any other taxing jurisdiction (cities,etc) and then the total for each jurisdiction entered on their form at the end of the year. BTW - Hipstamp, SOR, etc are not large enough to have to collect sales tax so those will still have to be tallied, as would any private treaty sales and any use tax owed on supply purchases from out of state. I think with the state requirement for total gross sales (to all states) and the total amount paid out by Paypal (or any other credit card servicer) there are going to be a lot of questions. And to make matters more exciting the tax year runs March 1st to the end of February so you cannot use your year end totals...
Got you order and thank you - it went out in the afternoon mail.
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Carol-
So SOR/Hipstamp don't qualify as "marketplace providers," eh? I do remember seeing something about gross sales as part of the qualification.
So, just for the sake of discussion, is it your understanding that if I wanted to get rid of 20 bucks worth of stamps by creating a few approval books and placing a couple auctions here in SOR, that I'd have to collect sales tax personally from each buyer and do gobs of paperwork and remit quarterly to NYS all the sales tax ($1.02) I've collected? If I did sell a $2 stamp for $1.50 in an auction, do you, or any of you, happen to know if SOR would even share that information with any authorities?
And what if I did sell that hideous cookie jar for $200 on eBay, and that was the extent of my sales after June 1? Is it your understanding that I'd have to be, what, a "business person?" That would be horribly unfair. I'm retired. I don't want to be a business person.
Would you like to buy some antiques? Cheap?
-Doug
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Doug - loaded question - sent you a note along with the order that may help.
IF you're concerned talk to your attorney - free advice is worth exactly what you pay for it and there are many different ways to look at things. Established dealers have no choice and if anyone sends a 1099 you have a problem.
BTW - filing Sales Tax is yearly in NYS if your total tax due is under #3000 (I think). My grand contribution is usually between $5 and $10 and it takes 2 or 3 hours to compile the data and file.
Former and retired Federal workers are perhaps a bit more gun shy than your typical businessman operating out of a shoebox ...
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10:56:53pm
Hi.
The bay is a crazy place. How many times have you seen a single stamp from a s/s actually sell for more than the entire sheet-- even at single sheet prices? I'm thinking about grabbing some of those piles of 100's of US s/s's at near-face (give or take), cutting them up and selling the individual stamps, some with wide margin, some without, in pairs, in blocks. etc. If I'm patient and list them properly, I could make a good deal of easy money. Thoughts? Comments?
Let's pretend I buy a bunch of these beauties and proceed to chop them into little pieces. I wouldn't go near a s/s with a pair of scissors. The lever-operated paper choppers tend to pull and wander near the trailing edge of the cut, so that's out. Somewhere, before I moved, I had (still have) one of those Fiskar cutters that uses the razor wheel. That thing seems like the best choice. I actually have eyes right now on a smaller Fiskars cutter that uses a super-small razor blade. That's what I use to cut stamp mount strips to size, and it works very nicely. What do the pros use? What do you use?
Thanks in advance!
Doug
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12:24:55am
re: Souvenir Sheets - Best way to cut them, and should I?
Not sure what you're trying to do, or why you think it is a money bag to cut them up. The stamps from souvenir sheets are worth less than the souvenir sheet. On most souvenir sheets, Scott lists the individual stamps as minor numbers to the sheet's major catalog number.
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re: Souvenir Sheets - Best way to cut them, and should I?
If the attempt is to find way to take advantage of unusual buying practices, then your approach may fail. You will like get stuck with a lot of stamps. People try by posting something with an outrageously high price and hope to find that one sucker.
You will find stamps or anything sold for more than they are really worth. The question is it sustainable
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re: Souvenir Sheets - Best way to cut them, and should I?
'
Do take a moment to check items that were sold - and at what price - not just items listed for sale.
And, do take a moment to check better things that you can do with souvenir sheets than cut them up:
Souvenir Sheets as Postage The Horror
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
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03:06:11am
re: Souvenir Sheets - Best way to cut them, and should I?
Thanks for all the responses-
With all due respect, CVs and what a stamp is listed for on eBay don't mean a thing. If we consider that given a statistically significant amount of data from the last 90 days of actual sales prices (incl. shipping), one could construct a case. I believe I have a case. I may be only an intermediate stamp collector, but I'm a well-studied student of human behavior -- it's one of my passions.
I never said that this idea was a rational one, but statically, my research is sound. To ensure sales of a whole lot of stamps, I understand that I'd have to sell them at a price that'd garner more attention than the others, so I certainly wouldn't be getting rich, and by "listing them properly," I mean that I'd have to reduce my time/hassle overhead by selling in bulk, like the "over 75 sold, 25 remaining" thing. That cuts down on listing time and fees, but admittedly, isn't a great approach for selling stamps, as opposed to new socks, because we all like to lay eyes on the actual stamp we're buying. I know I do. But these aren't expensive stamps.
Michael -- I have a catalog... I'll leave it there.
Angor had some salient points. And absolutely yes, yes, yes, I'm looking to take advantage of what you aptly call "unusual buying practices." I'm glad that you gleaned that from my post. And whether it's sustainable, well, that'd be up to me as a seller, if I decide to become one. Yes, I'd have to price competitively to move merchandise. Y'know, it might just be that folks already have the souvenir sheets, but lack some of the singles, just like me. And sure, I'd rather pay a buck for a single than 10 bucks for a sheet of 25 if I only need one. That's actually not so "unusual."
IkeyPikey - I only look at sold listings to determine market value. Not the catalog or asking prices, but thanks. I know you don't know me, and sadly, your advice is actually a great help to the majority of people I know outside of stamping. Just not me. But I thank you. (And yeah, I'd already been through that topic. Beautiful, beautiful stuff.)
Sounds like none of you like the idea, and it sounds like some of you think I haven't done my homework properly. That's life in the forums, I guess -- assuming someone is stupid or incapable of critical thinking. I was hoping for some comments based on an assumption that I wasn't seeking magic beans. (I'm an engineer/physicist.)
Now I feel compelled to throw out some numbers. When I'm buying old stamps, I use the catalog as a very general guide, to the extent that I like to purchase my stamps between 5% and 25% of CV, depending on the quality of the stamp. 5% for hinged, less than stellar centering and medium on the cancel. 25% for unhinged, without flaws, and XF centering. Even more for a jumbo. (Please don't flame me -- it's just a *very* general rule. I beg you.)
So the CV of the #948 is 55c. The a's and b's are 25c each. (You're right, Michael! Should I just give up now?) A look at eBay shows a single #948 at a "buy it now" price of $1 with free shipping. So my 5-25% thing doesn't work for new or common stamps. You could get three of them delivered for $1.49/obo. Or 5 for $3.25. OORRR, 200 for $40 shipped. That's 20c per. That's 33% over face! Where's my 65% of face? Maybe if I bought 1000...
Over the last 90 days, the absolute lowest price paid for the pair of 948a/b was $1.54. That's the *lowest* in the last 90 days. $2.50 was the highest. To be clear, there were only 4 a/b pairs sold over the last 90 days. Soft market, or are they buying sheets and using scissors? Or were these pairs just over-priced? Or are they under-listed? Every single pair listed was sold. Not a one was passed over.
Just for fun, pretend that I bought 200 #948s at 20c/ea. I cut them, sell them for $1.50 with free shipping (costs me 35c, or kinda like nothing if I decide to use up common old stock) That's a gross profit of 95c per item, plus envelope costs. I only have to make one single eBay listing. If the market saturates, I'd have to drop the price until it picks up. But if I was patient, the gross would be $190. That's just for the #948, randomly chosen for an example. Some of the Farleys I based this notion on had some crazy, crazy numbers. The range that people were paying for the same stamp was sometimes 10x, and didn't seem to have any correlation to stamp quality.
A quick check shows the lowest price in the last 90 days for a #730a was $1.10 delivered for a center-cut example. The #730a/731a singles as a pair sell all day long for $2.85 delivered. A MNH #730 sold with ship for $4.29, but the going rate is 7 to 8 bucks. 6 bucks for the #731, for which the lowest sale price of a center-cut single was $1.00. (10) #731s for $54.15. I couldn't find any stacks quickly for the $730, but I found another impatient couple of bidders that paid $38 for a hinged #730. (It's that type of behavior that I, or someone, could, with ever-so-great patience, take advantage of.) So lets say it's $13.00 for both the #730/731. That's 52c a pair for the cut singles. Sell for $2.85 minus 35c postage minus 52c cost, that's basically $2.00 gross profit per pair of sheets, times 25 stamps is 50 bucks. 100 sales of these would make more profit than 200 sales of the #948. Imagine if I could find a bulk supply of each.
So ya see, fellas? The data's clean, the math is clean, except for those pesky envelopes. Selling isn't fun, but if you consider the profits as dedicated stamp money, that makes it fun.
Is anybody going to help me out with the question on cutting? I literally have a few sheets I've been putting off cutting into singles for my album.
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08:08:33am
Auctions - Approvals
re: Souvenir Sheets - Best way to cut them, and should I?
Interesting – after 35 years of business I figure my cost a little differently. First I am going to assume that it is nice to send out a package that appears half way professional – most dealers do. My SWAG for packaging covers envelope, 102 or 107 card, glassine and stiffener (1./3 of a file folder).. That comes to 15 cents plus the cost of postage – I use 55 cents but I will stick with your 35 cents.
948 - you say your cost is 20 cents and you can sell at $1.50 ppd and after adding your 35 cents for envelope and postage you will make 95 cents each gross. 200 sales grosses you $190, although selling 4 every two months it will be a long payback. A more realistic figure adds in the 15 cents packaging which reduces your profit to 80 cents. Ebay will charge you 15 cents, paypal will charge you 34 cents- that's another 49 cents reducing your profit to 31 cents. Your $190 now becomes $62.
Farleys – your cost is 52 cents and you can sell at $2.85 ppd. Adding your 35 cents for envelope and postage you are figuring roughly $2.00 profit, or a total of $50 for 25 sets. Now add in 15 cents for packaging, 29 cents for ebay and 38 cents for paypal – let's say 80 cents which reduces your $2.00 to $1.20 and your profit on 25 sets to $30.
Another factor – remember that ebay is now collecting sales tax for many states and that does now or will soon include NYS. Since NYS dealers (myself included) have to file yearly sales tax records sellers will not be autonomous and sooner or later sales records will also tie into the Federal data bases and they will check your FTR for a Schedule “C”. Time spent working with the Federal government (and my husband spent 20 years) tells me this will eventually happen. Always remember Capone went to jail for tax evasion – not mob activity.
Anyway – best of luck and if you do give it a try let us know how you make out…
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re: Souvenir Sheets - Best way to cut them, and should I?
Math has nothing to do with it. (also an engineer-mathematician)
The simple truth is that there is a river of money flowing out there and the world is full of dupes just waiting for a chance to part with it if you package it right.
Find the very best stamps you can, cut up your sheets (provided they are pre 1940-50) in any reasonable way - Staples can provide a good cutter for under $50
THEN send them to a "stamp evaluation company" like PSE
They will give you a certificate of grade and a genuineness guarantee - maybe even get it encapsulated.
Next find a known auction house like THIS. and VOILA - you can get 10X-100X what you paid if you get a 95-98 grade or the elusive 98+ Jumbo.
The buyers know NOTHING about stamps, they just want to own what others cannot.
The auction house isn't concerned about CV's, it's commissions that count
Unfortunately your process is flawed as it does not account for all the extra hidden fees, the time involved, the initial low value hence low demand and selling on a medium that doesn't attract the real money.
Myself and the folks here, we are just basic stamp collectors and philatelists who found a hobby they enjoy and learn from it, unfortunately not overly profitable in a monetary sense.
Between what we buy, sell and give away, breaking even is a good day.
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re: Souvenir Sheets - Best way to cut them, and should I?
3 Cents--I echo what others have hinted, but since I am blunt, I will just say it.
DON"T CUT THE SOUVENIR SHEETS!! SAVE THEM WHOLE!!
BOB
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This is my diabetic cat OBI! I think, therefore I am - I think! Descartes, sort of!
23 Jun 2019
07:23:29pm
re: Souvenir Sheets - Best way to cut them, and should I?
I know several of the people involved with Stamporama deal in stamps, but for most of us it is just a hobby that we enjoy. For me the main fun comes when I find stamps to add to my collection. I have been collecting for a long time and my collection is quite valuable money wise, but it is more valuable for the entertainment. I still enjoy sitting down and "playing with my stamps" - putting in new stamps I have picked up or changing around ones I have had a long time or just looking through my collection. Over the years I have made many mistakes but that's how we learn. I doubt if any one will ever get rich dealing stamps. Good luck cutting up your souvenir sheets - I hope it's fun for you!
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09:34:31pm
re: Souvenir Sheets - Best way to cut them, and should I?
Wow, Carol, I've been served! Can you sense my tail between my legs? Sheesh. I was careful to include the envelope that I didn't know the price of, and despite having sold many hundreds of odd things on eBay over two decades, I completely neglected the elephant in the room. I don't think I ever sold anything for less than 15 bucks, so I never once noticed the Paypal 30c flat fee. But wow, that's a deal-killer at the low end, where we often find a lot of stamps. I'm thinking I should write an apology letter to the poor soul I bought a nice stamp from in an eBay auction last week for 21c with free shipping. It wasn't my fault that everybody else passed over that stamp. I liked it. It happens. But still...
And you mention the sales tax... I have two pallets filled with boxes in the basement of stuff from our last move labeled "sell on eBay." Once we have to do that sales tax stuff, I'm done with eBay. Who needs that hassle as a very casual seller? I'll have a garage sale instead and donate the rest. So the idea of selling stamps on eBay is long gone. I need to get rid of those high-value boxes asap. But then, there's that reason that I've re-kindled my stamping hobby after a 10-year hiatus. My time has very little value, as I'm stuck in a hospital bed in my living room with my shattered leg in the air almost 24 hours a day. It's been almost 6 months now, and with *luck*, maybe I could try putting a little weight on the thing in another month or so. My wife's not that interested in getting involved in selling all that stuff, but I certainly can't do it. But I could have pulled off the sheet-cutting.
Anyway, Carol, thanks for setting me straight. I messed up pretty bad, didn't I?
Ron -- I appreciate your sarcasm. I do. The stamps sold at that auction house were almost too good to look at. I love stamps for so many reasons, but mostly because I find them beautiful. But is it really fair to judge those that'll spend 5 grand on a 2c Columbian? Sure, there's that "thing" going on that we often attribute to those with so many millions that it's actually a chore to find stuff to buy with all of it. I mean, if they're more into stamps than super-cars, then why not have the best #231 in the world? Y'know, the one who's margins are 3 microns larger than the 2nd-best example. Anyway, Ron, how am I gonna cut 98-grade jumbos from a souvenir sheet without the perfect cutting tool? That question remains unanswered, and even though It's no longer of great importance to me, it might help other SOR members. I searched the web fairly deeply before posting this question here.
Bob -- What to do when our stamp albums contain holes/place holders for stamps cut from souvenir sheets? I don't know about you, but I'm compelled to fill them. If I can save a buck by cutting my own, I'll do just that. If you wanna bug somebody, bug Michael. He uses them for postage...
All -- The cutting question still stands. And it's mostly just a curiosity now. Beyond the question of what type of paper-cutter to employ, how would one go about getting the cut *perfectly* centered? That being asked, I'm one of those that isn't at all bothered my imperfs with wonky edges.
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10:35:36pm
re: Souvenir Sheets - Best way to cut them, and should I?
Carol - I just had a non-philatelic sale on Ebay from a buyer in the Bronx. Ebay added sales tax to the invoice and collected it from the buyer.
Douglas -
"it might just be that folks already have the souvenir sheets, but lack some of the singles, just like me."
You are right in that regard. I had forgotten that some stamp albums include singles from souvenir sheets. People will tend to obtain those singles in order to fill the album spaces. Also, some albums include a page for an entire sheet of stamps, and then pages for the single stamps from that sheet. Examples are the National Parks, Admiral Byrd, "Greeting from the USA" sheets, the wildlife and the birds and flowers sheet. there are several others. With some sheets, such as the US Civil War sheets, album pages will have spaces for the singles from the sheets, but will not include a page for the sheets (I think Scott has a separate National page set for the sheets).
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01:18:55am
re: Souvenir Sheets - Best way to cut them, and should I?
Carol-
I thought of another non-negligent cost -- printing invoices. If you've got one of those 6-cartridge photo printers that cleans it's nozzles with about a dollar's worth of ink after 60 hours of disuse (they all do it, some more than others), then even that 60c profit just turned into a 40c loss. I think mine's rated at 13c/page, which is painfully high, but it's way, way more than that if you don't use it every 48 hours. So there's that, if, like you say, you want to be somewhat professional.
If I took the time to read every Paypal or eBay policy update their lawyers scratch out and email me (and people think *I'm* verbose), I wouldn't have time to try to wiggle my toes. In fact, after soaking in your post, I went to one of those ebay/paypal calculators and the page did not load properly. Instead of just showing the input and output fields, like it did the second time, it actually threw "the code" all over my screen. "((amount)+(amount*.029)+.30)" or thereabouts. That's the only reason I learned of the 30c flat fee! Because of lousy HTML coding. But since learning of this, I can clearly see now why so many stamp sellers on eBay sell mini-sets instead of the individual stamps - the higher the sale price, the lower the *percentage* of the Paypal fees. Now I understand why there's so much of that -- especially for relatively inexpensive stamps.
Now there's a topic, huh? How many people are looking for a bargain on a short set vs. just needing a single stamp in the series? Molly Pitcher and the Hawaiians (my favorite 80's cover band) are so often found together. And there's Harrison-Wilson (the folksingers). I bought all three Hardings just to get two, because it was cheaper that way. It drives me crazy when I buy, say, a nicer 5c Jamestown solo act, and then a few days later see the whole trio playing for the same or lower ticket price, and with equal quality... I'd become one of those statistics, hadn't I?
Has anybody come across a webpage that has dug deep into the philatelic statistics of eBay? How to find the best bargains? "The Secret eBay Buyer's Guide To Stamps?"
Michael-
I know, right? I'd been thinking about upgrading my album, but in addition to the substantial cost of even a used album, there's often all those additional holes to fill! I think my current album has the balance I like. It does have a space for singles from every souvenir sheet in addition to the sheet. "Requires" connected pairs or blocks of four whenever the sheets are printed with 2 or 4 different stamps on a sheet (in addition to the singles), but nothing beyond a block of four. No strips of 10 or anything. Also, my album will gladly (only) accept single stamps for imperfs and coils, and I'm *extremely* pleased with that bit. I also like that my album ends in 1992! But I do need to have it re-bound. It's getting bulgy. It does have spaces for Farley gutter pairs, but no cross-gutters. Phew!
Thanks everybody. (You too Harvey.)
Doug
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07:35:59am
Auctions - Approvals
re: Souvenir Sheets - Best way to cut them, and should I?
"Has anybody come across a webpage that has dug deep into the philatelic statistics of eBay? How to find the best bargains? "The Secret eBay Buyer's Guide To Stamps?"
The best rule on Ebay for "bargain" classics is that unless you are either a gambler or an expert insist on obtaining a certificate from one of the reputable expertization sources as part of the deal if spending real money. Ebay is full of problematic stamps: reperforated, repaired, eradicated cancels, altered (fake coils and imperfs), forgeries, regummed, "improved" stamps,fake cancels, "created" postal history, and other such things. There are a lot of stamp "doctors" out there who are very good at what they do and they are not expensive ... a lot of it is an ego trip and yes, some of their work ends up with good certs from various sources.
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re: Souvenir Sheets - Best way to cut them, and should I?
'
How to best cut souvenir sheets? I'd find a way to use my new toy.
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey (who thinks that we should turn the math around, and ask what is the minimum financially practical lot size on eBay, before allowing for postage & your time)
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03:16:44pm
Auctions - Approvals
re: Souvenir Sheets - Best way to cut them, and should I?
Jings!....Crivvens!....Help Ma Boab!
Yuuppp!
It never fails to amaze how little knowledge Sellers and Buyers have of the total costs of Ebay and paypal.
Please remember that Ebay and Paypal charges are laid on the total purchase. i.e. they charge the seller their percentages on the postage/shipping as well!!
So most sales at 99cents are uneconomical in a true cost basis.
Sellers pray that any buyer who bids 99 cents buys several lots from them.
(Just sold sufficient 99 cents lots to gas up the Ferarri!! YEEEEEHHAAAA!)
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04:10:37pm
re: Souvenir Sheets - Best way to cut them, and should I?
Hi Carol-
When you say "insist on obtaining a certificate ," do you insist on that from a seller? If so, and the seller has already inserted a listing, have you ever experienced a time when the seller cancelled his/her auction and waited 4-6 weeks for a cert? I don't see that happening. I see that most sellers offer a 30-day refund policy, but that's not enough time to certify a stamp and ask for your money back. A few sellers guarantee that if you are unable to certify the stamp ID, then they'll refund your money whenever.
Anyway, this really only applies to the advanced collector, don't you think? With the cost of a regular PSE cert at 6% of the CV or $32 min., well, I "try" not to spend that much money on a stamp to begin with. On the other hand, if I bought a collection and found a superb jumbo in there (I've never bought a collection), I would seriously consider sending it out and then inquiring in here about how/where best to sell it. Perhaps at that auction house Ron shared with us. :-)
I love doing restoration/conservation work. It's relaxing, meditative and financially rewarding. I spent a lot of time during my stressful working days restoring valuable antique tools. Disassembly, rust-removal, paint-removal and cleaning made the tool look like new. But the proper acids applied to the myriad metals and oils applied to the wood and some painted bits restored a very natural 19th-century patina. When I'd sell a 25c rusty old saw from a garage sale for $200 on eBay, I was always careful to make it very clear that I had "restored" the piece. Some could probably tell, and some couldn't. I certainly could, because I knew all the tricks. Anyway, I think it would be fun to "doctor" some of my own stamps to make them more attractive. I'll be dead when my album sells for a fraction of it's value. I could probably throw a note in there indicating which stamps had been restored. Although, I'd bet that a set of re-perforation tools could be pretty expensive. Probably a dumb idea.
I get a warm feeling when I see stamp dealers listing stamps as repaired. But I don't really get "re-gummed." Isn't that a used stamp that avoided cancel with new gum on the back? Would anybody pay any more for a "re-gummed" or a MNG "missing gum" stamp than they would for a used stamp with a missing or ultra-light cancel? This confuses me greatly. Is there a consensus or protocol here?
A couple weeks ago, a British seller had a pair of #31s on auction. I was very interested. I looked over his hi-rez scans carefully, and I thought they were the far-less valuable #35s. I wrote to him, asking why he thought they were not #35s, and his response was "Well, upon further inspection, I believe that they are, in fact, #35s. He did not update or cancel his auction, but said that he would make the winning bidder aware of the issue and offer him his money back. I wonder.
Ikey-
Regarding "ikeyPikey (who thinks that we should turn the math around, and ask what is the minimum financially practical lot size on eBay, before allowing for postage & your time), I wholeheartedly agree. I sooo look forward to your report. Please make sure I get it, okay? This is great.
Thanks all,
Doug
PS: Carol- Michael was correct. The NYS marketplace tax law kicked in June 1. I've looked over the state's official documents on the matter, and they're full of lawyer-speak. I'm going to search for a dumbed-down, lay it right out simple explanation. I'm just wondering how much extra NYS tax work I'd have to do to sell that $250 cookie jar that I saved from the dumpster. (It's hideous.) My wife received a tax document a couple years back because she got a 60c royalty fee for something she wrote 15 years ago. It's never happened before! I literally had to create a corporation of sorts because the income was royalties. It took about 4/5 forms and a day of my time. Her book is no longer available on Amazon. Have you ever gotten one of those, Michael?
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06:24:19pm
re: Souvenir Sheets - Best way to cut them, and should I?
Yes, I have gotten 10-99 forms for royalties on my books. When I was still working, the royalties I earned usually raised my taxes more than the royalties that I earned. Now, living on a pension, the royalties don't throw me into higher tax brackets like that anymore.
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08:32:01pm
Auctions - Approvals
re: Souvenir Sheets - Best way to cut them, and should I?
If you are spending a few hundred dollars on a stamp you make your bid or offer contingent upon your ability to obtain a certificate from a specific source - be it APS or any of the experts in specific areas of philately with no time limit. If the dealer has a problem with that and you cannot "self-certify" just move on - there are lots of stamps out there. I never ran into that problem because when I get a high dollar stamp or two in a lot or a collection I sell it to other dealers. Dealer to dealer trade in better stamps is generally at a price level well above what shows up on Ebay without any of the hassles.
I greatly admire conservators in all fields. My own abilities are non-existent on paper and pretty much limited to the "instant patina" of briwax on tools and antique metal and wood objects. I had a brick and mortar antique shop in Cazenovia (south of Syracuse) for a short period of time back in the early 90's - way too much overhead..
Stamps are regummed for many reasons. 19th century stamps often have old glue, bad gum, multiple messy hinging, etc which makes them pretty unsightly and unsaleable. Soaking off the gum and perhaps a touch of your favorite liquid can eliminate foxing, enhance colors, even out stains, etc. This gives you a "no gum" stamp which if undamaged is very saleable - I sell a lot of them at 15% of catalog. If the soaking uncovers damage (old repairs, rebacking, hidden thins, etc the stamp will be repaired and regummed to cover up these defects to the naked eye. Regumming is also used as a means of helping to conceal "washed" or eradicated cancels.
Yes, MNG can be worth a lot more than used (even with a trace cancel). Scott prices classic US stamps as gummed, no gum and used. A Scott #114 (my avatar) with gum catalogs $250, no gum $80 and used $20 (2012 pricing).
You have to depend on the integrity of the seller on Ebay these days in situations like the GB stamps. Back when I started and your ID was your email address and bidders weren't hidden you could alert bidders (or the eventual winner) to the problem. Ebay took that away, along with dissolving the discussion group that "outed" bad stamps - that took away their fees. And in fairness it did create a liability problem......still.....
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09:02:02am
Auctions - Approvals
re: Souvenir Sheets - Best way to cut them, and should I?
"Carol - I just had a non-philatelic sale on Ebay from a buyer in the Bronx. Ebay added sales tax to the invoice and collected it from the buyer."
What is going to be really interesting is seeing what happens when I have my first NYS sale on Ebay. I assume they will collect the the tax but since I am also set up to collect the tax will my customer be double charged for the tax and if so what do I do?
NYS has not told us how to address this issue when we file our sales tax return in March - I will have collected NYS tax on all Hipstamp sales and Ebay will have collected sales tax on my Ebay sales. Since they ask for total receipts, gross receipts from Paypal, as well as NYS sales (broken down into the individual counties and many cities) what exactly am I supposed to list - and what happens if indeed the customers have been double charged.
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08:38:41pm
re: Souvenir Sheets - Best way to cut them, and should I?
Carol-
I live in Ontario County, NYS. I bought stamps from 2 sources yesterday (includes past midnight). A few from an eBay dealer in DC, who charged me exactly 7.5% sales tax. (4% NYS + 3.5% Ontario County, I presume, or else his DC tax rate is the same as mine.) The second was your Hipstamp store. Your system charged me 8% sales tax. Is 4% your county's tax rate, or are you in NYC, where the state sales tax is higher at 4.5%?
And I thought all this hoopla was for collecting state sales tax only. I didn't know it included local county sales tax. If you're going to charge me 8%, then I won't be shopping at your store any more! (Totally kidding. I had a lot of fun. There's something for everybody there.)
Damned sales tax. Just another overhead of cash and hassle for everybody.
I found shopping at your Hipstamp store quite successful (for me) and so much less creepy and scary than eBay. It was not unlike the approval books here at SOR, except the part where you see the stamp you've been looking for and when you scroll down to press the "purchase" button, you see "sold." Ugh. I hate that. Pricing on the SOR approval books are all over the map. The few Hipstamp stores I visited were nearly identical in pricing/shipping, and I found the pricing to be very reasonable. I even upgraded my heavily-canceled #114 -- your avatar -- for a mere 64c. Thanks, Carol!
Regarding the double-charging sales tax, Carol, according to my impression of all the NYS rules in play after June 1 -- the bloated legal docs define a "marketplce provider" (aka eBay, SOR, Hipstamp, etc.) has an obligation to collect sales tax on your behalf and remit said directly to your state's authorities, and then send you a tax form at the end of the year stating how much was collected. You'd know better than me what to do with that form. NYS also defines a "marketplace seller." That's you. I got bored and didn't read all of that part. But what I've read sort of implies that if you're selling through a "marketplace provider," then the responsibility for collecting sales tax is on them, and maybe you could just turn off your tax collection? If I were you, I'd ask somebody I know to try to buy a stamp from you and see what happens -- see what amount of tax is calculated. Same, for sure, on eBay.
Good luck with that. It's a rough month to be a NYS stamp dealer. I don't think Cazenovia's considered as cool as it was back in the 90's. Maybe go back to selling antiques? (Less overhead these days, but fewer customers, too?)
Doug
PS: I also got schooled on you collectors of fancy cancels while perusing your shop. I never understood your lot. I do find fancy cancels attractive, it's just that I really, really want to see as much of my stamps as I can. I want nothing more than the revel in the engraver's art. I'm one of those guys that'll buy a MNG that's poorly-centered over a used medium canceled stamp with VF centering at the same price if the stamp is expensive enough that I can't afford to have both. But I get it now!!! You had dozens of lovely cancels on the most common stamps of the 19th century for what, 12c a pop or something? You're really collecting just the cancels, aren't you -- not the highly-coveted stamps with those occlusive gobs of ink mucking them up. I came very, very close to getting sucked into your fancy trap. Perhaps someday down the road? Who doesn't appreciate a fancy red? Learning through Carol... And others.
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09:28:40pm
Auctions - Approvals
re: Souvenir Sheets - Best way to cut them, and should I?
Ah yes, 8% and you are in Ontario County and Canandaigua does not have a separate sales tax so your total tax rate is 7.5%. The problem is that some places in NY have a rate of 8.875% and the Hipstamp system and old Ebay system only allow me to use one percentage for the entire state. I chose 8% because most of my NYS sales are downstate. To give an insight into the complexity of the situation here is a short synopsis (edited for clarity) from the NYS Tax Department:
The New York (NY) state sales tax rate is currently 4%. Depending on local municipalities, the total tax rate can be as high as 8.875%.
Other, local-level tax rates in the state of New York are quite complex compared against local-level tax rates in other states. New York sales tax may also be levied at the city/county/school/transportation and SPD (special purpose district) levels.
New York sales tax has numerous local taxing levels that must be monitored and maintained on a regular basis, it is complex and time consuming due to the volume of jurisdictions.
Anyone making retail sales of taxable tangible personal property or services is required to register with the New York Tax Department at least 20 days prior to making taxable sales.
Every sale within NYS has to be looked up as to county as well as any other taxing jurisdiction (cities,etc) and then the total for each jurisdiction entered on their form at the end of the year. BTW - Hipstamp, SOR, etc are not large enough to have to collect sales tax so those will still have to be tallied, as would any private treaty sales and any use tax owed on supply purchases from out of state. I think with the state requirement for total gross sales (to all states) and the total amount paid out by Paypal (or any other credit card servicer) there are going to be a lot of questions. And to make matters more exciting the tax year runs March 1st to the end of February so you cannot use your year end totals...
Got you order and thank you - it went out in the afternoon mail.
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12:58:28am
re: Souvenir Sheets - Best way to cut them, and should I?
Carol-
So SOR/Hipstamp don't qualify as "marketplace providers," eh? I do remember seeing something about gross sales as part of the qualification.
So, just for the sake of discussion, is it your understanding that if I wanted to get rid of 20 bucks worth of stamps by creating a few approval books and placing a couple auctions here in SOR, that I'd have to collect sales tax personally from each buyer and do gobs of paperwork and remit quarterly to NYS all the sales tax ($1.02) I've collected? If I did sell a $2 stamp for $1.50 in an auction, do you, or any of you, happen to know if SOR would even share that information with any authorities?
And what if I did sell that hideous cookie jar for $200 on eBay, and that was the extent of my sales after June 1? Is it your understanding that I'd have to be, what, a "business person?" That would be horribly unfair. I'm retired. I don't want to be a business person.
Would you like to buy some antiques? Cheap?
-Doug
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06:57:51am
Auctions - Approvals
re: Souvenir Sheets - Best way to cut them, and should I?
Doug - loaded question - sent you a note along with the order that may help.
IF you're concerned talk to your attorney - free advice is worth exactly what you pay for it and there are many different ways to look at things. Established dealers have no choice and if anyone sends a 1099 you have a problem.
BTW - filing Sales Tax is yearly in NYS if your total tax due is under #3000 (I think). My grand contribution is usually between $5 and $10 and it takes 2 or 3 hours to compile the data and file.
Former and retired Federal workers are perhaps a bit more gun shy than your typical businessman operating out of a shoebox ...
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