August 2018 - Sneak Peek

BUY AND SELL
.......................................................................................................
BY WENDY MASORTI sales director
wendy@stamps.org
A Tip to Our Sellers
Catalogs Carry Similar Basic Info, But Pricing Can Vary
We often receive inquiries
as to how sellers price
their material, specifically
which catalogs they use as the prices
sometimes vary drastically. We therefore
feel it is important to provide a
quick review on catalogs.
In the United States, the catalog
used the most and the most understood
for price comparisons is the
Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue,
published by Amos Media annually
in six volumes. Specialists in
U.S. material usually reference the
Scott Specialized Catalogue of U.S.
Stamps and Covers, a specialty catalog
from Amos. The majority of the items
on StampStore and in our sales books
use the Scott catalog for pricing.
When sellers use other catalogs
to price U.S. material, buyers will still
want a favorable comparison with
Scott before deciding to buy items.
For instance, we have a few sellers who will price their U.S.
material using
the U.S.-based Brookman catalog, which
presents more of a retail price and is
This United States 2-cent coil Electric Light’s Golden
Jubilee of 1929 stamp, Scott 656, was a top-selling
U.S. item in May on StampStore.
Overall monthly sales reports are posted each
month online at stamps.org/Stampstore-Sales-Report.
You can view sales and see what is hot for the month.
780 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / AUGUST 2018
While there are several reliable catalogs on the
market, pricing stamps to be competitive on
StampStore means paying attention to what
other sellers are using.
generally higher than Scott. In this
case, buyers will notice several of the
same items on StampStore but some
are listed with higher overall prices
and, of course, the cheaper, comparable
item will sell first. Sellers should
therefore keep in mind that they are
selling mainly within the U.S. market
and should price accordingly to compete
with other sellers.
Items not found in Scott catalogs
might be listed in other specialized
catalogs or in specialized dealer price
lists and auction realized price lists.
Those listed prices could be considered
retail and pricing at 50 percent
below retail will place your material in
the ballpark with other sellers.
Note that the other major collecting
areas of the world have widely
recognized catalogs, and our sellers
of specialized collections prefer to use
them for varieties not listed in Scott
catalogs. Michel, Stanley Gibbons, Zumstein, Yvert-Tellier
and Unitrade cover German, British, Swiss, French, and Canadian
areas, respectively. As for pricing in these catalogs,
be aware that the values in the specialized catalogs may be
based on the philatelic market where the catalog is published.
This means that the market prices may be comparable
or higher than the U.S. market prices. Sellers should know
that most of the collectors buying from our services would
base their purchase decisions on the U.S. market. Likewise,
buyers need to know that items of a specialized nature not
addressed in the Scott catalog may warrant the higher prices
from the specialized catalogs.
Circuit Book Sales Categories Needed
We continually monitor categories that are in particular
short supply for the Circuit books (not StampStore). To see
our full list of stamps needed for circuits visit www.stamps.
org/Stamps-Needed. If you have material in these areas that
you are interested in selling, consider using circuit sales. For
those new to selling, seller information is available online
or can be requested by contacting our staff at 814-933-3803,
ext. 231.