Quality issues regarding stamps posted on StampWants

[dakotahnj]

I am a fairly new buyer at the StampWants site, and I've purchased from a few different sellers. Perhaps I am too particular regarding the quality of stamps going into my collection, but it seems like with each batch I purchase there are always a couple stamps which don't meet my expectations. There was even one group of stamps which had defects in approximately 25 percent of the items received. I always make sure to view beforehand each stamp carefully on its scan. My observation, here, concerns flaws that usually cannot be seen from a scan, such as creased corners, thin spots and stains on the reverse (and not bleeding through to the face of the stamp). I can't understand why, if I am able to see these defects within a couple seconds of viewing the stamp, the listing seller can't see them as well. Does the seller not bother to take the time to look before listing? Am I being too particular? I don't think it's done with the intent to deceive, but perhaps with a little bit of hope on the seller's part that it really won't matter to the potential buyer. From my standpoint it's not so much the cost of the stamps, but rather the fact I just will not have these inferior stamps in my collection. I want to make clear that I have had no problems in getting refunds or replacements. That's not the point. i just wish sellers would show a little more care in choosing the stamps they're listing, from a condition stanpdpoint, or at least make clear all condition issues. I really would appreciate some feedback from other collectors.

[cocollectibles]

This isn't particularly a StampWants issue, but I think you voiced a very valid concern any time one buys collectibles without the ability to "handle" them personally.

IMHO, the higher a collector's standards, the more they must invest to ensure the stamps they buy meet those expectations; no seller can anticipate the requirements of all collectors, especially buyers who demand certain standards for their collection (and I applaud you for doing that, BTW ). I think the least we should expect from listings is a good image and a description of faults and problems not shown in the scan (e.g., slight creases on the front; corner bends on covers; hinge markings; thins; foxing on the back; disturbed gum; etc.). As a part-time seller, I appreciate any collector who asks questions about the condition of items that I list. I've never felt put-upon or bothered by such requests. I'd rather they ask, than go through the refund process.

As a collector myself, one basic standard I have is that the listing must have an image; I don't understand sellers who do not use even one image in their listings as I would never buy "sight-unseen" no matter how detailed the description. However other buyers will do so; their standards are different than mine. I collect specialized cancels on Hong Kong and Queen Victoria stamps; the overall condition is less important than the cancel, so I'm likely to skip over multiple-item listings with generic images because the key element, the cancel, isn't featured or described to my needs.

Good fortune with your collecting interests!

[kulelo]

Dakotahnj,absolutely agree with you!
I have purchased stamps in the SW site more than year and this is the only unpleasant thing here.I am very dissapointed always when stamps/sets arrive in lower quality than described.The most popular mistake I met with,is MH ones instead MNH. I guess sellers who has thousnds of lots receive/buy these stamps already described and do not examine each stamp once again before place it for sale in the site.I could understand it,but I do not want to pay for this mistake because it is not my mistake.Sellers with good feedback reputation always are ready to get these wrong ones back and send refund.But in any case - I have spent time to search it,I sent money and – what could be more important – I do not receive items I wished! And if I want send this wrong item back it takes time and expenses for me And as I live overseas postage could cost more than enclosure.If I pay for sellers postage ,he has to pay for my postage!
Maybe owners of the site could write any point about responsibility of this matter in the rules for seller or write on the first page of The site a text like „Dear sellers,please do not lie when you describe your items” or similar.

[jc1111]

I guess I've been lucky because I have not had this problem here at SW. I agree with Peter: no scan - no sale. I did have the problem years ago when I was using mail auctions. I was disappointed with several of them until I found one that I felt described accurately. That auction house received my repeat business, the others did not. This might be the approach to take here at SW. Find the sellers that you are happy with and drop the others. It will take some 'poor' purchases to find your comfort zone, but I believe you will be happy in the end. One last note: It takes top prices to get the very best. If the price seems too good to be true, buyer beware!!

[vax2]

Well stamp condition is a universal issue.

I have seen the boom day of stamp auction. The price is very good and the goods are nice. At that time, the faulty stamps in a small collection is smaller than 5%, now it is common to find more than 10%, based on my experience. I have tried buying store items, a few times paying more than 60% of catalogue price and the result is the same. Most buyers seem not to care too much about stamp condition. I am afraid average sellers do not care either. I mean... if they fail to check the condition of the stamp before listing, they should be able to detect those faults before mailing the stamps. No excuse. They are betting the buyers are average collectors. I have disclosed faulty stamps before and have to incur big losses so I can see why sellers prefer not to disclose any faults.

If quality is the most important thing to you, you need to find sellers who are disclosing even small faults. If you want to try a new seller, buy little until you are comfortable with the stamps you receive. Only buy from the same reliable source. Unfortunately I discover the best solution is not mail order.

[khj]

There are many many great sellers here on SW. No offense intended (just a general comment), but if someone only wants stamps in near flawless condition, then one really needs to either go to a brick and mortar store, buy only certified stamps, or subscribe to an approval service. Even then, still expect an occasional mistake. But I don't think that was your issue -- rather, you were not happy that the flaws were not adequately described, or even misdescribed.

To be honest, if I sold retail, and a collector told me he expected all "obvious" stamp flaws to be described, then I would likely charge him a markedly higher price. It's really a very very labor intensive thing to do and not as easy as it sounds.

While it is DEFINITELY wrong for a seller to deliberately misdescribe a stamp (e.g., mnh when it's actually hinged) or ignorantly misdescribe a stamp (e.g., write mnh for all their stamps when in fact they weren't even examined for hinging), I honestly cannot expect a seller to sit there and write out every flaw -- or maybe I'm a product of low expectations? I simply factor in the fact that some percentage of stamps will be misdescribed when I make my final bid. Also, read the feedback ratings and messages -- they are actually quite helpful. Even some of my favorite sellers will occasionally miss a major flaw in their descriptions. It's actually easier to miss a flaw than it seems.

That being said, I think I've only dumped 4 sellers out of about 60+ because a significant part of the purchase was either missing, misdescribed, or the seller was knowingly making their listings ambiguous/misleading after fair warning from me.

That percentage (~7%), is actually not much different from my experience with brick and mortar dealers and show dealers, and yet they are noticeably more expensive than what I am paying here on SW. In fact, I might even argue that they are even more lax in their notations of flaws because they know you'll simply skip over anything misdescribed upon examination (which is in fact, what I do) -- they don't have to worry about the inconvenience of handling returns by mail.

I have to admit I was surprised by my great experience here on SW, because I usually don't like to buy stamps I've never handled unless it is from a very established dealer or auction house. This is why I have shifted more than half of my stamp purchases here to SW. And, I can tell you with certainty that there is a much much greater percentage of bad sellers over at the "dark side" than there are here.

Enjoy your stamps and SW!

k

[boppolis]

I've only had that problem once here on SW about unseen flaws (from maybe 35-40 sellers?). Had that a few times on fee-bay, but am usually pretty careful about checking a sellers' other lots & feedbacks pretty well. Lots of sellers I'd not bid at all.

But as a seller I go out of my way to specify all the faults or flaws, incl pencil marks, hinge remnants or adhesions. I'm sure I miss the occasional, but try not to. Bugs me to not have anything hidden described.

:^)

[keesindy]

I've only had that problem once here on SW about unseen flaws (from maybe 35-40 sellers?). Had that a few times on fee-bay, but am usually pretty careful about checking a sellers' other lots & feedbacks pretty well. Lots of sellers I'd not bid at all.

But as a seller I go out of my way to specify all the faults or flaws, incl pencil marks, hinge remnants or adhesions. I'm sure I miss the occasional, but try not to. Bugs me to not have anything hidden described.

:^)

I'm in agreement with pretty much everything said so far.

But here's one example of what buyers may run into. I collected off and on for years. Then I started selling my collection, bit by bit, last year, describing all faults that I saw. However, it had never occurred to me that pencil markings on the back of a stamp were faults in the eyes of some collectors! That came as a shock to me when the issue came up here in the forums. I simply had no idea that, to be thorough, I should have been noting the pencil markings. Now that I know, I indicate when there are pencil markings. We don't all have the same standards and this can lead to differences of opinion among buyers and sellers.

As a relatively new seller, my goal is to anticipate what any buyer might consider a fault. In that way I hope to avoid any problems. The difficulty comes in trying to find the time to be as thorough as I should with each and every stamp. There's never enough time, and I suspect we'll all make mistakes from time to time.

[dianealthea]

I too am a bit discernible about what goes into my collection, and even more so now that we are into self adhesive on a world-wide basis; its easy to miss a flaw until one scans it in and then all of a sudden something pops out at you! I do believe that the front of the stamp is represented by my scan, it shows the perfs, centering, postmark and believe that its up to the buyer to determine if this stamp meets their expectations and then I go on to describe the back down to the tiniest speck... sometimes showing a scan of the back too. Sometimes a lightly hinged stamp is not visible the first time around and then you catch it just right in the light when scanning it and I try to keep an eye out for those things but there is always that Lone Ranger that slips by, makes me feel bad that I missed it but I no longer tear my hair out worrying about it, but I think you are more into a description of a "lot" collection description. If you are buying large lots then it does become a problem and I totally agree with Peter about the time/cost factor. Usually a general description should suffice and let the buyer know that there might be "flawed" stamps, but a minute description of each stamp in a collection is rare.

So, I am in total agreement that all stamps should be described to the best ability of the seller ~ however, we are all human and subject to error and I am guilty of a few, and by no means am I qualified to grade stamps. I love the feature under the seller's name that I can ask questions and never hesitate to do so, sometimes saving a lot of aggravation and disappointment.

And I thank you for bringing this subject up as it makes us little guys more aware of what you want and how you want it making my job more defined and keeps me on my toes! Wrinkles, creases, stains, toning, hinging, pen/pencil markings, on the back should all be noted on the listing and that includes cto's!!. Some don't mind as they are just looking for a space filler which is fine, but when we are looking for a "good, nice" stamp than that's when one should ask. MNH should be just that and the scan tells the rest for the front.

[keesindy]

and that includes cto's!!.

I don't mention CTOs because I'm not really qualified to do so. I know there are certain countries that did (do?) a lot of CTOs and I can identify the obvious ones. But, this is one area where I presume there's some subjectivity involved and so I try to compensate by doing nice scans that should allow a buyer to make their own determination. Fortunately, most of my sales are mint stamps. So I wouldn't even encounter the CTO issue very often.

My focus in describing stamps is to identify what can't be seen in the scan. I don't try to describe what's visible. Most of my scans are larger than life size and I prefer to let the buyer judge based on what he/she sees rather than my verbal description. It seems to be working so far. No questions from prospective buyers yet and no negative feedback. Knock on wood!!!!!

[michael78651]

Don't agree fully with the CTO. Scott clearly states that values for used stamps in countries such as Czechoslovakia, Poland, the Eastern European ones are for CTO. Postally used are worth more. I mention CTO when that is not the norm for the country, or the Scott listings. Belize is a good example where the early stamps were CTO. Postally used are almost unheard of. Depending on the norm, I describe CTO or postally used when that is not the condition how the stamp is valued.

[khj]

For the sake of going off topic, I wish Scott would repeat the CTO footnote ("starting with year XXXX catalog prices are for CTO... postally used are worth more") at the beginning of the country listing like they do with the hinged/NH footnote.

I'm guessing that the great majority of collectors never see most of the footnotes on CTOs that is embedded in various country listings.

Besides, my memory isn't that good and I often don't remember if and when CTO pricing ends.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled thread topic...

[oneeaglelover]

I am a minor 'collector' who becomes a 'minor' seller here...I try to describe as best as possible...I miss, too...Another forum post here...I had a stamp that had 3 repairs which covered about 3/4 of the stamp...the remaining had 1/4 MNHOG....Well, it was returned for refund because the customer wanted a used stamp...well, the buyer has a point...The stamp had too many repairs to list as MNHOG, yet, was not truly used...Now I have a stamp to relist...what to do??

[michael78651]

The proper terminology for the condition of the gum would be small part original gum. Part OG, because less than 1/2 of the gum still remained on the stamp. If any part of the gum is missing, the stamp cannot be NH as the NH term refers to an unused stamp will full original gum that has not been hinged. For the same reason, a used stamp, including CTO, cannot be NH. Those are Scott definitions, not mine.

[oneeaglelover]

Thanx!! gnite numbers...