Recent interesting lots on ebay

Since I don't have much to write about for my own collection, I will share some info on the last few lots that I watched end on E-bay without bidding. These are all items that I was interested in, but which closed out of my range. Of course, I am only sharing info on closed lots, since it wouldn't do to enlighten my potential competetion on my interest and strategy.

The most interesting lot I have seen on E-bay in a while is one of the largest I have seen offered on E-bay. This lot had over 5800 mint sheets, plus a whole bunch of extras. This lot started at 499 British Pounds, and attracted 20 bids, from 5 bidders to reach a final price of 15,850 Pounds (~$31,000). The seller claims that the 2004 catalog value of this lot is in excess of $150,000. However, the seller had set a reserve price (unknown what it was), so it did not sell. Obviously, this lot was well out of my reach, since I don't have an extra $31K around. Even if I did, I would not put it towards my stamp collection. But, it was interesting to see this lot, and I am sure it would have been a very interesting lot for someone had it sold.

One set that I have written about often on my blog here is the 10-14 vertical gutters. This week, there were 4 lots for this issue that I took notice of. The first was a set of vertical gutters with color tabs that failed to attract a single bid at the $4820 start price. The second was a partial set (just the lower 2 values) of plain tabs that also failed to attract a single bid, although at a much lower $170 start price. The third lot was a used set of plate number gutters without tabs. This one actually sold after 22 bids from 12 bidders for $228.50. The fourth was a matched set of plateblocks of 6 (plate #4). The plateblocks I have for this issue are all gutter blocks, but this lot was without the gutter pairs. This one attracted 19 bids and closed at $182.50.

The last lot I want to highlight was a large collection of Jordan stamps overprinted Palestine. These are relatively hard to find in MNH condition, and this lot had lots of blocks of 4, as well as some varieties (inverted overprint, double overprint) that would increase its price. But, the 43 bids from 10 bidders took this lot from its single cent starting price to a final price of $1150. I was expecting it to go for less than half that. Ever since the 2006 Bale catalog started listing these items, I have seen a steady increase in price and bids on these.

Definitive Dated Plateblocks - A summary

Since I am through inventorying the majority of the definitive dated plateblock issues, I figured it was time to post a summary of what I need.

1. Provisionals - 19 needed of 42
2. Zodiac - 88 needed of 124
3. Town Emblems - 116 needed of 161
4. Landscapes - 58 needed of 169
5. Towns Airmails - 7 needed of 22
6. Birds Airmails - 1 needed of 7

So, overall, I need 289 of 525 plateblocks, or 55%. Of course, I probably need the majority of the expensive ones, but this is not a bad start.

Update

Well, I have now completed my plate block inventory up to 1980. I think the plate block collection I bought only goes through 1996, so I am getting close. Of course, the Shekel definitive issue from 1980 is going to take a while. Not only are there 98 different dates, but the Definitive specialized catalog had a special supplement for this issue. There are about 400 varieties of plate blocks, and I know I have at least half. So, it will take me a while to make it through this issue.

One more update on the Telabul draw your own stamp. I see someone is very optimistic on E-bay, offering a full sheet (20 stamps, 3 with tabs, plus the central label) for $2000. While this is a rare issue, I don't think the price is justified. I would rather buy J1-5 tabs for that price.

Making progress

I have found a few spare minutes here and there to continue working on putting my plate block collection in order. This morning, I was able to spend enough time to make it through the Standby issue. According to my Bale catalog, there are 22 different dates available, and I actually have all 22. I also have a few varieties not listed in Bale (they are listed in Wallach's definitive specialized catalog). The varieties are all the addition of a + in the upper right corner of the selvage.

Another update

Just when I thought the Telabul draw your own stamps were taking off, another one closed on E-bay. This one closed at $63, 25% less than the one that closed last week at $84. Of course, a sample size of 2 is pretty meaningless.

A second interesting lot from last week was a set of 10-14 Tete-Beche plateblocks. This closed at $350, which was about double what I thought it would go for. This was a mixed set, with at least 3 different plate positions represented in the set of 5 (2, 5, and 6). A few months ago, I bought a matched set of position 1 for significantly less than this one closed at.

On another topic, I have been reading a lot of discussions on teh Virtual Stamp Club message board about the APS. I used to be a member of APS, but allowed my membership to lapse years ago. One of the discussions currently is about what could the APS do to increase membership. I am not sure about everyone, but the one feature I would use would be a wantlist matching service. What I am thinking about is a reverse of the typical use of sites like E-bay. I would like to be able to enter my want list into a site, then have dealers make offers to sell me items from my list. If done right, not only would this entice members to join, but it could offer a new revenue stream, as dealers could be charged a percentage of sales (or a flat monthly fee) for access to the list.

Wow, two updates in 3 days.

Update

Finally got a chance to work on my stamps again today. I spent a few hours putting away stamps that I had already scanned and inventoried. I was very far behind, so that this took quite a while, and I am still not caught up. I still have some items that I don't know how to store. For example, I have an airletter sheet with inverted die cut. This is too large to fit in any of my albums. I also have some mint sheets that are bigger than my album pages. I guess I will have to get a mint sheet album to put these in.

Not only did I put some stuff away today, I went through and wrote a list of all the albums I have in my collection. I counted 107. The majority of these are for my cancel collection. I have 17 Super Safe albums with special cancels, and another 5 with Slogan cancels. I have another 10 Super safe cover albums with FDC's of regular issues, and 10 with maximum cards. 11 more albums contain my Bulletin collection. I still have boxes of covers to inventory, so I will probably end up with another 20 albums at least. I am going to need a bigger room for all this.

Recent ebay lots

I haven't been bidding on much at E-bay recently, and have only won 2 lots, but there have been some interesting items that I watched on the sidelines. The first item was a set of 10-14 vertical gutters with colored tabs. This closed for $2850. Not bad, considering that there is one other set up for sale on E-bay now, with a start price of $3495. The second was a set of J1-5 tabs that closed for $1525. Both of these items had low start prices, so I was originally hopeful of snapping up a bargain, but they quickly were bid up out of my price range.

Another interesting item that closed last week was a draw your own stamp from the Telabul show. This one was without tab, and sold for $86. Right after the show, I was able to buy a tab stamp and a FDC (without tab) for less than half that price. Looks like people are starting to realize the rarity of this one.

One lot I did buy was a 4 stamp set from Egypt with Palestine overprints from the Nefrettiti issue (N53-6). There were 3 identical sets for sale, by 3 different sellers, all closing in a span of 3 days. The first one had a starting price of $25, and it is the one I ended up buying (I was the only bidder). The second set went for $42, and the third set for $22.50. If I had waited, i might have been able to get it for a little less, but I might not have.

There is also one lot that I saw listed 2 times, and it failed to sell both times. It was a sheet of the Shrulik Tete-Beche issue from the 12/28/97 printing missing the cyclometer number. I guess a small number of sheets were printed this way. I remember when it first came out being offered a mint sheet, a FDC sheet, a booklet, and a FDC booklet all with this error. I turned them down at that time, and have been seeing them come up on E-bay sporadically. What is interesting to me is that the original listing for this sheet was at a start price of $125. After 10 days of no bids, the price dropped to $115 but still no takers. I don't recall the exact price I was offered these at but I think it was a bit above this offering (around $150).