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New Market SMQ Prices July 2006
wmerlin
Posts: 17
in Stamps Forum
When is the new SMQ coming out?
I am very curious to see how much the prices increase for the 90 and better graded stamps. As much as it maybe impossible for our pocketbooks, the 98 NH's seem to have gone through the roof. I am no pushover, but here's to you guys going for it on those 98's during the recent auctions.
All NH's 90 and above are going well above the last SMQ. Steve Crippe is listing 98's at 50% above SMQ to buy 98's. HAHAHAHA----I guess all those guys saying that this graded stuff will have no efffect on the market are eating their words.
There has been a bunch of junk sold to collectors in the past as "superb" when it is not. If I were one of those dealers, I would not want the Graded stuff to take hold as well cause your clientel will kill you when your "superb" is an 85. It is funny to see how stupid some of the dealers are trying to sell 85's as 95's saying that the PSE must have been blind. I guess now it is the PSE and PF that are both blind.
The recent trend seems clear---NH's 98 and above are going through the roof. NH's are going up faster than OG's, but there has been escalation in auction prices for everything graded at 90 and above.
What else is interesting is the new interest in the recent "classics" from 1924 through 1945. Those prices for better stamps has been as dynamic as for the 98 and above NH's for the older stamps.
The Scott market price for US stamps is missing the boat b/c the action is not in the Fine to VF stamps right now. There is a big disconnect b/w what Linns is publishing and what is really going on in the auction market. They need to reflect a market in the higher graded stamp market to have full relevance.
I am very curious to see how much the prices increase for the 90 and better graded stamps. As much as it maybe impossible for our pocketbooks, the 98 NH's seem to have gone through the roof. I am no pushover, but here's to you guys going for it on those 98's during the recent auctions.
All NH's 90 and above are going well above the last SMQ. Steve Crippe is listing 98's at 50% above SMQ to buy 98's. HAHAHAHA----I guess all those guys saying that this graded stuff will have no efffect on the market are eating their words.
There has been a bunch of junk sold to collectors in the past as "superb" when it is not. If I were one of those dealers, I would not want the Graded stuff to take hold as well cause your clientel will kill you when your "superb" is an 85. It is funny to see how stupid some of the dealers are trying to sell 85's as 95's saying that the PSE must have been blind. I guess now it is the PSE and PF that are both blind.
The recent trend seems clear---NH's 98 and above are going through the roof. NH's are going up faster than OG's, but there has been escalation in auction prices for everything graded at 90 and above.
What else is interesting is the new interest in the recent "classics" from 1924 through 1945. Those prices for better stamps has been as dynamic as for the 98 and above NH's for the older stamps.
The Scott market price for US stamps is missing the boat b/c the action is not in the Fine to VF stamps right now. There is a big disconnect b/w what Linns is publishing and what is really going on in the auction market. They need to reflect a market in the higher graded stamp market to have full relevance.
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Comments
"Should be graded!" or "100J if PSE Graded Pairs!!"(on a common imperf Harding pair) or "should be jumbo" "looks better than an 85" They are still trying to use the same tactics as used before grading caught on. But dealers in general are out of touch. I went to the Indypex 2006 stampshow yesterday and sat and listened to two dealers whine and complain about collectors and not making any money. One of them later showed me a #560 that was graded 85 and told me "this stamp is much better than that" these guys really think you can go through a couple envelopes of stamps and pick 5 or 6 out and they should grade 98 or 100 because they are really good for that issue(this is the thought on common stamps and is much more difficult than that). This same dealer told me he hardly submits any stamps anymore because he doesn't get high grades all of the time and he doesn't want to wait to get his stamps back. Well, gee, that's HOW YOU CAN MAKE SOME REAL MONEY! WAKE UP DEALERS! And guess what 98's wouldn't be selling for astronomical prices if every above average stamp sent in got a grade that high! Anyway I'll tryto get the malack stamp post back at the top so you can read it if you haven't already.
We're going to be adding a good deal of color to the book as well, so hopefully, it will be worth waiting for.
Director of Numismatics
PCGS
Nice to know someone from PSE pays some attention to what goes on here.
Yes, we do write our opinion as to what we feel a stamp should have been graded, but we also tell you the ACTUAL PSE GRADE that it was given TWICE per lot description (no deception there). Just remember that all certificates and grades given by the Professional Grading and Certification Companies are also opinions and are subjective. Here is some information to show you what we mean by giving our opinion of the grade versus the actual grade given. Rotary press stamps are usually much smaller than flat plate series stamps! The Offset Series of 1918-1920 were plagued by paper problems and poor gumming, The Overrun countries in general are a large well centered stamp, so 95's are going to be easy to find. These are things we have noticed over the past 20 years in business and we feel that this information is important to our customers in determining the value of what they are purchasing. We literally see thousands of Quality stamps each week. Yes, the PSE certainly does take points off for some inclusions, gum skips, guidelines, and fingerprints to name a few. We have had penciled in notes on the actual cards the stamps were returned in from the PSE that stated "grade reduced, gum skips". So, the PSE does take points off for these things, unlike what edueku says (where is he getting his information from). We in no way mislead or deceive our customers into thinking they are getting something that they aren't.
We offer a LIKE IT OR RETURN IT, SATISFACTION GUARANTEED on each and every stamp that we sell (I wonder why that wasn't mentioned in these postings). ALL of our customers are given the opportunity to return ANY item that they are unhappy with within 10 days for a full refund with no questions asked (also on our site, wasn't mentioned in these postings). We hold an impeccable reputation with Linn's Stamp News, the APS, the ASDA, and Ebay. Our feedback rating on Ebay speaks for itself. In the last 6 months we have received 557 POSITIVE comments and zero negative or neutral comments. We treat our customers with RESPECT and give them the knowledge they ask for. If we were the unscrupulous company that we are accused of being, would we have a feedback rating like this? We invite each and every one of you to come to our site, read our terms, conditions, and guarantees and decide for yourselves what the truth really is.
By the way here is the "COMPLETE" QUOTE directly off of our web-site (notice how the entire paragraph was edited) that edueku had so much fun with on June 7th. We aren't quite sure why edueku thinks this is so funny or what is he trying to do.
" We will still be listing our stamps in the grade that we feel they should be, because of new policies by both the PSE and PF we feel this gives you the collector more insight into what to expect from a certain issue. A PLUS (+) sign next to the grade indicates that either the stamp's grade was reduced by the PSE or PF due to a minor production flaw that does not detract from the appearance of a stamp or in our expert opinion the stamp should be graded higher due to special circumstances, please read our descriptions. Some stamps are available with large margins, while other issues are known with only small margins and we feel that just a numeric grade does not give you the entire story. So please read our descriptions and if you should have any questions please by all means give us a call as we are always happy to answer any questions or comments you have. Our website is designed with the collector in mind (quick loading), so if you would like to view a color photo just CLICK on the BLUE WORD 'PHOTO' just after the price. If you click on the PHOTO button
and the photo does not appear, please tell us the lot number and we will fix the problem. We do not show PHOTOS for some of the more common ENCAPSULATED stamps, because we either cannot get a good scan because of the holder and or we may have more than one in stock. If you need a photo please ask and we will be happy to send you one."
We would like for all of the email writing to stop as it is not doing any of us any good. If edueku has a problem we are here to discuss it. We always welcome comments and look forward to the day that edueku contacts us in a way, without hiding his identity, so that we can respond to the issues that he seems to have with us. Any further postings in relation to our company will receive this same exact response, as we refuse to take up time that can be better spent giving our customers our full attention.
WWW.MALACK.COM
You have every right to merchandise your inventory as you deem fit, as do all dealers. Your website has a good discussion of why you believe grading is not right in some instances regarding certain stamps. Many of these critiques have been answered by PSE. For instance, if a certain category of stamp will tend to grade higher, the population chart will show this. But, my 85 graded stamp, if graded accurately, will not be "better" than a 95 of the same type.
You are to be congratulated for embracing the Grading that is effecting our hobby and commenting on it. I think we can have an intelligent dialogue which can be beneficial to dealers and customers. While I did not write the email you responded to, I do agree that it is not appropriate to wrongfully disparage anybody, and I hope your business is booming with satisfied customers. You have a great guarantee.
For years, the two must overused terms by dealers and auctioneers have been "Gem" and "Superb" when selling stamps to collectors. I can tell you exactly what the terms mean to PSE and the standards they review before they make such a Classification statement. Your Web currently says the follwing re: Scott #7:
"7 SUPERB JUMBO, nice light cancel, bottom sheet margin Choice!! $325.00
7 SUPERB, nice light pen cancel, fresh with nice color $135.00 PHOTO
7 80 XF-SUPERB, w/PSE (GRADED 80 (01/06)) CERT, which by no means reflects the condition of this stamp. This stamp looks nicer than the 85's we have. Four totally clear margins and a light cancel. $360.00 PHOTO
7 85 SUPERB, w/PSE (GRADED 85 (4/05)) CERT, A wonderful stamp with large margins and nice light town cancel. A GEM!! $475.00"
What do the terms "Superb" and "Gem" mean to you? How do you rate a "Superb" stamp as you define it? Is there something better than a Gem or Superb stamp? I was fortunate (or not, depending on how you look at it) to acquire a #7 95J at the Siegel Rarities Sale this Spring. That stamp is getting close to being "superb." You can go to the Siegel web and look for yourself. How would you describe that stamp given that a stamp you offer for $325 you call a "Superb Jumbo?" Possibly mine would be a "Super Superb Jumbo."
However, over a quarter of the #7's graded by PSE are above the graded 85 you advertise and which you call "superb." Some may question why you call that #7 "superb." If they are knowledgable collectors, they may wonder how 75% of your #7 stamps you rate as "Superb" or how a PSE Graded 85 can be a "Gem" stamp.
The great thing about third party grading is that there are standards for these terms. If you disagree, you can even send your stamp back with reasons why you think they are wrong. So long as PSE or PF remain consistent over time for the same stamps, we can compare similar stamps for various attributes which make up a grade. As a customer, and I imagine a dealer when purchasing stock, I would think an independent grade would help differentiate a stamp on a consistent basis and give some credibility to the claim that a stamp was a Gem, Superb or possibly just Very Fine or whatever.
Possibly you do not think a fingerprint makes a difference, but would you rather have a stamp with a pristine gum or one with a fingerprint? Most of us want one pristine over the fingerprinted one so why not grade that stamp higher? It should make a difference and does at auction.
Being a reputable dealer, I am certain you appreciate that Grading keeps dealers on a level playing field because a dealer that overly exaggerates the condition and desirability of his inventory does not reap the rewards of such wrongful antics. The Grade keeps that under check.
Best of luck to you, and I look forward to buying from you in the future. You have an excellent site that I keep in my "favorites."
William Merlin