Madloose on Ebay

Dell Philatelic Consultants, Ltd.

My thoughts on this day about the hobby:

The stamp marketplace has changed dramatically with the rise of the internet. Selling platforms including ebay, Delcampe and Hipstamp now offer the collector a combined 'tens of millions' of items at any given time, from single stamps and covers to complete collections, dealer stocks and estates offered by an army of sellers. It is certainly a buyer's market out there!

As with other areas of the marketplace today, many buyers don't always rely on established 'name brand sellers' and, as a result, many retailers from the pre-cyberspace era are struggling.

When it comes to our cherished hobby of philately, many critics have emerged to proclaim that the hobby is in decline. I venture to give my opinion that the hobby is 'alive and well'. Prices are under pressure on easily obtainable pieces because sellers are large in number and competing with each other on price. The internet 

allows price transparency. An established retailer must now compete with the individual collector and the beneficiary of a collector. All are capable of selling in cyberspace and a 'great many' are doing so.

The traditional company with real overhead and the need to make a living for its owners and workers must now sell stamp lots alongside collectors who do not necessarily have these obstacles and beneficiaries who do not always understand the real value of the items that they are selling. This phenomenon is putting downward pressure on prices.

Lower prices become a windfall for active collectors. With this good news comes the bad news when the collector wants to sell his collection. That is, prices are lower. Alas, many collectors who want to sell today have built their collections over many decades and at pre-internet market prices.

I recall a collector who wanted to sell to me his topical collection of 'Birds'. He had thousands of sets and singles in his collection with an average value of $4.00 per item. Of course, many items were more costly and many items were less costly for him to obtain.

How does a traditional seller scan and describe a $4.00 item to sell on a platform like ebay without spending $1.50 in labor and overhead to do so? The answer is 'not easily'.   And then the traditional seller has the collector and beneficiary to compete against as there might be exact similar items for sale at the same time at 1/2 the price (or more) of the traditional business seller. Also, there are listing fees and sales fees that must be paid to ebay. If the item does not sell, then the seller must pay new listing fees month after month until the item does sell. 

What can the traditional business possibly pay to the owner of the Bird collection? The answer is easily 'not so much'. 

I now offer very special items that are almost impossible to find anywhere else at what I consider to be fair prices, or, I have researched many prices on more mainstream items and offered very competitive prices.I have cut my overhead costs to the bare minimum.

With my new business model, I hope to stay relevant and an important source of material to collector-friends. Please consider the material offered in the Madloose ebay store. If you do not buy stamps on ebay, then please just send your order through an email to me or to Kathy. Kathy is my hard working, capable and knowledgeable assistant who will be celebrating her 17th anniversary of employment on November 1st.

We wish you a good day and we look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards and Happy Collecting,

Don Palazzo