Value is an emotional or instictive response based on
priorities.
Thomas
--- Greg Hupe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Hi Dean,
>
> 'Value", in my mind is a perception kind of thing.
> As I pointed out in my
> earlier post, many factors dictate this. I started
> to read your post about
> this but, unfortunately did not have time to read
> through it all. Bottom
> line, there are far too many factors to say a
> certain meteorite (or coin
> or...) is worth 'only' this amount or that. As in
> coins and stamps (and
> fossils...), there are different grades and
> conditions that dictate values
> for each "individual" piece. This is what I meant
> earlier.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Greg Hupe
> The Hupe Collection
> NaturesVault (eBay)
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> IMCA 2185
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "dean bessey" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com>
> Sent: Friday, December 23, 2005 3:10 PM
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorite
> Pricing/Values
>
>
> >I dont think people will ever agree on a "value"
> for
> > meteorites. I am a member of coin and stamp
> > disscussion groups with excact catalog values and
> a
> > big part of the postings to coin and stamp
> discussion
> > groups are bickering over values. And those are
> > products with known mintages, grading systems and
> > other stable and predictable factors.
> > The current (And unfortunate that should never
> have
> > started) thread concerning Esquel makes a perfect
> > example. $40 was always a "benchmark" value for
> esquel
> > but ebay prices range from $10 to about $60 and I
> have
> > seen faceted crystals offered in the jewellery
> trade
> > for a couple thousand. Esquel is a meteorite where
> a
> > single particularly nice crystal can affect the
> value
> > of an otherwise identical piece. Its sort of silly
> to
> > complain that somebody is overpricing esquel by
> $10 a
> > gram.
> > With my NWAs I can list 20 on ebay that are
> similar
> > and some will sell for 10 cents and others for
> upwards
> > of a dollar. But I often get less than some other
> > dealers for them just because I flood the market
> with
> > so many all at once (An often unconsidered factor
> that
> > affects the value - the amount a dealer wants to
> sell
> > fast). Dealers may need for money or a big
> collector
> > wanting to upgrade makes a difference also.
> > The overall size affects the value also (Smaller
> > generally more per gram). For years in the stamp
> trade
> > I made a lot of money buying blocks of stamps and
> > breaking them up selling them as singles because
> you
> > can walk into any stamp store and the quoted price
> for
> > a block of 8 will only be say 4 or 5 times the
> price
> > of a single (Or a block of 4 triple the single
> price).
> > Check that out the next time you see a stamp shop.
> > Same is true of meteorites where people dont want
> to
> > spend $100 on every sample but would rather have
> four
> > 1/5th size specimens at the same price.
> > But what I am writing this email for is to comment
> > about auctions. I hear time and time again
> (Including
> > from my good friend Michael Blood who will provide
> > what will probably be the cheapest way for a
> collector
> > to acquire a meteorite during Tucson) that
> auctions
> > set the price of something. If you consider ebay
> and
> > the wide variations it has (Just look how cheap
> > farmers Ureilite went for yesterday on ebay - you
> are
> > not going to be able to duplicate that price every
> day
> > for a ureilite). I sell meteorites that just a few
> > days earlier a similar meteorite went for half or
> > triple the price. Same is true about other things
> that
> > I sell on ebay. So ebay has an auction certainly
> dont
> > set the price of anything.
> > But if they did meteorites would be unique as far
> as
> > pricing went. Consider other collectibles. If you
> go
> > to any stamp or coin auction - wither it be small
> city
> > dealers, the swiss money fair auction or the
> Waldorf
> > astoria auction in New York next month, you will
> > notice something peculiar about the bidders. Even
> > though anybody can attend the majority of people
> in
> > attendance are dealers. Maybe 90% will be full
> time
> > dealers. And the dealers will buy almost every
> lot. If
> > you go to a christies art auction where people
> spend
> > millions of dollars it will be almost all dealers.
> The
> > Hong kong pearl auction will be attended almost
> > exclusively by dealers. Michael Bloods meteorite
> > auction has fewer dealers than almost any other
> > auction you can attend (Because it is a getogether
> of
> > people who only see each other occasionally in
> > addition to simply an auction - Blood is providing
> a
> > social setting in addition to an auction and many
> > attendees will not buy anything) but dealers are
> the
> > biggest byers (With a couple exceptions as they
> were
> > will 5 or 6 deep pocketed collecters in
> attendance). I
> > think I bought 17 lots the last time I attended
> Bloods
> > auction.
> > Think about it. Dealers dont attend auctions
> because
> > they have to pay retail for their stock. Auctions
> are
> > a great way to aquire something for the most part
> > (That includes ebay in a lot of cases)
> > Of course the scatter lot goes for big bucks as
> two or
> > 3 bidders
> > get out of hand and these lots always get the
> media
> > attention - since auctioneers like telling
> everybody
> > about the high realizations so that future people
> will
> > consign more and to give them more prestige. But
> the
> > dealers who are the auctions main buyers have
> dropped
> > out long ago on lots that this happens to.
> > There are to many factors to put a firm value on
> any
> > meteorite. The fact that many are used for display
> > purposes makes every meteorite a unique item that
> > cant in any way be duplicated exactly and a buyer
> may
> > find one extra thumbprint or shock vein or
> something
> > else like a cute weathering spot that makes that
> one
> > specimen somehow special and would make him pay
> mor
> > for it rather than similar items. If another
> almost
> > identical item went for 25% less a few minutes
> later
> > it dont mean that the first buyer got ripped off.
> > Meteorites has more vairables than most other
> > collectibles and even with those other
> collectibles
> > you cant put firm values on anything. Your local
> > retail coin store in a mall will charge (And get)
> a
> > lot more than coins will sell for at the waldorf
> > astoria auction next month.
> > But as with all the other discussion groups prices
> > will always be a major topic of discussion with
> the
>
=== message truncated ===
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