eCharta: A new Buying & Selling Marketplace for Stamp Collectors

It's no secret that everyone who starts something new generally believes they have "the greatest idea EVER!"

At the very least, they believe that "something needs to be changed," and have enough conviction to set things in motion.

Sadly, most such ideas fail to live up to expectations. It's something we see in all walks of life... from people convinced "they can sing" who then try out for American Idol... where they sound like a distressed seal sitting in an empty oil drum... to the people who start web sites as "alternatives to eBay."

In stamp collecting circles, it's also no secret that many people-- on both the buying AND selling side of the equation are frustrated with eBay. There are a number of reasons for this which I have written about previously, but won't get into here.

eCharta: an authentic alternative to eBay?

95% of new attempts at creating "a philatelic alternative to eBay" are ill-conceived efforts, typically started by a disgruntled former eBay seller who left the giant auction site to "register their disgust" against high fees. Subsequently, most such projects are started by this individual who gets his (or her) hands on some "canned" e-commerce & auction software and then sets up shop, almost exclusively based on the selling point "NO HIGH EBAY FEES HERE!!!"

Three months later, 17 people have signed up, 372 items have been listed for sale (350 of them belonging to the site owner) and none have been sold. Six months later, our "intrepid fee refugee" feels genuinely surprised (and possibly hurt) that people haven't arrived in droves to take advantage of "FREE LISTINGS!!!" Alas, there's a LOT more to running a successful e-commerce site than merely starting one and plastering the word "FREE" everywhere.

Today's post is about a new collector marketplace that genuinely could become a viable "alternative to eBay."

Started in the fall of 2012, eCharta is a marketplace for paper collectibles, not just stamps. Whereas stamps are a major category, you can also find manuscripts, trading cards, postcards, maps and other things relating to collecting paper. UNlike most "eBay alt" attempts, eCharta has a lot of points going in its favor:

• It's owned and operated by a team of collectors.
• The site was built from the ground up by professional programmers.
• It's visually appealing and showcases items for sale in an attractive manner.
• Free to low fees for sellers.
• Easy listing process when selling.
• Auction OR fixed price.
• Create your own "store" with your own custom categories.
• Fast and responsive support-- the site operators actually WANT user suggestions.
• A "mission statement" above and beyond "we're cheaper than eBay."

Even though the site has only been up and "officially" running to the general public since mid-November, there are already close to 5000 items listed for sale (1750+ of them stamps). Just for grins, I put a few items out for sale... and much to my surprise, some of them have already sold. That's almost unheard of, on new sites like this. The link (above) takes you to my "shop" on the site, which will also give you an impression of site appearance, if your "thing" is stamps!

I'm not one to freely (or frequently) recommend web sites and online marketplaces... in fact, I choose to not recommend most places, but his time I'm making an exception to suggest that you should go check this out, sign up and become part of this growing community.

Many in the philatelic world claim they wish there were "real alternatives" to eBay... yet they expect "other people" to make the changes happen, before they'll participate. But that's not how change happens. Change happens because because people get involved in making change happen. I like the people who started this site, I like their concept, and I like the way they've executed it. 

Be PART of a movement to create a genuine eBay alternative!

(and no, nobody paid me to write this... nor do I get anything if you register on the site... this is based 100% on my own experience over the past three weeks. )

Classic Stamps from Denmark: Ending September 16th

The weather seems to have "broken," here in the US Pacific Northwest. About 10 days ago, we could feel the "warm stillness" of summer give way to the "cool breeziness" of autumn. We are also at the point where the days are getting notably shorter.

XF 7ø provisional with plate flaw in base stamp

For me, these changes also indicate that "stamp season" is about to begin!

As an outdoor enthusiast, I have always been a somewhat "seasonal" collector. This is probably a habit I formed in childhood, where we considered stamp collecting to be a "wintertime thing." Anyway, as the weather gets less pleasant and the days shorten, I usually move towards indoor activities... like working on my stamp collections.

Last week, I finally finished sorting a nice collection of Denmark, bought at auction in Sweden, this past winter (interesting reminder of how truly international our hobby is!). Whereas I found some interesting stamps for my own collection, there were also many really nice items left over-- and so, I decided it was a good time to put them into my first set of eBay stamp auctions of the new "season!"

Here's the direct link ▼:

Classic Denmark at auction: September 9th-16th, 2012

The current auctions include 64 lots very nice older Denmark, with catalogue values to US $300.00+.

A small selection of the current Danish stamps at auction

The large photo at left (click on the image for a larger version!) shows just a few of the items included in this sale. A few more are shown throughout this post.

Individual items include 24 different skilling period stamps, highlighted by an 1864 16sk Arms Type with a major variety and beautiful cancel; also including four different version of the 4 RBS brown, Denmark's first stamp. Then there are some nice "Bicolours," and better stamps like the 5kr Post Office and 1kr brown "Old" Airmail. There are also some nice plate flaws and varieties sprinkled in, along with some lower value stamps chosen simply because they are in super nice quality.

My "philosophy" for running eBay auctions is quite simple, and has been the same since I started on eBay in 1998:

All my auctions begin at US $0.99 and no reserve, regardless of value. If I was looking to"auction" stamps at "retail" prices, I'd just have a retail store. In the current auction series, many stamps have values at-- or above-- US $100.00.

20 øre Arms type with small corner numerals

All lots have large clear scans, allowing collectors-- and especially specialists-- to see exactly what they are bidding on.

All lots have full descriptions. In my world, "see scan" has never constituted a "description." So I actually examine every stamp and write what I see. And I am not afraid to write about faults. I want bidders to actually GET what they think they are bidding on.

Auctions all end at a "sensible" time, both for bidders in Europe, as well as in the US. In addition, I list items to end one minute apart, so those who still enjoy "live last-minute bidding" can participate in many individual auctions. I actively reject eBay's efforts to turn their site into a "shop" venue, rather than an "auction" venue... auction bidding is FUN, if you ask me!

Combined shipping at a reduced rate is always available. Because I prefer to list a substantial number of stamps from the same area, at the same time, combined shipping actually makes sense. I find it so ironic when sellers offer "combined shipping" and then list 100 stamps from 63 different countries... of which I only collect two. Honestly... what's the point?

If it turns out you don't like the stamp or I missed a fault in the description, you can always send it back for a refund. I'm basically in the "happy collectors" business.

So, please take a few moments to go have a look! You never know, I may have something that exactly fits an empty spot in your album... and you may be able to pick up something at a bargain price, as well. I have a number of dealers who always check out my auctions because the possibility exists that you could get a $100 stamp for $3. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen!

Keep in mind: Auctions end Sunday, September 16th at 22:00 Central European (Denmark) time; at 4:00pm US Eastern; 1:00pm US Pacific time.

Thank you for your interest, and good luck with your bids!

As always, I appreciate you helping spread the word about these, using the twitter, Facebook and Google+ buttons, below!

Is eBay Making Itself Obsolete for Stamp Sellers?

Yesterday, I got a notice from eBay, explaining that my "seller performance" wasn't up to snuff. As as result-- I learned-- a number of restrictions had been placed on my selling account. As a point of reference, I am a 14-year "veteran" of eBay, and have a 100% positive feedback rating.

Now, it's no secret that eBay often is the source of controversy among hobbyists (like me) and stamp dealers who sell stamps on the mega-auction site. In the course of the last 10-odd years, eBay has developed from a rather interesting "online collectibles mart and garage sale" to something akin to yet another colorless "Online Mega-mall."

That's just personal opinion, of course.

In spite of complaints and occasional collective whining, many stamp sellers have stuck it out with eBay, even though the fees are somewhat high and there are lots of "rules" that frequently make it difficult for stamp sellers to operate. But they still stick to it. I would count myself among those. Why? Because eBay works!

Here's the thing, you can go to an "eBay alt" site and pay "no fees" and end up selling three items a month (if you're lucky!) or you can sell on eBay and pay 30% overhead to sell 100 items a month. Simple math: You made $30 on the "alt" site but PAID NO FEES!!! (to be said with a combination of smugness and pride) or you made $700 on eBay paying $300 worth of fees... to me, that's a no-brainer. Being "offended by fees" is-- in essence-- just another variation of "cutting off your nose to spite your face."

Again, that's just personal opinion, albeit backed up with experience.

My background is in business management (among other things) and ecommerce. If you run any semblance of "a business," you go where you can make the money. And making money isn't about having things "FOR sale," it's about actually "SELLING" them. A lot of the people in what I dub the "No Fees Club" take a rather myopic view of selling expenses, somehow turning the avoidance of them into the single most important aspect of "success." Then they tend to point fingers at those who say "But I'm not actually SELLING anything!" (on some eBay alternative site) and actually blame the lack of sales on them for not lowering their prices since they are "not paying fees."

Ultimately, "lowering prices" is the single weakest marketing and business development strategy in the world. Let's face it-- if you lower your prices by 30% because you are no longer paying 30% overhead... but you only make 1/3 as many sales... you end up allowing yourself to be far WORSE off than you we're before. Get real!

But getting back to eBay's most recent changes, there's now a certain element of doom on the horizon, when it comes to being a stamp seller. And it's not that eBay is on some kind of vendetta against stamp sellers, it's just that we who trade stamps happen to have a product that doesn't fit eBay's new "general" policy.

This stamp can be purchased for $6.00 in my eBay shop.
75c shipping is fair, but would you pay an extra $3.00 to get it?

Here's how things have typically worked out for me, in my prior dealings on eBay: When I sell a random $8.00 stamp, it goes into a first class envelope and I have historically charged US $0.75 for shipping to buyers in the US, $1.95 to buyers elsewhere. That covers the cost of a 2-ounce (up to 60g) letter and supplies-- an envelope, a cardboard insert to protect the stamp(s), a glassine for each stamp. I'm not here to make money on shipping.

Problem number 1: In order to comply with eBay's new guidelines to be a "top rated seller," I must upload "tracking information" within 24 hours of shipment. Here's the problem: you can't have tracking information on a normal letter. In order to get that additional service, the package (containing my $8.00 stamp) would have to be shipped as a "first class parcel." So now the cost to mail is $1.95 for postage + $0.85 for trackable delivery, for a total of $2.80. What's more, I can no longer use a plain envelope to mail (cost $0.02), I have to use either a "photo mailer" or a padded envelope (cost $0.25 each, even in bulk). So... my effective cost to mail a stamp would go from slightly under $0.75 to $3.05, in order to follow the new guidelines.

Problem number 2: Stamp collectors... collect stamps. It would be possible for me to make shipping less expensive by using an online shipping service, through which the USPS offers reduced priced shipping and free (or very low cost) tracking. However, that would mean using a pre-printed and encoded paper label as postage, rather than stamps. Pretty boring, for a stamp collector-- especially given how many buyers write to me (with their payment) to say "please use current commemorative stamps on your mailing." Thus following the one avenue to savings would potentially hurt my reputation, as a seller.

Problem number 3: Even IF I were to follow eBay's guidelines to obtain "top rated seller status," I would promptly lose it. Why? Let's face it, stamp collectors are pretty "thrifty" folks. And in the "detailed seller ratings" on eBay, there's one "grade" you give sellers for "reasonable shipping costs?" If I am charging $3.05 to send an $8.00 stamp it would not be long before I'd get sufficient "low seller ratings" (because $3.05 IS expensive, to ship one stamp) to no longer be in line with "top seller" requirements... and then I'd be right back to square one.

Problem number 4: This one is particularly important! When you are not a "top rated seller," there are limitations placed on your seller account (as I just discovered), as to how many items you can list, how much you can sell (dollar wise) and how long it takes for funds from PayPal to be "released" to you. Ironically-- the delay of payment is actually being caused by the lack of tracking information-- the very requirement that's causing the "failure," in the first place. In other words, if I decide-- and even if my (and other stamps sellers') buyers agree-- that being a top rated seller is "not important" to me, I am also agreeing to the following "penalties" or "sanctions," if you will: (a) I no longer qualify for a 20% discount on my selling fees, (b) I will only be permitted to offer a fairly low number of stamps for sale, per month, (c) in case I thought to by-pass "b" by offering high value stamps, I am only permitted a limited dollar volume per month and (d) because my seller performance doesn't meet eBay's standards, I will no longer have immediate access to PayPal payments made to me. Now IF I were uploading aforementioned "tracking information" that delay would be only a few days... but since I am a stamp seller, and we've agreed that tracking information doesn't really "work" in this field, the PayPal delay will be three weeks!

I've been selling on eBay for a LONG time... and my buyers seem to
be fairly happy with the way I treat them.

I'll state, once more, that I have no individual beef with eBay, as a marketplace. But I do feel saddened by the fact that the "product" offered by stamp sellers is-- for lack of a better term-- "incompatible" with selling on the "new" eBay. As a long-time eBay fan with a good reputation as as seller, I feel like I am coming up against a "no-win" situation.

There are plenty of rumors in the stamp trade that eBay is "out to get us," prompting the question: "Is eBay trying to 'get rid of' stamp sellers?" Doubtful. Sound like "conspiracy theory" thinking, to me. As of this morning, there were approximately 2.37 MILLION listings across eBay's various stamps categories. If you're a publicly traded corporation who has to keep shareholders happy, would you be likely to "dump" one of the largest categories on the site? Probably not. It's more likely an issue of eBay management simply not understanding that not all products are sold the same way... and the people in the boardroom being so far removed from the "street level operations" that they don't see any logistical issues with a "one size fits all (sellers)" approach.

The challenge-- and problem-- facing stamp sellers is that there really is no "viable alternative" to eBay, if this somewhat hostile selling environment persists. Sure, dozens of people will read that last sentence and insist that they "do well" on any number of other sites. However, a closer examination of all these alternatives (simply done by looking at the percentage of "closed" listings that ended with a sale, and the number of listings "with bids" as a percentage of total listings) will reveal that "eBay alts" are LUCKY to have a sell-through rate between 5% at the top end (Delcampe and Stamps2Go) and down to less than 1% for most... compared to eBay's 30-40% sell-through rate. From a personal perspective, when I run stamp auctions on eBay, my sell-through rate has been in the range of 90-95%. Meanwhile my "alt site" efforts have mainly resulted in private messages asking things like "Will you take $2 for that stamp you've listed for $8?"

I don't expect eBay to suddenly "see the light" and institute lower fees for the benefit of stamp sellers, and that's not my point, in writing this article. It's not the fees I have a beef, it's the limitations placed on sellers. What I would hope for-- against the flow, no doubt-- is a chance to be able to conduct my business in peace, the way business in my "industry" normally is conducted. I accept that I may not be able to be a "top rated" seller, but I'd like the opportunity to not have "the system" automatically relegate me to "below standard," with the attendant limitations on my selling activities.

Bottom line: Individual sellers are NOT "Wal-Mart." Individual sellers are what add interest and uniqueness to a marketplace. And, ironically enough, eBay was BUILT on individual sellers... there would be no eBay, were it not for the thousands of individual sellers who sold their "stuff" and collectibles, back in the 1990's.

So is there a "win/win" solution in all this?

Perhaps. One option might be to force ALL eBay sellers to include a "weight" entry with all their listings. For stamps, sports cards and the like, that would be a fraction of an ounce. Subsequently, any parcels below a certain weight-- say 4 ounces-- could be made exempt from the tracking requirement, thus taking most stamp sellers "out of the loop" while still leaving the tracking requirement intact where it is "relevant," namely for larger packages. The beauty of this approach is that it doesn't try to "play favorites" with stamp sellers, it addresses a broader issue that items shipped in an ordinary first-class letter can't purchase tracking.

Another and perhaps more feasible solution-- given the existing eBay interface and the way pages are coded and linked to both PayPal and shipping services (UPS/USPS/FedEx, etc) is to simply add "First Class LETTER" as a shipping method, when items are listed. If you (as a seller) choose that as "how this item will ship" it will automatically "filter through the system" from the USPS site that the shipment in this particular sale can't be tracked... and if something was shipped "first class letter" there will be no place to enter "tracking information." Subsequently (to the benefit of sellers who sell "mixed goods") only "trackable" transactions would count towards a given seller's "top rated seller" status. So... if I sell 500 stamps and 50 stockbooks... I would still have to upload tracking info for the 50 stockbooks... but I wouldn't be penalized for NOT doing so, with the 500 stamps. The 500 stamps would be "non-counting transactions."

Another alternative would be to have "business" and "individual" class sellers on eBay, where an "individual" is subject to less stringent rules than a "business." They could be delineated by a number of transactions or dollar volume per year. That method would be somewhat harder to implement, however, and would make less "sense" in terms of WHY we use tracking information for packages.

Of course, that's not an easy "sell," as eBay has made itself a major stakeholder in the shipping business, by charging final value fees on shipping. But sometimes you have to look beyond the immediately obvious and consider the longer term benefits.

I hope you have learned something from reading this commentary, or-- at least-- it made you pause and think. If you are a stamp (or other) seller on eBay and you can see the inherent in eBay's new guidelines, please take a moment to tweet this article, or post it to your Facebook page, or google+ it, or post to your newsgroup, or stamp collecting forums. As you probably know, NOTHING happens unless there's awareness. And there can be no awareness, unless people spread the word. And remember, this also affects you if you're only a BUYER of stamps on eBay-- if the dealers leave, so do the stamps!


So spread the word!

Selling Stamps on the Web: Where do you go?

In these "modern" times of the Internet, it's not unusual for stamp collectors to turn into "part time stamp dealers."

I've been one, myself, for over 15 years. I didn't start selling because I "wanted to be a stamp dealer," nor because I was trying to make a living. Like many collectors, I simply wanted to pass on some of my duplicate material... and hopefully get enough money in the process that I could buy more stamps... and keep the cycle of building my collection going, without having to spend too many of my hard-earned dollars from my "day job." My primary objective was always to try to make the expansion of my collections "self-funding."

Of course, as collectors we have lots of options.

Different web sites make different "claims," as to why we should use them-- why precisely their site will be the best thing for us. Sometimes, the options can leave us more confused than enlightened. I have tried-- and, in many cases, continue to use-- a number of online venues, with varying degrees of success.

Like many things in life, I have found that the most appropriate answer to "where should I sell my stamps?" typically tends to be "it depends."

Some sites are "fixed price," like the American Philatelic Society's online "StampStore," or independent site Stamps2Go.

Other sites are "auction format," most notably e-commerce giant eBay, whose humble beginnings were akin to an online garage sale. Since then, dozens of "alternative" sites have cropped up and attempted to present themselves as viable marketplaces.

These days, many sales venues are "hybrids," that is, sellers can choose a combination of fixed price (or "buy it now") and auction formats. On some sites, you can even have your own "online storefront."

But there are additional choices we have to make: Do we choose a "general" sales venue (like eBay or eBid) with a strong presence in the "stamps" category? Or do we choose a "collectibles" sales venue (like Delcampe or BidStart), where the audience is more focused? Or do we choose a "stamps only" venue (like Stamps2Go or StampoRama)?

Another factor that plays into our decision is the fees we have to pay to the selling site. Often, what site we choose, and what fees we're willing to pay, will be dependent on the average price per stamp (or lot of stamps) we're planning to offer for sale. If you have a bunch of 50-cent items you want to sell, it obviously doesn't make much sense to list on a site that charges a minimum fee-per-lot of 25 cents. But that same site might work really well if your average item is worth $10.00.

There are also a lot of web sites to offer "reviews" of places people can sell their items-- stamps, or otherwise. Sadly, the majority do not offer very objective opinions, as they tend to "fund themselves" through a network of "referral links." And who's going to honestly write "this site sucks" if part of their income comes from referring people to that site?

Anyway, this post is a bit of a pre-amble to my intentions to-- during 2012-- write about each of the seller  venues I use to sell stamps. The good, the bad and the ugly... from someone who (a) actually sells (or has sold) on those sites, (b) isn't being paid for his opinions, and (c) specializes in stamps, not all sorts of other merchandise. Not going to set any "schedule" for this-- I'll just get to it, as I can.

Fewer Stamps on the Market?

This past weekend marked Thanksgiving, in the USA.

As a result, I had a little spare time on my hands, which I used to peruse some of my favorite stamp selling venues around the www.

It seems to me that there's less "worthwhile" material for sale, these days. Initially, I thought more people might be selling stamps because the economy is less than brilliant, and selling stamps would be a way to make more money. However, it actually seems there are fewer stamps listed on eBay and in other places, and the items I found were not very good quality, either.

I noticed that several online auction sites have fewer stamp listings than they did at this time, last year.

A fellow collector pointed out to me that perhaps people are LESS likely to let go of their "good stuff" to pay for groceries, when things are economically difficult. Rare stamps have previously been seen as a "safe haven" during uncertain economic times. That said, I was under the (mistaken?) impression that people mostly "invested" in stamps during times of high inflation.

I think it may also be true that more of the "good" material is being consigned to traditional "brick and mortar" professional auctioneers, than to "self sale" locations. Recent sales at Thomas Høiland in Denmark and Postiljonen and Philea in Sweden had some very high quality items on offer, and prices have been quite good.