Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
I contacted Scott, and they already knew of the problem. They had me contact the company from which I bought the catalogue to make the exchange. My replacement is on the way, and the company looked to make sure the pages in the book were correct.
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Wow, that's crazy. I can't afford to buy these (or maybe I could if I stopped buying stamps!) but I will check our local library copy to make sure it does not need to be replaced.
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Michael -
At least you got the pages. Problems with the Scott Catalogues have been happening in past years. I go to my local library and their 2018 Volume 2A was missing 60 pages of the Peoples Republic of China. I told them about it, so they would not think I somehow removed them, but it was clearly a mistake by Scott. My advice. check each volume you receive to make sure you get all the pages!
Linus
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Years ago, Scott omitted a portion of the pages from India. You could write to Scott, and they sent photocopied pages of the missing part.
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Does anyone recall(it was not all that long ago) when scott advertised scratch and dent sets? We purchased a set for the club, $115.00 shipped and they were fine.
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You got that right! I went through and updated my collection values for Volume 1. Upside down works there too as values for most countries are tanking.
Scott claims that values are going down, because the stamp market is very quiet. Scott, doesn't consider the tens of millions of internet transactions each year as valid since the sales are not coming from "real" dealers. However, this is exactly where the market is flourishing. Too many of the old dealers still hanging around do not accept that reality, and are pushing themselves out of business by continuing with their "I sell as I always have in the traditional way." Dinosaurs are extinct, not being able to adapt to changing times.
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"...Dinosaurs are extinct, not being able to adapt to changing times."
Expanding upon Michael's post; of all species that have existed on Earth, 99.9% are now extinct. Species extinction is an important part of earth's natural history. Species which cannot/do not adapt make way for species with adaptable strategies.
Don
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i asked one dealer what happens to the dealers red boxes when he passes on ..his reply "nobody wants them" so i imagine they go to an auction house..and then an internet dealer.
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"Scott claims that values are going down, because the stamp market is very quiet."
Or, maybe, catalog values are starting to reflect real-world prices better. But Scott doesn't want to put it that way, after the debacle that ensued after their 1980 catalog adjustment.
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I thought it was 1988 when they switched to retail pricing.
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You're right, though it was phased in over a couple of years, 1989 and 1990.
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To be clear, you are right, it was in 1988, but for the 1989 cats.
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"Does anyone recall(it was not all that long ago) when scott advertised scratch and dent sets? We purchased a set for the club, $115.00 shipped and they were fine."
Wow, I just love the Scott albums but the price is out of my reach. This would be great to know.
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The last couple of years, Scott has had a special sale of a complete set, knocking off $100 or so from the original set price of the then current catalogue. I never saw them do that before. I surmise that they had lower than anticipated sales.
If you want to save alot of money off the original price of the catalogues, and still be relatively recent in values, buy a 2018, or later this year, a 2019 set (after all of the 2020 catalogues have been issued).
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I use the 2015 Scott's now. I bought that set from a stamp dealer a couple years ago. He bought the 2018(?) set at that time and he buys a new set every 3 or 4 years. Even the dealers don't buy a new set every year any more. I might replace my set in a few years or I might not. I have a small world collection but only collect up to about 1950 ( the end of Scott's International Vol3 ) so, since prices mean very little anyway, I really don't need to upgrade at all. When my dealer (Steve) buys a new set I have first refusal on his old set, for a much reduced price of course! I might just stick with what I have and spend the money on stamps instead. Replacing the catalog every year, in my humble opinion, is nuts! I have no idea of the price, but it must be close to $1000. The 2015 I have is in 6 volumes, I think the new sets are double that, probably at about $100 per book!
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Look also at the fact that Scott does not completely update values for every country every year. Yes, a few of the most popular countries are updated annually. However, Scott takes a 3 to 4 year cycle to completely update everything in the catalog.
In the meantime, the countries that are updated generally sit dormant value-wise for another 3 or 4 years. Of course if there are some stamps that are under/over valued, Scott will adjust those values, but 90% or more of all stamps in a country are not reviewed annually.
I bought a set of the worldwide catalogs in 2017. I am getting the 2020 catalogs now. Each volume has a retail price of $139.99. That's only a $5 increase from the 2018 catalog. The 2017 catalogs were $124.99 each.
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I am currently using a 2016 set of Scott volumes 1 through 6 that I picked up on Amazon a couple years ago.
I also have 2017 copies of the Classic Specialized and U.S. Specialized that I picked up on eBay more recently.
My focus is worldwide to 1973, so these have served me well. I may look at getting a newer set next year.
Dale
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As Michael notes, the only major price change each year is the cost of the catalogs themselves. Some of it undoubtedly related to providing space for all those issues from prolific stamp issuers.
Except for a few issues, I cannot believe values change dramatically over a 5 year period. Scott still prices modern mint stamps (like US) at 2x face no matter what.
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If you are getting the 2020 edition of the Scott catalogues, be sure to check your Volume 2B. I received mine yesterday. The last 60 pages are printed upside down and in reverse order.
I contacted Scott, and they already knew of the problem. They had me contact the company from which I bought the catalogue to make the exchange. My replacement is on the way, and the company looked to make sure the pages in the book were correct.
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re: Scott 2020 Catalogue Volume 2B Problem
Wow, that's crazy. I can't afford to buy these (or maybe I could if I stopped buying stamps!) but I will check our local library copy to make sure it does not need to be replaced.
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this post
re: Scott 2020 Catalogue Volume 2B Problem
Michael -
At least you got the pages. Problems with the Scott Catalogues have been happening in past years. I go to my local library and their 2018 Volume 2A was missing 60 pages of the Peoples Republic of China. I told them about it, so they would not think I somehow removed them, but it was clearly a mistake by Scott. My advice. check each volume you receive to make sure you get all the pages!
Linus
Login to Like
this post
re: Scott 2020 Catalogue Volume 2B Problem
Years ago, Scott omitted a portion of the pages from India. You could write to Scott, and they sent photocopied pages of the missing part.
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this post
Auctions
re: Scott 2020 Catalogue Volume 2B Problem
Does anyone recall(it was not all that long ago) when scott advertised scratch and dent sets? We purchased a set for the club, $115.00 shipped and they were fine.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: Scott 2020 Catalogue Volume 2B Problem
You got that right! I went through and updated my collection values for Volume 1. Upside down works there too as values for most countries are tanking.
Scott claims that values are going down, because the stamp market is very quiet. Scott, doesn't consider the tens of millions of internet transactions each year as valid since the sales are not coming from "real" dealers. However, this is exactly where the market is flourishing. Too many of the old dealers still hanging around do not accept that reality, and are pushing themselves out of business by continuing with their "I sell as I always have in the traditional way." Dinosaurs are extinct, not being able to adapt to changing times.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: Scott 2020 Catalogue Volume 2B Problem
"...Dinosaurs are extinct, not being able to adapt to changing times."
Expanding upon Michael's post; of all species that have existed on Earth, 99.9% are now extinct. Species extinction is an important part of earth's natural history. Species which cannot/do not adapt make way for species with adaptable strategies.
Don
Login to Like
this post
Auctions
re: Scott 2020 Catalogue Volume 2B Problem
i asked one dealer what happens to the dealers red boxes when he passes on ..his reply "nobody wants them" so i imagine they go to an auction house..and then an internet dealer.
Login to Like
this post
re: Scott 2020 Catalogue Volume 2B Problem
"Scott claims that values are going down, because the stamp market is very quiet."
Or, maybe, catalog values are starting to reflect real-world prices better. But Scott doesn't want to put it that way, after the debacle that ensued after their 1980 catalog adjustment.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: Scott 2020 Catalogue Volume 2B Problem
I thought it was 1988 when they switched to retail pricing.
Login to Like
this post
re: Scott 2020 Catalogue Volume 2B Problem
You're right, though it was phased in over a couple of years, 1989 and 1990.
Login to Like
this post
re: Scott 2020 Catalogue Volume 2B Problem
To be clear, you are right, it was in 1988, but for the 1989 cats.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: Scott 2020 Catalogue Volume 2B Problem
"Does anyone recall(it was not all that long ago) when scott advertised scratch and dent sets? We purchased a set for the club, $115.00 shipped and they were fine."
Wow, I just love the Scott albums but the price is out of my reach. This would be great to know.
Login to Like
this post
re: Scott 2020 Catalogue Volume 2B Problem
The last couple of years, Scott has had a special sale of a complete set, knocking off $100 or so from the original set price of the then current catalogue. I never saw them do that before. I surmise that they had lower than anticipated sales.
If you want to save alot of money off the original price of the catalogues, and still be relatively recent in values, buy a 2018, or later this year, a 2019 set (after all of the 2020 catalogues have been issued).
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05:22:37pm
re: Scott 2020 Catalogue Volume 2B Problem
I use the 2015 Scott's now. I bought that set from a stamp dealer a couple years ago. He bought the 2018(?) set at that time and he buys a new set every 3 or 4 years. Even the dealers don't buy a new set every year any more. I might replace my set in a few years or I might not. I have a small world collection but only collect up to about 1950 ( the end of Scott's International Vol3 ) so, since prices mean very little anyway, I really don't need to upgrade at all. When my dealer (Steve) buys a new set I have first refusal on his old set, for a much reduced price of course! I might just stick with what I have and spend the money on stamps instead. Replacing the catalog every year, in my humble opinion, is nuts! I have no idea of the price, but it must be close to $1000. The 2015 I have is in 6 volumes, I think the new sets are double that, probably at about $100 per book!
Login to Like
this post
re: Scott 2020 Catalogue Volume 2B Problem
Look also at the fact that Scott does not completely update values for every country every year. Yes, a few of the most popular countries are updated annually. However, Scott takes a 3 to 4 year cycle to completely update everything in the catalog.
In the meantime, the countries that are updated generally sit dormant value-wise for another 3 or 4 years. Of course if there are some stamps that are under/over valued, Scott will adjust those values, but 90% or more of all stamps in a country are not reviewed annually.
I bought a set of the worldwide catalogs in 2017. I am getting the 2020 catalogs now. Each volume has a retail price of $139.99. That's only a $5 increase from the 2018 catalog. The 2017 catalogs were $124.99 each.
Login to Like
this post
06:59:56pm
re: Scott 2020 Catalogue Volume 2B Problem
I am currently using a 2016 set of Scott volumes 1 through 6 that I picked up on Amazon a couple years ago.
I also have 2017 copies of the Classic Specialized and U.S. Specialized that I picked up on eBay more recently.
My focus is worldwide to 1973, so these have served me well. I may look at getting a newer set next year.
Dale
Login to Like
this post
re: Scott 2020 Catalogue Volume 2B Problem
As Michael notes, the only major price change each year is the cost of the catalogs themselves. Some of it undoubtedly related to providing space for all those issues from prolific stamp issuers.
Except for a few issues, I cannot believe values change dramatically over a 5 year period. Scott still prices modern mint stamps (like US) at 2x face no matter what.
Login to Like
this post