Ebay Realisations Are Hot

or, How to Be a Constant Underbidder!

I buy most of my Ebay items from the UK and US, so most items end in the wee small hours when beauty sleep is trying it's best to work it's magic.

I use Gavel Snipe to place my bids for me, and I've had a spectacularly unsuccessful week, with prices heading upwards for the Silver Jubilee material I'm constantly seeking.

Here's a few examples:

First, a cheap stamp. Straits Settlements Silver Jubilee 8c, SG257, with a clear strike of Changi, Proud D2, although no year is shown. I collect the postmarks of the small post offices of the Straits Settlements, and I have no Changi in the collection

The stamp has a CV of £3.25, and Proud rates the postmark as 40, or £4. The stamp sold at double CV, £6.50!

This British Guiana cover, with SG291 and SG301, was listed at $5, I bid $11.50, sold for $12. Although the CV of the 4c on cover is stated at around £15, this is a standard cover from Georgetown. I would pay £15 for a cover from a smaller PO, not the capital

Another British Guiana cover, and one that I expected to win due to it's size. These legal-size covers are spectacularly unpopular with collectors, as they're difficult to store. This one has a lovely cachet, and is claimed to be a FDC, although the tiny (15kb) scan didn't allow for inspection of the postmark. It has what appears to be a pair of SG301.

First Day Covers of single values in a set don't carry FDC premiums. This stamp on cover is £1.20 in SG. Add some value for the lovely cachet and the possibility of it being a FDC, and deduct some value for the hard crease through the right edge of the cachet. It was listed at $9.99, and sold for $25.49, against my bid of $24.99.

So, an unsuccessful week, and I'm a little tired of being the underbidder! 

I suppose I'll need to participate in pushing prices even higher, or I may as well collect new issues!