Centering Grading
I posted earlier regarding the 10-1000 times price increase sellers ask for XF/S and Gem stamps over a SCV very fine stamp. Looking over many listed XF+ stamps, I realized many are not XF+ based on the Scott Catalog grading guide. Many would only be very fine at best. I could upload many examples of what I said, to prove my point, but you can browse the listing and see for yourself. I think it would be in everyone's best interest for all stamps listed XF and better, be required to be accompanied by a Certificate from a Professional Stamp Expertise Service, such as PSE, verifying the centering grade. Or doing away with the centering grading all together on the listing, and let the buyer decide based on the image posted. As with so many things anymore, it comes down to money, to put XF/S after a stamp is a way to create more money for the seller. Lets all do our best to list our stamps accurately and not mislead collectors into believing a stamp is a gem, when in reality it is a VF stamp.
Comments
https://www.hipstamp.com/store/docgfd-coversnstamps
https://www.hippostcard.com/store/docgfd-postcards
You nailed that on the head. That is exactly what it is. Want to stop the lunacy of ridiculously over-priced stamps that someone declares to be "gem" without a certificate? Ignore those sellers, and buy elsewhere. Now, you could ask the seller for a certificate, and if they don't have one, buy the stamp, get a certificate. When you get the certificate, if it doesn't state what the seller sold the stamp as, file a complaint with the site you bought the stamp, and file a claim of "not as described" with PayPal, and mail fraud with the post office. You'll get you money back for the purchase from PayPal, but not necessarily the cost of the certificate unless the seller agreed to reimburse you for the certificate if it returns a verdict other than as the item was described. Alot of work? Yes, but there's nothing else one can do.
Other than that, it is up to the buyer to decide if they want to waste their money on such stamps. They have a right to spend their money how they want. So, it's best to move on and worry about one own's collection rather than others. You won't convince those who want to pay the extra money to not do it.
Here is a rather common US 498 of attractive centering. I acquired it back when one could choose from a dealer's inventory and the only price distinction was hinged or unhinged. Motivated more by aesthetics in centering and a mild pragmatism in mnh (primarily because it was promoted as more desirable), I sought out such examples which was fairly easy in modern era US. Unfortunately that inexpensive playground gave way to what you both are talking about with respect to centering and gum. The never hinged movement, for me, took a degree of fun out of the hobby, for now I had to choose whether to adhere to that "requirement" and pass on otherwise acceptable (even well-centered) copies or buck the trend and collect front side stamps, realizing the diminishing audience and possible resale value of them. Then came this emphasis on prime examples of dead on centering, often commanding ever-increasing exorbitant prices ....if you wanted "the best". In this 498, I could justify
some premium but is it worth paying for a certificate (officially awarding it a centering designation) and then throw some arbitrary "it'll-cost-you-dearly" price on it? It's troubling when money overshadows the other more enjoyable aspects of the hobby.
https://www.hipstamp.com/listing/851-mintognh-pair-pse-graded-supbeb-98-smq-34000-only-2-graded-higher/26288889
https://www.hipstamp.com/listing/malack-851-f-vf-og-nh-line-pair-bold-color-stock-more-w2883/21603979
https://www.hipstamp.com/listing/851-3c-prexie-coil-pair-nh-vf-centering/25826386
That's easy, 25 cents, because they'll tell you that it's a common stamp.
This is USA #300, you're talking about? Maybe you need a more recent Scott Catalog (Scott hasn't valued any stamp as low as 10c in decades). I see a MNH CV of $30, and retail listings for $12. SMQ lists #300 in Superb 98 grade at $750. So, yeah, the dealer is being a little wishful in his pricing. But, that doesn't make it a sham. It's free-market capitalism, and it's nothing to get upset over, as there were 11,200,000 printed -- so, there's plenty more where that one came from, many of them in a grade, and at a price that is more in line with your wants.
US 300 used is .25 mint around $10 and MNH maybe $15 I didn't consult Scott's. But he might have been referring to a post like this https://www.hipstamp.com/listing/momen-us-stamps-300-used-pse-graded-xf-sup-95j/11680167
Honestly the stamp in the listing isn't worth anywhere near the asking price maybe one dollar or two imo.
On Wall Street, they have a saying, "Mr Market doesn't care what you think."
What something is or isn't worth to YOU is irrelevant. The market sets the price. If the market feels that stamp is overpriced, it won't sell.
The fact is, a check of his feedback shows that there is a market for stamps priced 100 times lesser quality uncertified examples. Because YOU wouldn't pay that much doesn't mean it's a scam. There is no deception; nothing has been misrepresented. Even if he is asking well above the published SMQ value, that's his right, just as it is your right to decline his offer and instead buy any one of thousands of others on the market at a lower price.
GEM - Perfectly-balanced margins Post Office Fresh (POF)
Superb - Perfectly-balanced normal sized margins, POF
XF/S - Not quite perfectly-centered, POF
XF - Extremely well-centered margins, POF
VF/XF - Almost extremely well-centered, POF
VF - Very well-centered, POF
F/VF - Margins reasonably clear on all sides
F - Margins just clear on one or more sides
VG/F - Perfs touch or cut stamp design slightly
VG - Perfs cut into stamp design
GEM - 100
Superb - 98
XF/S - 95
XF - 90
VF/XF - 85
VF - 80
F/VF - 75
F - 70
VG/F - 60
VG - 50
G/VG- 40
G - 30
F/G - 20
F - 10
P - 5
For the same reason he uses the word "bargain" in his store name. He creates "alternate facts."
This dealer is not held in high regard by any collector I know.
The same applies to most dealers...One I used to work for would ask that his helpers be particularly cautious when this guy was sniffing around his table at shows as stamps would have a tendency to "disappear" whenever he was around. He even caught him at it once, and the story line was that he picked them up by accident along with his other personal stuff he had placed on the table.
$1 U.S. album and some commemorative packets at a Ben Franklin's 5&10 store in 1959. I want
my stamps to go to someone who will appreciate and enjoy them, rather than a dealer who is only looking at the profit potential.
Look Stuart ...a well-centered "gem" ...could use paint