Older stamp value?

[mhein68]

This could be a wide open conversation. I just lost a bid on a Mcmillen basket weave (went for $65 I bid $60 Im on a basket kick).. How does a person figure prices for older stamps? (Mcmillan, Hackbarth, etc etc etc). I look on auction groups on FB, but never sure what to bid? Should I have went higher on the McMillan basket?. Anyone have a sheet or website to guide a person? Thanks

[BlackDragon]

Unfortunately with auctions many people get emotionally attached to what they want. A stamp that may normally go for, let's say $50, can be driven up because someone just really wants it. I have been to auctions where people pay above full retail, plus taxes, plus auction fees. 

It could be the person was willing to pay the same as you but then figured "What's another $5?"

When I go to auctions I look at things as "Can I turn a profit on this?" attitude. I may want to keep it myself but I look at the long term if I can. When I hang this up can I recoup my cost.

[bruce johnson]

Specifically, I price them based on “what would this have been worth to me as a user?” When I was making a lot and “what is the market for this stamp currrently?” Some stamps get popular and then not as much - like barbwire stamps are not as common now as 10 years ago. Some stamps are timeless. The cluster/sunflower flower centers are popular now but the ring seed centers have always been used and will continue. 
     On McMillen baskets, I am mostly $65 and up on them. That is the price point they sell at for me. I sell new Wayne Jueschke stamps for the same price. Why? Some people like one more than the other.

Some people are recreating a work from the past and need it to match. Some like the look.  A lot of times past work was done with a McMillen. I have loaned out a few harder to find McMillens from my set to some top makers needing to replace a part and wanting the exact match. The McMillens have stood up over time and are durable good stamps. 
     There are no standard prices for McMillens, original Ray Hackbarths, Gore, Chuck Smith, and other stamp makers no longer in business. I base pricing on experience and watching trends. Some collectibility factor but mostly on those I am looking at “user pricing”. If i don’t  have a particular stamp I like, I am probably personally going to pay more than a more common rope center basket, but at the end of the day - it’s a user too. 
     Don King stamps are little different deal for me. They are collectible and we look at them as users too. I price them to honor them. I have a flower center I had never seen before, another guy with a bunch had never seen it. When I was getting a few together for the Prescott show last month my wife stamped off about 8 Don Kings for the examples to go in the showcase. She told me that she didn’t know what I was pricing them at but she was bidding $499 on that flower center. It would take $500 to buy it. I sold some other Don Kings and had a few people look at that flower center “I can’t buy it but I’d just like to hold it”. In the end, it’s now in Rundi’s tool rack and getting used. 
     Auction bidding can be fickle. Something will sell for $100 this week and $50 next week, takes a lot of following auction trends to get an idea of value. My auction bidding is usually “figure what I’d pay” and stick to it. They generally made more than that one and another  will or won’t come along. I’m not a get in at $10 and ride it $5 at a time to $75. I am not afraid to jump a bid to a fair value and go from there. 
     

[mhein68]

Thanks for the great explanation!