Story of my life!!
Like all collectors, we all have our fair share of experiences when
it comes to collecting banknotes. Some will end up with very bad
experiences but in the majority of the cases, you will find them honest and
reliable too. I have not lost a deal so far (touch wood) but I did come
across some not so good collectors over the past 15 years or so. Below
are some of my stories to share with you.
This is in no particular order: -
1) I sent some used postage stamps to a collector in Puerto Rico after
he told me that his daughter collects them. I did that as a gift to him.
After a while, I contacted him to find out if my mail had arrived. He
replied and said it did (but didn't bother to send me an email prior to
mine). Why would anyone just keep quiet and not bother to send a
courtesy email confirming the receipt of my mail? Was he expecting me to
ask something in return? Few years later he contacted me to exchange banknotes. He is one of those collectors that will always play it
safe and NEVER post out his mail first. I reminded him that I was the
one that posted him some postage stamps some years ago and told him that
we will never exchange any notes as he never sends them out first. He
replied and offered to post them out to me first. I declined his offer.
2) a very serious collector in USA. I have known him for a few years
and occasionally he sent me one or two notes as gifts. He is a collector
of QEll notes. One day a Bahamas commemorative note was listed on eBay
but the seller was only willing to post it out within the USA only. This USA
collector is also a keen commemorative collector too and he was very
keen to get the note too. I asked him if I can use his mailing address
if I place my bid. He came back and said NO. I understand, after all we
are all competitors. The note went on and sold for US$240+ and this
USA collector didn't win the bid. He then sent me a message and
asked me would I pay that kind of price for this note? Obviously he
does not know me that well. This was a very unique note as only 1000
pieces were printed and was released in 2002. Many collectors were not aware
of this until circa 2010 as these notes were only meant to be issued by
the bank as a gift to their clients and associates. Few months later, I
managed to acquire more than 30 sets at a cost of less than $10 each. If
this USA collector had allowed me to use his mailing address in the
first place, I would have sent him 1 as a gift. If only he had said that
he is bidding for it too and we will be competing among ourselves.
Later another USA seller listed this same note on eBay for $99 (cost of
the note was $7.50 each), I emailed the seller and told him that someone
sold this note for more than $240+ few months earlier. He increased his
price to $220+ immediately. I later also gave two sets of this note to a
collector friend in Malaysia as a gift.
3) I sent 3 casino chips worth $20+ to a collector in Seattle USA as a gift as
he was a collector. Again, after a while, I did not get any
acknowledgement. I then sent him a follow up email. He told me that he
received the gift a few days ago. This is a person that checked his emails
almost daily. If I had received a gift from someone I would go on and
switch on my PC immediately and thank the person for the gift. I do not
need friends like him? Was he afraid that I would ask for payment for
these chips? If I posted them out to you, it means that this is a gift.
If not, I would have asked for payment first before posting them out to
anyone.
4) a collector in Toronto asked me if I could get him a bottle of the
famous Australia Vegemite as he was curious about this bread spread. I
told him that I will get him a bottle as a gift as it was only selling for
$4 here. I posted the item to him via air mail and the postage was more
than $20+. Again, I didn't receive any acknowledgement after a while and
emailed him to find out. He replied and told me that the mail arrived
and they have already consumed half the bottle of the spreads. Again,
why didn't they even bother to acknowledge my mail in the first place?
Do you really need friends like him? Do they ever understand the
meaning of courtesy or simple manners? I don't even need them to say
thank you, just an email to acknowledge the safe arrival of my mail.
Now, that is not that hard, right?
5) I used to exchange banknotes with a collector in Singapore. He asked
if I could get him some Northern Ireland 5 pounds 2000 Millennium folder
notes. I went on and got 3 sets for him as cost (i.e. issued price 7.50
pounds). I even covered the postage for the delivery from the UK and also
the telegraphic transfer payment for the purchase. I sent him the notes
(and a few other notes) for some exchanges with him all at cost or face
value. He sent back his part of the deal. Unfortunately some of the
notes he included were not in UNC condition (washed and pressed). Later
when Singapore issued the $20 commemorative note, I asked him if he could
get me a set in the folder. He offered me a set at full market price. I
asked myself, should I do favours for someone when this same person is seeking a profit in return! I was not expecting to get this at cost but
not at full market value. Perhaps I am a bit old fashioned here or perhaps
I was asking too much in return. My past experience with Singaporeans
collectors is that it is hard to find someone that is truly a good
friend. Everyone seems to be thinking about what's in for them first. I
once contacted a collector/seller for some low value polymer notes. He
came back and told me that he might have to include his bus fare and
perhaps the price for a can of coke as it would be hot going to the bank
to get those notes. This is on top of his selling price for the notes.
Despite my own personal experience, I am sure there are many good
collectors too but I just haven't got the opportunity to meet them yet.
6) a Singaporean collector asked me if I was interested in exchanging a
set of Brunei $1, $5 & $10 polymer folder set with matching serial
numbers for an annual Australia polymer annual folder set ($5, $10, $20,
$50 & $100 deluxe folder) with matching serial nos. This was back
in the last 90s. The issued price for the Australia set was A$300++. I
believe the issue price for Brunei was less than B$100 per set.
There was a huge difference in value for these two sets but I was not
sure what was the actual issued price for the Brunei set. When I asked
this collector what was the issued price for his set, he went quiet. My
advice is to do some homework on what you have been offered. If not,
you will end up getting screwed left, right and center and perhaps
from behind too!
The bottom line is that there is no such thing as friends among us when
it comes to this hobby. It is either you go out and screw someone or you
get screwed yourself in return. Nowadays, I have stopped sending anyone
free gifts anymore. I started this as a lonely collector and I will
eventually end up as one too. Like a politician in this country once
said, there is no such thing as a free lunch!!
Enjoy this wonderful hobby.
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