What is so Special about this Hong Kong 1969 Cover?

[Anadon]

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Hi, I listed what I thought was a fairly low value 1969 Hong Kong University First Day Cover on Hong Kong and I've had several people offer me silly amounts for it and I have no idea why it seems to be attracting so much interest.

I can only assume it must be the cover itself rather than the stamp/postmark, but would really like to find out more about it and was hoping somebody could point me at some information about it.

Many thanks in advance.

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[Global Administrator]

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If anyone offered me $A5 for it I'd rip their arms off. Aged, and ugly hand addressed, low value commem, but then again I am a newbie in this hobby.

Glen

[Anadon]

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That’s what I thought when I listed it yesterday, within 30 minutes it had been bid up to £50, then somebody messaged me and offered £200 buy it now, and this morning somebody else offered £600 hence the question here as I haven’t a clue why.

[W5LDY]

This must be a scarce illustration or cachet on the cover.

I have had similar from other issues, though nothing which attracted the interest this one seems to be getting.

Enjoy the ride if you let the auction run.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hong-Kong-1969-Chinese-University ... 4944593776

[Global Administrator]

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You turned down 600 quid?

[Anadon]

I’ve not replied to the offer yet, but almost certainly will, but I’ve obviously missed something important to it which has me thinking day 1 £200, day 2 £600 maybe I should wait a day before responding... not knowing when to pull the trigger which is why I though I need more information to understand why this cover?

[Global Administrator]

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I typed this in my global stamp column this month - and it has served me well for over 40 years - and in cases like this, is very worth repeating -

https://www.glenstephens.com/sndecember20.html

“You can’t go broke making a profit”

I auction nothing, as I prefer fast turnover, and a CERTAIN result, so price things at a little more than I paid. Pretty simple really! My stamp mentor, Ken Baker, (who lived to age 104!) the most successful dealer ever in this country, stressed time and time again, to always remember his sage advice - "Son, you CAN’T go broke making a quick profit".

Ken Baker did not have a Harvard MBA, and neither do I, but oddly, simple and time proven business principles, often work better than fanciful theory, and greedy mark-ups - that often sees dealer stock sit around for decades! Ken handled every rarity this country has even seen, from the MUH pane 60 of the £2 Roo, the 2d KGV Tête-bêche pair, 3d Kooka Imperf Mini Sheet etc. Some several times.

Before your 600 quid ebay idiot next visits his psychiatrist to top up his medication, I'd be grabbing his money NOW, but again, I am new and inexperienced at this stamp selling caper.

Glen

[pmc]

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The folks over at www.hkpnc.com auctioned a similar looking cover in April 2020; apparently the "Benjamin Franklin Centre" text makes this a rare cover.

The auction catalogue had a HK$1,000 starting price (Lot 185) on the cover, but in the prices realised section of their website it looks like it sold for HK$6,050 (inclusive of the 10% buyers fee), with toning. That's a little under £600.

Your cachet is a different colour from this example, and is postally used... Do any of these factors make a difference in the comparative value? I don't know. Would someone looking to complete a set of all the cachet colour variations be willing to pay a premium?

Who knows their motivation and what might happen if two people get into a bidding war.

[gavin-h]

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Before your 600 quid ebay idiot next visits his psychiatrist to top up his medication, I'd be grabbing his money NOW, but again, I am new and inexperienced at this stamp selling caper.

Glen

Glen's completely right in the essence of what he says.

It's a good offer, especially as it's way above your earlier expectation of value for the cover, and if it was mine, I'd snap his hand off for 600 quid...

...what I'd also do is make sure it got there. Registered, tracked, special delivery, the lot.

The last thing you need is a "not received" dispute on Ebay.

[Allanswood]

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You can end an auction early and instead sell the item to someone who makes a high offer?

That's a bit rough on everyone else.

[Global Administrator]

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"Auction cancelled - Goods misplaced or damaged"

Takes some skill to pull it off outside ebay, when bids have already been made.

FIRST you need to see the non cancellable colour of the money of the Bunny allegedly offering 600 quid, before the auction ends. You dodge the ebay 10% FVF of course as well.

That dope thinks for some mad reason in his fevered brain that it will get OVER 600 quid, so of course he will play ball (maybe) if you act FAST. You have 8 days to focus his mind - and his cheque book.

As Gavin says it must be posted in a ROCK CERTAIN tracked manner.

Yes a true auction might get over 600 quid. And the moon might be made of green cheese.

Me, I doubt anyone will pay 600 quid off eBay or officially via eBay for a hand addressed cover. Time will tell. Asian buyers often play strange mind games.
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[W5LDY]

This must be a scarce illustration or cachet on the cover.

I have had similar from other issues, though nothing which attracted the interest this one seems to be getting.

Enjoy the ride if you let the auction run.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hong-Kong-1969-Chinese-University ... 4944593776

So, thanks to Stampboards we now know this illustrated cover cachet is very scarce and looks (perhaps surprisingly to some) to have a value consistent with what the vendor has apparently been offered.

To speculate what happens next is not really the point of the original thread.

[David Benson]

As our Prime Minister would say,

" HOW GOOD IS EBAY "

Here we have a seller who had no idea what an item was worth and listed at a low price.

Along came knowledgeable bidders and placed realistic bids including some who made high offers.

It will get a very good realisation and all will be satisfied except the underbidders.

All the naysayers on here is to mention that there may be a claim for non payment. Of course the seller will send it by trackable mail and cannot lose anything.

Again I say " HOW GOOD IS EBAY ",

David B

[Kiwidude]

It's sitting at good price.

I'd leave it. If the people offering good prices are legit.

They will bid.

You already getting way over what you thought.

You probably run into problems with ebay if you end it .

The person winning now probably complain.

That way your conscience at ease.

Peter

[BigSaint]

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Current bid - £101.99 & still a long way to go.

[ebay]

eBay Bid Cancellation Notice - Item

Dear eBay Community Member,
The bid that you entered for the item (264944593776) has been cancelled. You can view the reason provided for the cancellation by selecting the (bid history) link from the individual item page.

He's going for the £600 Offer

[Global Administrator]

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“You can’t go broke making a profit”

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[MJ's pet]

You turned down 600 quid?

Geez I hope you took the 600 quid.

[BigSaint]

Perhaps he received an offer he finally couldn't refuse.

[Anadon]

Firstly thanks for all the information and advice/

I accepted the £600 offer, all done above board through eBay I created a new listing with a buy it now price and closed off the old one once it was paid for. Spoke to eBay who said it was fine to relist as a buy it now and cancel the item with bids. They even had a special offer on for max £1 selling fees so saved £59 in ebay fees. Customer also paid for fully tracked/signed for/insured postage.

Naturally 10 minutes after it was sold one of the bidders offered £700 but more than happy with the 600 considering it came out of a box of generally low value covers I bought at auction for £46

[Lundy]

Whoop Whoop! Congrats Anadon, dont rue what you might have got just think what you thought you would have got when you listed it

Lundy !

[ebay]

Can anyone tell me why it was worth £600 to this buyer and £700 to someone else ?

Anyway a nice surprise listing something for 99p and ending up with £600.

[MJ's pet]

Naturally 10 minutes after it was sold one of the bidders offered £700 but more than happy with the 600 considering it came out of a box of generally low value covers I bought at auction for £46

Well done Anadon.

As the old saying goes: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

So many collectors and dealers (and wannabe dealers) hang on for grim death trying to extract the last cent (or penny) out of their material. They generally end up dying with their collections/stock.

[Allanswood]

Sorry, I must be on the outer with this. I'd be absolutely miffed if I had been one of the bidders who lost ALL chance of further bidding on the item because someone threw a decent outside of auction bid on the item.

"item ended early due to an error in the listing". Wow. What error?

[BigSaint]

Allanswood

It was all done with the approval & good graces of eBay:

I accepted the £600 offer, all done above board through eBay I created a new listing with a buy it now price and closed off the old one once it was paid for. Spoke to eBay who said it was fine to relist as a buy it now and cancel the item with bids. They even had a special offer on for max £1 selling fees so saved £59 in ebay fees. Customer also paid for fully tracked/signed for/insured postage

The error I think is that the seller omitted to include 'Buy It Now'.

1969 Hong Kong Chinese University of Hong Kong Airmail First Day Cover:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1969-Hong-Kong-Chinese-University ... 7675.l2557

1969 Hong Kong Chinese University of Hong Kong Airmail First Day Cover

[towradji]

Supports the old adage, if you want top price for unusual material or don’t know what you have, give it a run on the global market place, ebay.