Jason,
Small detail....I never mentioned Park Forest. And speaking of being
"at a loss for words," I don't quite know how to respond to your
unbridled attack on "my" point of view regarding the same(?!)
As it regards the Chergach and Bassikounou examples, I sincerely
believe that irrespective of how inexpensive initial suppliers sell
material, that it is incumbent on us to consider the implications of
our pricing in the marketplace.
I take a longer view of such anomalies. Just because I was offered
Chergach at $0.50/g doesn't mean that it's responsible for me to
widely offer it for $1.50/g even though it represents a 200% profit to
me. Whether we can quantify the effect or not, beyond cheap
meteorites have an effect on the rest of the marketplace. They create
their own "gravity." That's all I'm trying to say.
All best / Darryl
On Dec 7, 2008, at 11:02 AM, Jason Utas wrote:
Darryl,
Low-end numbers? Even Park Forest which was witnessed, caught on
numerous videos, and fell in a densely populated urban environment -
in what may well be a majority of cases, hitting man-made objects, was
selling for $30/g or so at the time of the fall - a price which has
stayed roughly the same, if it hasn't come down a few dollars per gram
since then.
How much Park Forest was recovered? According to this report,
roughly 30kg.
http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/Aug04/ParkForest.html
More of this fall has been recovered in the past week than from the
entire fall of Park Forest.
It hasn't hit anything interesting, as far as we know.
It's an ordinary chondrite - even Park Forest had some pretty
brecciation/melt. I've heard of nothing of the sort from this fall.
It was caught on video, granted, and that does make it special in one
way...why you think that should boost the value of it to twice the
value of the undoubtedly more interesting Park Forest, also caught on
video (and five or ten times the price of other comparable falls), I
honestly...I'm at a lack for words.
"Low-end numbers being bandied about?"
On the one hand, you seem to criticize the high price being asked by
these sellers, and on the other, you say the current market rates for
other falls are "low-end numbers?"
I don't understand. $5-10/g for these new falls is far overpriced, as
best I can tell. At least with Chergach and Bassikounou, suppliers
were contacting list-members directly and offering stones at $2/g
initially - less for larger stones.
You seem to be saying that's too cheap. Why? If the sellers are
content, and I don't think the buyers are complaining, well, I can't
see any reason for you to say such a thing. If both parties are
happy, I honestly don't see how you can say such a thing.
Look at the numbers from my last email. A mere $10/g would provide
the hunters each with $5,000, assuming they only came back with 250g
each.
It's classic marketing technique to tell potential buyers that they
got precious little out of the fall, as they said they did.
If people think there's less, they'll want to buy more. There's a
reason they're not telling anyone how much they got, after all. I
wonder why...and I wonder if they ever will tell us how much they
found/were allowed to keep.... After all, unless they're just using
that as a marketing ploy, they really have no reason not to tell us.
Jason
On Sun, Dec 7, 2008 at 7:38 AM, Darryl Pitt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Folks,
If I've said it once I've said it a thousand times: meteorites as a
collectible do not attract more serious collectors because there
are too
many aberrations of valuation--such that the aberrations have
become the
norm. Several serious collectors who have been intrigued with
meteorites
have shared with me that they've opted not to climb in because of
their
belief in an "immature" and "unsophisticated" marketplace. Their
words.
In my humble opinion, the quality of the fireball video associated
with the
Canadian event makes it worth far more than the low-end numbers being
bandied about.
Everything else being the same, no witnessed fall should ever sell
for a
couple of bucks a gram, and we should all strive to make certain this
doesn't occur.
All best / d
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