Re: [meteorite-list] Where have all the meteorites gone?
Hi Mal, I've bought 3 absolutely beautiful Campos from jlacroix1. I've been completely satisfied with the man. The prices were right and the Campos were shipped very quickly and they were all gorgeous. I gave a 330 gram (my first) one away as a gift to our financial advisor and she was completely blown away by it. I don't know the reason for the great prices, but I can tell you that the product is wonderful. I find that some dealers are just a lot more reasonable that others. I'm new to all this, so I can't tell you why that is. Regards, Greg Lindh - Original Message - From: Mal Bishop [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Sent: Saturday, May 12, 2007 11:30 AM Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Where have all the meteorites gone? Since Paul mentioned this about material drying up on eBay, I've been wondering a little about this eBay seller called, 'jlacroix1' ( I've also followed/watched one or two others for the past month or so who seem to be following sort of the same pattern). Here's an example of what I'm referring to (which I'm sure many of you already know about): http://cgi.ebay.com/64-27-KGS-NEW-CAMPO-DEL-CIELO-METEORITE-142-pounds_W0QQitemZ120117201192QQihZ002QQcategoryZ3239QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem He seems to peddle a lot of Campo in the 100+ (40 kg and up) lbs. range for what I consider unbelievably low prices for their sizes. Even if they're not high grade or sculpted specimens, I don't understand how he can offer the amount of material he seems to be always offering at, to me anyway, such low and unreal prices! For all I know, he may be well know by many of you, and even a member of this list in excellent standing. His has a stellar feedback rating of an unbelievable 100% out of nearly 3000 transactions ( I mean not one slightly disgruntled buyer/ seller for any reason at all, ever). Can someone just shed some light on my skepticism with these too good to believe offerings. Maybe I'm just too jaded for my own good. I'm sorry if I'm challenging someone who is completely beyond reproach in any manner or degree whatsoever. I really don't mean to, I just don't understand this phenomenon in this day and age, especially when it comes to eBay. I know the dealers in our community and their reputable ways, but this just makes me wonder. I mean when I purchase a sculpted, and top rated AAA Campo, I pay nearly that much for a specimen in the 20 to 30 lbs. (10kg to 12Kg or so) range forget nearly 150 lbs.! Appreciate any clarification on this from those out there that know. Best regards, Mal At 04:57 AM 5/10/2007 -0700, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: There used to be a good selection of pallasites and decent-sized irons rolling through ebay but it seemed to dry up a few months ago. It's downright pathetic lately. What's going on? Paul Swartz __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Where have all the meteorites gone?
Well, Dean, perhaps one should express it less pessimistic and alleviate apprehensions : The market will normalize again. == Normalizing not mean that this will be good time again. For the dealers got new stuff will be harder but prices will go up. For the collectors there will be lesss stuff but their collections stop to lose their value. Im agree with Martin and Dean that the supply is drying, but I also think that it is impossible to clean from meteorites a whole Sahara+Oman in 7-9years. There are still alot of meteorites to be found, but the other half of this problem is that there is less and less hunters on the desert. I have hear last year some mysterious stories about maroccan dealers in Algerian prison becouse of smuggling things through border. Now Morocco doing something with their south border in Mauretania. I think that this it reason why we have less and less material. Just maybe 50% of this is border problems and becouse berbers are scared to smugle black stones and other half is that there are less and less of the material. I only hope that we still have some more RICH years to enjoy. -[ MARCIN CIMALA ]-[ I.M.C.A.#3667 ]- http://www.Meteoryt.net [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.PolandMET.com [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.Gao-Guenie.com GSM +48(607)535 195 [ Member of Polish Meteoritical Society ] __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Where have all the meteorites gone?
Since Paul mentioned this about material drying up on eBay, I've been wondering a little about this eBay seller called, 'jlacroix1' ( I've also followed/watched one or two others for the past month or so who seem to be following sort of the same pattern). Here's an example of what I'm referring to (which I'm sure many of you already know about): http://cgi.ebay.com/64-27-KGS-NEW-CAMPO-DEL-CIELO-METEORITE-142-pounds_W0QQitemZ120117201192QQihZ002QQcategoryZ3239QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem He seems to peddle a lot of Campo in the 100+ (40 kg and up) lbs. range for what I consider unbelievably low prices for their sizes. Even if they're not high grade or sculpted specimens, I don't understand how he can offer the amount of material he seems to be always offering at, to me anyway, such low and unreal prices! For all I know, he may be well know by many of you, and even a member of this list in excellent standing. His has a stellar feedback rating of an unbelievable 100% out of nearly 3000 transactions ( I mean not one slightly disgruntled buyer/ seller for any reason at all, ever). Can someone just shed some light on my skepticism with these too good to believe offerings. Maybe I'm just too jaded for my own good. I'm sorry if I'm challenging someone who is completely beyond reproach in any manner or degree whatsoever. I really don't mean to, I just don't understand this phenomenon in this day and age, especially when it comes to eBay. I know the dealers in our community and their reputable ways, but this just makes me wonder. I mean when I purchase a sculpted, and top rated AAA Campo, I pay nearly that much for a specimen in the 20 to 30 lbs. (10kg to 12Kg or so) range forget nearly 150 lbs.! Appreciate any clarification on this from those out there that know. Best regards, Mal At 04:57 AM 5/10/2007 -0700, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: There used to be a good selection of pallasites and decent-sized irons rolling through ebay but it seemed to dry up a few months ago. It's downright pathetic lately. What's going on? Paul Swartz __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Where have all the meteorites gone?
--- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: There used to be a good selection of pallasites and decent-sized irons rolling through ebay but it seemed to dry up a few months ago. It's downright pathetic lately. What's going on? I know that many people think that dealers have been making it up for the last 3 years but meteorites are running out. In any other industry, stamp collecting, gemstones ect, people look to dealers for a guage of how the market goes and for information. But meteorite people all figure dealers are lying in an effort to drive prices up. Bizzaar. A couple weeks ago somebody even commented that NWA869 was really common. It hasnt been common in 2 years. I remember about 3 years ago in Tucson somebody had a 4 foot pile of the ugliest NWA869 that I had ever seen. I commented at the time that it looks like somebody went over the strewnfield with magnetic equipment and dug the highly weathered ones out of the ground and that this probably means that the strewnfield has been hunted out. It appears that I was right has no large piles have come out since. The next year in quartzite some dealers who werent with it were dumping quantities of small NWA869s at 2 to 3 cents a gram and people were still saying that prices will keep going down forever. Smart money was buying. You never get offered container loads of chinese tektites or Nantens like you were regularly being offered 4 years ago. Gibeon seems done. NWAs are much harder to buy nowadays and the amount of rare classification stuff is few and far between nowadays. About two years ago two large strewnfields (Several tons or more each) of really low grade stuff was found. This all flooded the market all at once and this (along with the rejects of other strewnfields) started getting dumped on ebay my many dealers (Including myself) for under 5 cents a gram. Many people believed that this drop in price was evidence that prices were still falling and will do so forever. Knowledgable investigation revealed that the quality had gone down. I know that 5 yaers ago I could get 500 kilos of nice meteorites in in 3 weeks flat. Now it takes me 6 months to buy that amount. I will let you in on another secret. Meteorite hunters still go to Oman. They dont make a big specticle of it anymore so somebody who dont like competation can pay off the police to set them up and have them arrested but they still go. But they rarely go because they dont find meetorites. The biggest attraction is the lunar strewnfields. Two years ago the russians told me that they still find meteorites but only small ones. So where will future meteorites come from? The atacama is volcanic and the desert is not old. It will never bring out huge amounts of meteorites. There is lots of areas in the middle east becides Oman. But much is militarized or full of landmines. And its not as virgin picking as you might think. Its been searched and I know of a few nomads from morocco (Most of whom are unemployed since eastern morocco has something like a 80% unemployment rate) who uses their religious requirement to go to mecca (Moslems who can afford it are supposed to go to mecca once in their lives) to get on a camel and go on the 11 month trek to mecca from morocco in the hopes of making the trip profitable searching for meteorites. So the arab desert is not entirely virgin to meteorite hunters. More should be there though but I doubt enough to duplicate the NWA rush. Australia is the obvious place and surely there are lots. But two provinces (Including northern territory) makes it illegal to even search for meteorites. National laws make sure than most australian meteorites continue to rust away as the government dont actively saerch for meteorites. The last couple years meteorites have been used more often in jewelry. Should a company like tiffanys decide to market meteorite jewelry the era of cheap meteorites will be over in a matter of months. They likely wouldent though as they couldent get enough supply to make it worth their while - even if they bought every meteorite in the world.. Anyway, thats my market analysis and the answer to the question. I am sure some people will think I am just trying to sell stuff. Smart money is hoarding right now Sincerely DEAN www.meteoriteshop.com Ready for the edge of your seat? Check out tonight's top picks on Yahoo! TV. http://tv.yahoo.com/ __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Where have all the meteorites gone?
Well, Dean, perhaps one should express it less pessimistic and alleviate apprehensions : The market will normalize again. The segment of the classical finds and falls, never wasn't affected by the desert-price-crash to that extend, only some mass locales, which appeared in large quantities - but that's also normal, that old locales disappear, new are coming up. Regarding the desert finds, you're certainly right, though meteorites shouldn't be regarded solely as ventures. (To own a valuable specimen and to transmute it into cash, is quite another cup of tea.) But what we, at least I believe, could meanwhile recommend with a clear conscience is, that the collector shouldn't wait any longer, whether the desert finds will get even more cheap than nowadays. I reckon that of course the rare types will raise in price, with one type you already observed it during the last months and last year. With ordinary weathered chondrites, which are by far the bulk of all finds (although they weren't visible on web in the right ratios to the rare types during the last years) the development will be slower, but on the long run, when the overhang will be mined down, also they will get more expensive. (Good crusted or oriented are already much higher paid than the years before). So if one e.g. plans a project to build up a complete systematical collection by type, he should think about to start to realize it within the next very few years. Just my opinion, Martin -Ursprüngliche Nachricht- Von: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Im Auftrag von dean bessey Gesendet: Freitag, 11. Mai 2007 21:37 An: Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Betreff: Re: [meteorite-list] Where have all the meteorites gone? --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: There used to be a good selection of pallasites and decent-sized irons rolling through ebay but it seemed to dry up a few months ago. It's downright pathetic lately. What's going on? I know that many people think that dealers have been making it up for the last 3 years but meteorites are running out. In any other industry, stamp collecting, gemstones ect, people look to dealers for a guage of how the market goes and for information. But meteorite people all figure dealers are lying in an effort to drive prices up. Bizzaar. A couple weeks ago somebody even commented that NWA869 was really common. It hasnt been common in 2 years. I remember about 3 years ago in Tucson somebody had a 4 foot pile of the ugliest NWA869 that I had ever seen. I commented at the time that it looks like somebody went over the strewnfield with magnetic equipment and dug the highly weathered ones out of the ground and that this probably means that the strewnfield has been hunted out. It appears that I was right has no large piles have come out since. The next year in quartzite some dealers who werent with it were dumping quantities of small NWA869s at 2 to 3 cents a gram and people were still saying that prices will keep going down forever. Smart money was buying. You never get offered container loads of chinese tektites or Nantens like you were regularly being offered 4 years ago. Gibeon seems done. NWAs are much harder to buy nowadays and the amount of rare classification stuff is few and far between nowadays. About two years ago two large strewnfields (Several tons or more each) of really low grade stuff was found. This all flooded the market all at once and this (along with the rejects of other strewnfields) started getting dumped on ebay my many dealers (Including myself) for under 5 cents a gram. Many people believed that this drop in price was evidence that prices were still falling and will do so forever. Knowledgable investigation revealed that the quality had gone down. I know that 5 yaers ago I could get 500 kilos of nice meteorites in in 3 weeks flat. Now it takes me 6 months to buy that amount. I will let you in on another secret. Meteorite hunters still go to Oman. They dont make a big specticle of it anymore so somebody who dont like competation can pay off the police to set them up and have them arrested but they still go. But they rarely go because they dont find meetorites. The biggest attraction is the lunar strewnfields. Two years ago the russians told me that they still find meteorites but only small ones. So where will future meteorites come from? The atacama is volcanic and the desert is not old. It will never bring out huge amounts of meteorites. There is lots of areas in the middle east becides Oman. But much is militarized or full of landmines. And its not as virgin picking as you might think. Its been searched and I know of a few nomads from morocco (Most of whom are unemployed since eastern morocco has something like a 80% unemployment rate) who uses their religious requirement to go to mecca (Moslems who can afford it are supposed to go to mecca once in their lives) to get on a camel and go on the 11 month trek to mecca from morocco in the hopes of making the trip
Re: [meteorite-list] Where have all the meteorites gone?
Hi Dean/list, Interesting post. This might sound like a naive question - humour me, I'm new to this - but can anyone give even an approximate answer to these questions? 1 - estimated TKW of /all/ meteorites known to have fallen, to date ...and, I guess, much more difficult: 2 - estimated TKW (rather, I suppose, total available weight) of material 'out there', either waiting to be found in known strewn fields or on the open market? (Assuming no new finds/falls.) I note from your eBay biog (without prejudice or comment - I've purchased specimens from you myself) that you've shipped several tons of NWA in the last few years. How long do people think this level of supply (from yourself and other dealers) can continue? Best, Mark dean bessey wrote: I know that many people think that dealers have been making it up for the last 3 years but meteorites are running out. __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Where have all the meteorites gone?
There used to be a good selection of pallasites and decent-sized irons rolling through ebay but it seemed to dry up a few months ago. It's downright pathetic lately. What's going on? Paul Swartz __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Where have all the meteorites gone?
Paul, it is what I have been saying all along, they are drying up. The Russians are supplying little these days, the deserts are picked clean, the gold rush is almost over, and dealers like me (smart ones anyway) are hoarding bulk material, what little there is. Michael Farmer --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: There used to be a good selection of pallasites and decent-sized irons rolling through ebay but it seemed to dry up a few months ago. It's downright pathetic lately. What's going on? Paul Swartz __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
