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Re: Fw: Meteorite "worth"

Hello Gregory, Steven, Gene and list,

Your logic and stance are valid but not sound.  It must be our
responsibility in the meteorite community to insure that prices are not out
of control otherwise control will be mandated upon us in the form of
government regulations as in similar fields.

Just my $3.00 worth,  (Oops,  I'm inflating:-)   Who's next?)

Julia


-----Original Message-----
From: Sharkkb8@aol.com <Sharkkb8@aol.com>
To: rmarlin@network-one.com <rmarlin@network-one.com>;
meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com <meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sunday, April 04, 1999 6:15 PM
Subject: Re: Fw: Meteorite "worth"


|
|>.....the "price of gold", its "worth" if you will is not so much
|>defined by "demand" but by how much it costs to extract-
|
|Everything's worth is determined by supply and demand.  The cost of
|production/extraction is simply a key component of "supply".
|
|<<Meteorites, on the other hand are valued differently.  Mostly by rarity,
|>and demand.>>
|
|Well, "rarity and demand" is pretty much indistinguishable from "supply and
|demand".  Rarity just means the supply is limited.
|
|<<>And "worth" with regards to them is purely subjective-- there is no
|>intrinsic value to a meteorite, no matter how rare it is.>>
|
|Actually, I think economic "worth" is completely objective.  Sentimental
|or personal "worth" can be subjective.  There is no intrinsic value
|to a beanie baby either, but try to tell a collector that they are "worth"
|the 20-cents-worth-of-cloth they contain.  To YOU (and to ME, I might add!)
|a beanie baby IS only worth the cloth it's made of, but OUR opinion doesn't
|really count as far as the prevailing prices are concerned, does it?  It's
|the people
|who actually buy-and-sell who determine worth, not the folks who stand
|alongside and offer their subjective opinions.
|
|<< One thing I can say... If I do not think a meteorite is *worth* what
| >the other dealers are asking, I will lean on my subjective judgement,
| >and not buy it--- even if everyone else is in the "feeding frenzy" mode.
|
|And if the majority of other buyers out there don't buy at the specific
|"asking" price,
|then the meteorite isn't "worth" that price.   But if you are in the
|minority, and
|there are plenty of buyers who WILL pay it, then, sorry, but that's the
|meteorite's
|price.  You may not LIKE it, you may fervently believe that it's
overpriced,
|but
|if people pay it, if it's the "going rate", then that's what it's worth.
|
|
| >If everyone just sat back for a while everytime a new meteorite crops up,
| >then perhaps the true *worth* of that meteorite will be better
established.
|>>
|
|If a majority of buyers did not buy a new meteorite, the price would
plummet.
|When/if more of them started to buy it, the price would begin to rise.
|If the meteorite became suddenly famous, or if demand became
|extremely high, the price would skyrocket.  And at any given moment along
the
|way,
|the average, prevailing price would be what the meteorite is worth at that
|moment.
|
|When Nininger was "doing his thing", meteorites could be had for a dollar
or
|two a pound.   If you were to chart the "worth" of Canyon Diablo from 1900
to
|2000, most every year on your chart, the price would go up.  Can you really
|decide that some arbitrary moment on that chart represents the exact value
of
|CD?
|'You mention above the "true worth" of a meteorite.  Could you please tell
me
|the "true worth" of Canyon Diablo?  What about 50 years ago? 40? 30?  10?
|There is really only ONE "true worth" for Canyon Diablo, the entire 20th
|century?
|
|Nobody like paying higher and higher prices for ANYTHING, meteorites, gas,
|food, insurance, baseball tickets.  But if people are willing to pay higher
|and higher
|prices, sellers are going to charge them.  It's only if people STOP paying
|them, that the prices will drop.  Steve, while I admire your strong stance
|about meteorite prices, if enough people out there are willing to pay
|exorbitant prices, then THEY are determining the "worth" of meteorites, not
|YOU.  Frustrating, maybe, but true.
|Gregory
|
|
|
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