[meteorite-list] Meteorite Pricing/Values

From: MexicoDoug_at_aol.com <MexicoDoug_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri Dec 23 19:51:47 2005
Message-ID: <c8.6d97e2ca.30ddf58c_at_aol.com>

biscuit_40 writes:
>"It's only worth what you can get for it." Not
>profound but to the point.

>JUST my opinion,

>Thomas

Hi Thomas,
Glad you said it was just an opinion - of personal value at that - which I
appreciated it now feel like rambling one last time this year. On this issue
of economics and meteorites, they in MY OPINION are immiscible. ...Keep in
mind that a commercial appraisal ought to be a three-pronged professional
service and the three values differ reflecting the different values to different
parties..."market" (Which is divided into 'under duress/wholesale' and
'retail/I cut you no breaks'), replacement value, and rental value.

So, if over too much spiked eggnog I shout out too loudly $1 for Steve's 3/4
ton pallasite, while the rest of the bigwigs remain silent, and no one else
had made an offer yet - then is that what is it worth at the moment? I
completely agree with the comments by others that there is sadly not enough focus
on the individual attributes of meteorites and this drive to commoditize them
as you and others are implicitly accepting.

Your nice Dad had "Worth" in a subjective definition that worked for him.
Comparisons with coins and stamps have got to be the most misleading
comparisons that cloud this whole meteorite worth issue. Not calling the definition
wrong applied here, just, too subjective and personal to be useful. I agree
that there is way too much hype out there, but caveat emptor and taken with a
grain of salt, all this shameless hype is better than with no hype to wade
through at all.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Meteorite-SEYMCHAN-PALLASITE-olivine-dealer-invest-HUGE_W0
QQitemZ6588528385QQcategoryZ3239QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Here's an apparently quality pallasite (not oriented) with a lower informal
TKW not being especially marketed ... and the price is $345 per kilogram
($0.35 a gram). By this measure Steve's rock is worth $225,000.00. Using
Greg's logical and good comments, it oriented, but you buy more maybe you get a
better deal. So it could be a wash. Then there is the little detail: This is
a one-of-a-kind piece. How much is uniqueness worth? That would be
priceless by many definitions.

Anyway, I'm sure a Las Vegas Casino would be happy to buy the celestial King
Kong Pallasite for a cool half of a million in cash and put it on display as
the nose-coned centerpiece with ringed planets in black light all gleaming
and jeweled up on the gambling floor. And if I get to go to Las Vegas
sometime, guess which will be the casino I go to. The casino owner meanwhile is
thinking...mmmm. "My casino is the most kick-ass casino and the space station
themed room has a new meaning in my promotional literature"... gamblers can
loose their money, or win the jackpot, standing on the jewel laced center of
another planetoid....and my casino financial controller dude says NPV of the
meteorite is the cash stream of all the extra profit we realize for having this
awesome space piece...at a piddly $50,000 annually and a 10% rate of return
that would practically justify the purchase hands down. Then there is the
salvage value. After 20 years, it might have a salvage value in today's terms
of $100,000 more. At a million it could still be a deal - you'd have to run
the numbers as a good appraiser would have to do in this case. So we could
speculate until we make bigger fools of ourselves with rocks we could never buy
and only are dreaming of having. The flip side of your Dad's subjective
definition in the case of this is not what you can get for it ... it is what the
most motivated buyer is willing to pay. But then economics reminds us that
if supply is one unit, you can't put a price on it until you check if supply
of one meets demand of one. Then you have a value. Or you might as well
define the theoretical value as the least amount the supplier is going to accept
 for a piece - if that piece has no replacement. All meteorite pieces are
unique. It is subjective as to when one will accept a replacement. So maybe
they actually have no true value. The junk dealer, if you could find one
willing to accept it and transport it to him might pay $200 for the Kansas
specimen, and another way to calculate the value is put it on display and charge
admission like in Oregon some time back...let's see, at $5.00 a peep, 20
people daily 300 days annually, no overhead, that'd be $30,000 a year - but with
the overhead and these projections, you can get an idea for what the value is
by this method. Finally a good appraiser will also check into weather the
object can be rented, or replaced, too. The replacement value of Steve's
meteorite is determined by whether another will be found in the near term - if not
it's priceless by this method of appraisal. And the rental value, well time
to put a few feelers out...

With all the subjectivity, it's a bunch of circular reasoning. Meteorites
are not a commodity and never will be. Anyone considering them a commodity is
probably missing out on the joy of having a collection. They are priceless
and worthless at the same time...

On the "ONE DOLLAR" offer I'd pay for reasonable shipping of course:), but
it expires tomorrow night at which point it becomes priceless or worthless
again according to your admittedly not profound definition, until another public
offer comes along...
Christmas greetings!
Doug
Aspiring IMB Buyer's Representative to the King
Received on Fri 23 Dec 2005 07:51:24 PM PST