[meteorite-list] Meteorite market trends - a critical note

From: Pete Pete <rsvp321_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:16:19 -0400
Message-ID: <BAY141-W458FA392637A70DFEC5CE4F8FC0_at_phx.gbl>

Doug wrote: "Meteorites, like good women and perfect quartz crystals are rare. Some guys pay through the nose to get them..."

If good women were cheap, I'd have a ton of them delivered by dump truck.

Cheers,
Pete





> To: almitt at kconline.com; meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 17:39:59 -0400
> From: mexicodoug at aim.com
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorite market trends - a critical note
>
>
> Al M. wrote:
>
> "It is their rarity that makes us take notice and ponder them."
>
> Not for me Al. We all have our personal reasons for collecting. I
> don't think Darren and Walter deserve any moral criticism. Also, they
> were not unrealistic, as if that had any bearing. For example, would
> you rather the desert meteorites have rusted away in the sands to
> preserve the "market"? Let me air some of my frustrations on this
> topic.
>
> Adaptable dealers can always do well by adding value in any situation.
> That's the attitude that makes a healthy 'market' IMO, not ... To
> speculate with meteorites and then demand the meteorites make riskless
> money for one's pleasure of holding them. The latter seems far more
> unrealistic to me. That's having your cake and eating it too. You
> could always factor part of the pain of of 'market' downs if that
> helps, to appreciate the meteorites more.
>
> The Automobile market having to do with 'a meteorites market' is an
> alien thing I can't follow. And I don't appreciate the belittlement of
> "earth rocks" (not just directed at Al) on the meteorite list. That's
> almost a dig on geologists who have contributed more than any other
> profession towards the meaning of meteorites. Earth rocks are part of
> the miracle of the universe. Meteorites win our hearts on their
> merits. A veiw of a faint fuzzy through the telescope is priceless.
> That doesn't mean everyone looking at should feel better about paying
> more to see it. Meteorites, like good women and perfect quartz
> crystals are rare. Some guys pay through the nose to get them, yet
> others are hopeful to find a way and if they do, they are happier. The
> sacrifice Al describes in exchange for acquisitions does not translate
> equitably. Not to mention across national boundaries and the
> universally restless human spirit. Bravo Darren and Walter.
> Best wishes
> Doug
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: AL Mitterling
> To: MeteoriteList
> Sent: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 11:10 am
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorite market trends - a critical note
>
>
> Greetings,
>
> Sorry to see there are people out there that want the market to crash.
> Not very realistic.
>
> I want the automobile market to crash so I can buy two or three high
> end cars that I can't afford now. Of course if that happens then I
> suspect that the stock market may crash along with that and many other
> things, so effecting our economy that it would put people out of jobs
> and buying cars and meteorites would be far remove from our minds and
> survival from day to day would be our biggest concern. While buying
> meteorites for pennies on the dollar sounds nice, in truth you might as
> well wish for the collapse of our economical system. It's a nice
> fantasy but I hope that specimens maintain their value so I can go on
> and enjoy them and save up and buy my next one _when_ I can afford it.
>
> People will buy meteorites when they have some extra money over what
> they need for every day living (well I know a true meteorite
> affectionate will buy one over food :-). Meteorites aren't a necessity
> but rather a intriguing scientific curiosity. Certain specimens, falls,
> finds are more rare than others or have some other interest to the one
> who buys the specimen and why he or she will pay a certain price for
> it. They are more valuable because the scientific community unravels
> their secrets for us, the collectors. Otherwise Moon rock would be just
> another achondrite to be collected and a wonderment where it came from.
> (which was true in the past)
>
> The market is what it is because of the competition (that is all of us
> collectors, dealers, scientists and museums, etc.) who are bidding for
> the various items that are on the market at this point in time. Prices
> are what they are because that is simply what collectors, dealers,
> scientists and museums and so forth are willing to pay.
>
> If they were as common as rocks, I think they would loose quite a bit
> of their appeal for many. It is their rarity that makes us take notice
> and ponder them. It is also the era we live where we are finding out so
> much about their history and want to be closer to that history and
> study it for ourselves by owning them. So if ninety percent of all you
> guys would just stop collecting them, I'd be able to pick up all the
> bargains and get the really nice specimens for my collection, so you
> see, you guys are responsible for my dilemma. All my best!
>
> --AL Mitterling
>
> Darren Garrison wrote:
>
> Not me. I collect them because I want them, not because I hope to turn
> a profit
> for them in the future. I'd be very happy if every class of asteroid
> material
> became cheap and abundant enough that you would casually buy them by
> the ton and
> have them delivered by dump truck. If that means that the money I've
> already
> spent on meteorites would never be recovered, so what? I'm never going
> to
> recover the multiple thousands I've dumped into computer equipment over
> the
> years that is now so obsolete I'd have to pay a landfill to take them.
> I want
> the meteorite market to crash, hard, so that I can pick up the
> bargains.
>
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Received on Tue 25 Mar 2008 06:16:19 PM PDT