[meteorite-list] AD: Wisconsin Fireball Meteorite Fall Part Slices on Ebay NOW 1 day

From: Jason Utas <meteoritekid_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2010 04:01:11 -0700
Message-ID: <g2u93aaac891004240401h84f9decfn24cf9622e9c77384_at_mail.gmail.com>

>I see Steve?s point of what he?s doing by setting a base price for the recent meteorite fall in WI to pay the land owners %50 in cash from sales on eBay. But, with any new fall the first year the price tends to be high because it?s a new fall and there after the price drops to about $10 a gram or less, unless it?s a hammer or has any significance because of science or other reasons that could make a certain fall unique.

Bullcrap. I'd like to see you point out a single place online or
otherwise where you can buy Ash Creek, Park Forest, or Whetstone
Mountains for anything shy of $20/g. Don't delude yourself here; as a
collector, I would *love* to see prices down there, but it's simply
not true. Park Forest is a standard $35-40/g, Ash Creek has bottomed
out at $20/g (sometimes 15 if you're lucky), and Whetstone, with its
comparable tkw (at the moment) is holding fast at $80/g or so.

>In the case with the WI fall it is hard to say what significance this fall has, then it?s another ordinary chondrite fall and until the scientist are able to run more test on the fall.

It's a brecciated, equilibrated H-chondrite. That much is obvious
from the photos. I suppose it might be a funny L, but it looks like
an H. Regardless, it's an equilibrated ordinary chondrite.

>If I was in this situation that the meteorite collectors are in the field I would explain to the farms the case with what could happen with falls. What I would do if I was there I would split the finds 50/50 and give them the resources of how they could sell the meteorites or purchase the meteorites at a base value of current market value prices that reflects that type of meteorite fall in the market.

So you're suggesting cutting every stone found from the fall?
Wow. I think there are many list-members here who would agree that
that's a very, very bad idea. It's one thing to pay them a fair
price. It's another to do so in such a way that you manage to destroy
every stone found.

>Good example is the NWA 869 L4-6 meteorite. At the current rate with this ordinary chondrite, the going rate is $1 a gram or less depend on the samples, if it has fusion crust, or if it?s sold as a Lot or not. With all this could get confusing with the farm and if there scientific community finds interesting finds, which could take a year or longer to verify could change the current mark price.

This fall's not going to be sold in bulk lots. Your analogy to 869
does address quality, though...but I'm going to have to disagree with
you here. Whether or not you're buying a fragment or an individual of
a new fall from the US or Europe, you'll be paying $20-80/g. Give or
take. That number generally depends on the availability of the fall
-- not the individual specimen's quality. With more common falls,
yes, quality makes a difference.
A fragment of Gao is worth less than an individual because there are
individuals available.
But if you wanted a piece of...say, Homestead. There are no
individuals on the market, and even slices and fragments are rare. In
light of that fact, if you want a piece of it, the price per gram is
fairly standard whether you're buying a slice, fragment, or
individual.

This is an American fall. Its price will be fairly standard, if it's
at all like other American falls...Holbrook excluded because it's so
large.

>All in all I think this situation could go in different directions depending on the comfort level the farmers have with the collectors or if the collectors out in the field have a better understanding of what they are dealing with from the fall.

Just you wait until these ebay auctions play out...

>At any rate its best to build a good level of communication with the farmers of how the market works with new falls.

Like with Ash Creek? I don't know if you were around for that, but
the reason why things went sour so quickly is because dealers were
paying farmers literally $1-2/g for stones that, in a few cases, later
sold on ebay for $100/g (the price did drop drastically at the time,
but held at $35/g for several months before coming down to the ~$20/g
it is today).

>Let?s say you have found a 300 gram meteorite from the fall and sat on it for a few years and nothing became of this fall then just a ordinary chondrite I would see the meteorite selling around a $1 a gram of less depend if the weathering was down to a minimal and the structure of the fusion crust was still intact and retained its physical characteristics.

You don't seem to understand how western (N&S America, Europe, Asia to
some extent) falls are priced.
I would price the stone at between $4,000 and 5,000 dollars, and I
would be damn happy to get it for as low as $4k.
That's if this is a large fall.
If it's a small fall like Whetstone...at least $5k, but the finder
could easily ask for more. And get it.

But don't trust me - I've only been here watching the market since 1998.

Regards,
Jason

On Sat, Apr 24, 2010 at 12:43 AM, Brian Cox
<searchingforfun at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> Uh, excuse me, Wait a minute, ok..... Something doesn't sound right here at
> all. I hate to be the buttinsky here and call anyone out, but as I
> understood it all the collectors/dealer/.amateurs/locals ? HAD to PAY the
> Farmers and Landowners Before They Left The Property with What They Found
> and not 1 week or 1 month or 6 months or 1 year after they walked off the
> property what money the meteorites were worth.
>
> Everyone PAID Upfront, not a day later nor next week or next month nor next
> year.
>
> People are reading about selling on ebay and then commenting that they
> understand that the meteorites have to be sold so that you can "Pay the
> Farmer" after they sell???? That is a Load of Crap.
>
> No one up there signed a contract with those landowners and farmers and
> showed their Driver's license or gave them their address to wait for
> payment. Those farmers are not idiots. They did NOT let anyone walk off
> their land without paying up for what was found unless people hid meteorites
> or ran off the property like some guy did on Friday and then the farmer
> chased everyone off and said no more hunting.
>
> All people up there HAD to Pay the farmer a fee such as $50 per day per
> person to hunt and then you had to show your meteorites to the landowner and
> they weighed them and you had to pay at that time $4 per gram for your half.
> It was a 50/50 deal. If you had a 20 gram meteorite, then it was 20 x $4
> =$80 and then you had to pay the farmer $40.
>
> If this isn't correct, then please correct me now, because this is what 100
> other hunters were doing and there is no Dumb Landowner that I know of that
> took anyone's word and is sitting back watching ebay to see how much these
> meteorites are going to sell for and is going to watch for the mail or watch
> Paypal for his half to magically appear.
>
> Aren't I right?
>
Received on Sat 24 Apr 2010 07:01:11 AM PDT