[meteorite-list] Guesstimate on number of meteorite collectors.

From: robbyhoover1 at yahoo.com <robbyhoover1_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 14 May 2013 12:57:28 -0700
Message-ID: <1EF5CB94-D021-47FC-88D8-EB4F4A487048_at_yahoo.com>

Don,

I can not answer the number of collectors/ dealers question you proposed, BUT as a collector/hunter I can tell you that I personally do not have very many meteorites in my own personal collection. And i have never sold one. Of the ones I do have, only about 4 have been purchased through dealers the rest I have found. I work a good job but do not make a lot of money. Family and bills takes care of that. Plus being a full time Geology student really kills the finances to purchase new specimens.

That being said, I am one of the ones who will buy what most everyone who has been collecting for some time already has. I only have one NWA XXX in my collection, no Martian or lunar yet. And I have only been collecting/hunting for about 2 years so I'm still fairly new but lucky I live in the Southern California desert with prime hunting 30 min away.

So of the pieces that are common to most collectors, some of us still have not acquired them yet.

Robby.

Sent from my iPhone

On May 14, 2013, at 12:28 PM, "Don Merchant" <dmerchan at rochester.rr.com> wrote:

> Hi List. Some thoughts and questions to ponder. To me it seems like there is an endless number of Meteorite Dealers, Wannabee Meteorite Dealers, Part Time Sellers, Full time Sellers, One hit wonder Sellers, Mix of meteorite and Jewelry Sellers etc. All one has to do is just go on eBay to get a partial idea of this fiasco, let alone the many websites you come across when searching blindly on the internet involving meteorites. It seems everyone including my great grandmother is selling meteorites! I also know that meteorite collecting is confined to a very small group/percentage of people world wide as compared to other hobbies. Does anyone have any idea of how many hard core Collectors there are in the world at one time? I am not talking about the 1 time Buyer of a meteorite either. I see some Dealers selling the same material every week for years! I mean it sells, but to who!! The same type specimen every single week for years, I mean every Collector on Earth should have a piece of it by now, and yet someo
ne buys another piece the following week! What are Collectors doing, double and tripling up on the specimens! I don't get it. Anyways....I just don't see how anyone can make a full time living Selling meteorites with such completion out there these days and the fraud that takes place. My pet peeves are those that sell without providing at least an ID Card or some kind of provenance...at least something to back the specimen. That irks me to no end! I have solved that issue long, long ago ...I don't buy from you, period. How the heck can I resell that specimen without some form of legitimacy. So for those of you who still continue to sell without ID Cards or Provenance, lets get your crap in order. Another thing I noticed is that (especially) on eBay that week after week after week specimens like Lunars, Martians, or historical specimens (well known and famous specimens) that which have been sold or known for years, still get high prices for the auction. You mean that after all these years there are still Coll
ectors that do not have a piece of say NWA 482 or DaG 476! Once it is put up on eBay somebody buys it. Where on Earth do these people work that they continue to buy and buy and buy meteorites! I guess I just don't understand who is always buying these specimens with such a bad global economy and a limited elite group of Collectors. Where the heck do you get your money from! Maybe inheritance? Lottery Money? Can't be from hard earned money! Just sounding off is all to those who want to listen/read. I mean some people go to these shows like Ensisheim or Tucson and spend tens of thousands of dollars or more on specimens! What!! Are you serious! I know for a fact that less then 1/10th of 1% of people become millionaires starting out with nothing. The rest were either lucky or money was handed to them by Mom and Dad or Mom and Dad's business was given to them. I just don't get it. I have a very high paying job and no one ever gave me a penny and I barely make ends meet, let alone find money to purchase meteorite
s. This is a mystery that needs to be on the History Channel!
> Sincerely
> Don Merchant
> Founder-Cosmic Treasures Celestial Wonders
> www.ctreasurescwonders.com
> IMCA #0960
> ______________________________________________
>
> Visit the Archives at http://www.meteorite-list-archives.com
> Meteorite-list mailing list
> Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Received on Tue 14 May 2013 03:57:28 PM PDT