[meteorite-list] Meteorite Pricing/Values

[MexicoDoug 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