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

Tue Mar 25 17:39:59 EDT 2008

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 <almitt at kconline.com>
To: MeteoriteList <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
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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