[meteorite-list] Meteorite sales falling with the stock market?

[Jim Strope]

>From my perspective, since early this summer, sales of small items have been 
down.  Large sales have been up, more than compensating in the drop of small 
sale volume.

Many sales can not be tracked or put into a nice little analysis of prices 
by third parties.  For example, we had NWA 2995 lunar sliced last year.  I 
have NEVER advertised a full slice for sale on my website, only stating that 
they were available and to email me.
(see bottom of page: 
http://www.catchafallingstar.com/nwa2995/nwa2995sale.htm for example) 
However, I have sold 9 complete slices since we had the meteorite cut 
roughly 14 months ago.  No third party was aware of these sales for 
tracking.  In fact the latest full slice was sold the end of September, 
right in the middle of this Stock Market meltdown, at full retail I might 
add.

Over the years I have sold many LARGE items out of my collection without 
advertising them for sale just because someone saw a photo in my gallery of 
meteorites on my website and made an offer I could not refuse.  Again, sales 
under the radar.

I think that the sellers of smaller items will see a disproportionate 
reduction in sales.  The lower $ meteorite buyer is getting hurt the most in 
this financial crisis, the rich will always be rich because they have the 
inside track in protecting their investments, (hedging, short selling etc.). 
The poor working guy just puts his money in a mutual fund and lets it ride 
with out complicated investment protection tools.

I have been 100% out of the stock market since summer of 2007, thank 
goodness.  You just had to know the end was near when TV shows like "Flip 
this House" were popular.....Some 20 something buys a "fixer upper" in 
California for half a million $ puts in a hundred grand of improvements and 
sells it for 800 grand a couple months later to some poor slob that got a 
loan with no down payment'?  Someone was bound to be holding the bag sooner 
or later.

Give me HIGH QUALITY tangible assets any day, antiques, collectables, GOLD, 
etc (of course meteorites too)

--
Jim Strope
421 Fourth Street
Glen Dale, WV 26038

Catch a Falling Star Meteorites
http://www.catchafallingstar.com