[meteorite-list] Personal Notes

[Adam Hupe]

Thank You Richard and Other List Members,


Collectors are the main reason I continued to offer auctions on eBay long after 
the losses started stacking up. Moving onto other aspects of the hobby will be 
helpful to me.  It was never my intention to become a dealer. I collected and 
prepared specimens for years before ever offering them. It became very 
expensive, almost an addiction.  In order to acquire new specimens, others had 
to be sold.

I am not blaming anybody, the market will bear what they are really worth from a 
monetary standpoint, especially in a poor economy. The scientific value is still 
being realized.   I enjoyed preparing the specimens and making them available to 
others who appreciated them.  The costs keep increasing while the demand remains 
static even though supply has been reduced and there has been much publicity.  
After all, how important is it to purchase a meteorite when so many are in 
danger of losing their houses?  I mainly deal in rare items, having to cut them 
into ever smaller pieces in order to make them affordable.  In the process, the 
work load, cutting loss and costs have increased while the price per gram has 
dropped.  It takes just as long to prepare a high priced auction as it does a 
couple of dollar one.  I should easily reach my 20,000 item goal this fall.  My 
current plan is to inventory what is left, make it available all at once, take 
my final loses and move on. If I manage to sell a key piece from my personal 
collection at a profit, then I will probably donate the rest of the sales 
inventory for a write off.

I believe the prices will skyrocket once the economy recovers but I cannot wait 
any longer to get out into the field and make some cold discoveries. It is my 
strong belief that most federal and state land will be off limits in a short few 
years and I do not want to miss out.  There has been far too much publicity that 
started out good and is now turning ugly.  The truth is that I see the hunting 
part of this avocation coming to a close, the same way amateur treasure hunting 
went a few decades ago.  


I don't want to talk about the good old days, I want to live them.

Best Regards,

Adam