I am relatively new to stamp collecting, and had recent unpleasantness at "the other on-line auction". An item was listed as a cover, but the scan showed a set of 5 stamps. The description read: "mint, nice item". Period.

I asked about hinging and the condition of gum. The seller sent a snippy response advising that I "READ THE DESCRIPTIN ON E***; mint means hinged".

The vast majority of stamp listings that I see make some statement about hinging, ie: MNH, MUH, MH, MLH, mounted, hinge remnant, etc., etc. I was not aware that it is standard lingo among stamp collectors that "mint" means "hinged".

Am I just ignorant or ???

Thanks.

'Mint' to many in stamp terms simply means unused.

I use the terms MM - mounted mint and UM - Unmounted Mint and other dealers use other terms and variations. If unsure ask - which you did.

Probably the best thing to do in such cases where you are unsure and the seller is unhelpful in answering your queries and you want the item is to buy and pay by Paypal. If not what you expected then return the item and if no refund is forthcoming do a chargeback citing 'item not as described'.

Thanks for your input. As I mentioned, virtually all sellers will make some comment about hinging, as you are careful to do.

I'm reluctant to get into the hassle of buying/returning items, since the buyer is usually responsible for return postage, which is often more than the cost of the item. And this seller would argue that the description was perfectly clear to any idiot.

I guess I'm mostly angry about the seller's attitude, as if his listing/description was completely accurate and not subject to interpretation. Most sellers with whom I have dealt are courteous, and appreciate when I have pointed out errors in the listing.

I think I'll just not deal with this seller in future. His loss. And, I'll let him wait a bit for payment for an item that I did buy.

Thanks for your input. As I mentioned, virtually all sellers will make some comment about hinging, as you are careful to do.

I'm reluctant to get into the hassle of buying/returning items, since the buyer is usually responsible for return postage, which is often more than the cost of the item. And this seller would argue that the description was perfectly clear to any idiot.

I guess I'm mostly angry about the seller's attitude, as if his listing/description was completely accurate and not subject to interpretation. Most sellers with whom I have dealt are courteous, and appreciate when I have pointed out errors in the listing.

I think I'll just not deal with this seller in future. His loss. And, I'll let him wait a bit for payment for an item that I did buy.

I must admit I do not understand the rude and unhelpful sellers who answer polite questions with a curt and sometimes impolite response. Do they want business or not? Having customer unfriendly terms and conditions cannot help either.

There are quite a few sellers in my main area of expertise - phonecards - who have very user unfriendly listings and it is amazing to me they do any business at all. It is interesting to look up their ID's on Ebay and see the number of negative comments there - some of course have already been booted off that site for not sticking to their rules and regulations. Here Delcampe is more relaxed which is, to my mind, a good thing but it does mean the buyer should be careful when bidding and read carefully any listing from a seller new to them. If they dislike anything tell the seller so they know they are losing business because of their unfriendly attitude.

I've always treated 'mint' as meaning just that - exactly as supplied by the issuing authority with no marks, creases, tears or other defects that affect the value deleteriously

I recognise that there are various nuances to this and try to accommodate them using the following definitions:

Unmounted: exactly what it says!

Mounted or lightly mounted: with hinge remnants or missing gum patch caused by removal / very slight gum disturbance from hinge

Unused: never used postally, but may be slightly 'tired' and no longer crisp and fresh

Anything worse than that I consign to the next Glory Box or in extreme cases, the bin!

It seems that there is a different interpretation depending on where you are, which probaby does not help the original question. My experience is that in the UK, 'mint' is normally taken to mean with gum but hinged or wth a hinge remnant, whereas items with no gum disturbance are classified as unmounted (denoted as UM, UMM or MNH (mint never hinged).

This classification does not appear to exist elsewhere eg Germany & USA, where I have found the description 'mint' to mean unmounted/never hinged, and anything other than that is described as hinged or whatever.

I agree with the other comments re the seller's curtness - given the diversity of interpretation, it's surely up the seller to make things as clear as possible.

Thanks for the comments. The seller at the bottom of this is in Australia.

Based on the comments, I believe I am correct to ask for clarification when a stamp is simply described as "mint", since there is no uniform standard definition. And I believe the overall value of a stamp is greatly affected by what the back side looks like.

I agree with you completely!!!!!