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Edward D. Younger Company Edward Younger, Steve Pattillo Thief, Opportunist, Scammers Internet, Internet
My sister and I inherited a stamp collection formed by both my Grandfather and father. Both my parents had substantial incomes. When I was young they used to show me what they considered to be very valuable stamps. I remember my Grandfather was very proud of his collection of Great Britain pointing out to me a large orange stamp with the likeness of Queen Victoria. I will never forget it as the stamp was very large. He impressed upon me it had original gum and was not mounted with paper. Both formed together the stamps of Great Britain and its colonies and a collection of United States stamps in many albums. When my Dad died the collection was split between my sister and I. Neither wanted to continue the collection and I contacted several organizations including The American Philatelic Society.
When I contacted the Society I was put in touch with a man who asked whom else did I contact. I told him the names of three others. He told me the three others were basically crooks and not to deal with them though he used other language. One was a famous firm and today I can't remember the name but I was given a phone number in Denver Colorado. I asked this person whom could I trust and he embellished his organization The American Philatelic Society and told me APS only recommended the best and most honest dealer referrals. He gave me the name of Edward Younger who was located in Danbury CT.
I called Mr. Younger and described to him what I had. He seemed familiar with my father and as I lived in New York State made an appointment with me. My sister who had the British collection lives in San Diego CA and he furnished me the name of Stephen Pattillo who was close by my sister. Dealing with these two persons was the single worst experience of my life and my sister too. Dad specifically told my sister and I what to expect for the collections. Dad's figure of $200,000.00 for both the US and British was based on cash value not catalog value, again conservatively estimated by my dad. Both Younger and Pattillo offered us $40,000, $20,000 for my collection and $20,000 for my sisters. They both told us the estimate by Dad was catalog value and the condition of the stamps were very bad. Younger told me as a representative of APS he should be fully trusted with the offer. I told Mr. Younger I would seek a second opinion and he was very upset telling me he had made a trip in good faith for nothing. He then practically demanded I sell him part of the collection to cover his cost! I felt very threatened and agreed to let him have a page from the collection. I recall it was titled 1893 Columbus. He paid me $500 for the page. My sister went through the same horror with Mr. Pattillo who stormed out of the house because my sister would not sell him the large orange stamp from Great Britain. Frustrated I called the other people on my original list telling them what had occurred.
A Los Angeles organization gave me the names of two auction firms, one in New York and one in Texas. Through one of those firms we realized a net price of $165,000. Neither would comment on the two dealers who tried to swindle us. This situation occurred some years ago and only recently did a friend of my father call me and tell me to Google The American Philatelic Society. After reading the Ripp Off report I felt it only fair to have my own appear so as to warn others to stay away from these crooks.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
DCohen
Huntington Beach,California,
USA
Opinion of complaint not fairly weighed
#4General Comment
Mon, March 13, 2017
As a stamp dealer, I have dealt with both Stephen Pattillo and Edward Younger Co and can say my dealings with them have always been very honest, and upfront which is not true for all stamp dealers. As with any industry, there are bad apples and stamp dealers are no exception. However both Mr. Pattillo and Edward Younger are true standouts in the stamp community.
I understand the frustration of the seller of collection, however, the seller has to also understand that buying collections is extremely risky. Stamp collections are often over-apprasied by their owners. There are numerous fakes, and condition is what really drives the price. Stamp dealers have to be able to turn around and make some money off their purchases. The price something sells at auction is nowhere near the price a dealer can pay for it. Plus, I am sure the auction house took a healthy commission from this sale upwards to 30%. Not to mention paying income taxes from the proceeds.
As far as the behavior experienced when the seller refused to sell a part of the collection to cover their transportation costs, I was not there and cannot comment. However, this behavior seems way out of character for the gentleman I know.
It is a common misconception that all dealers are theives and take advantage of buyers. Any business that buys from the public has to make at least double to make it profitable. So, the offers made by Edward Younger and Mr. Pattillo were in-line with normal buisness practices.
Jane
Weston,Connecticut,
Stamp autcions
#4General Comment
Thu, January 22, 2015
I am interested in hearing the names of the auction companies that did a good job. Is there any way I can get that from the person who posted originally?
Not Given
Victorville,California,
United States of America
We need to talk
#4Consumer Comment
Tue, June 12, 2012
This is happening to me too, at this moment! I plan to fight back. If you want to contact me, you can find jvsgal at an email on gmail and I'll let you know what I know.