HOW TO SELL A STAMP COLLECTION

So you inherited a stamp collection. After spending some time looking at these paper diamonds, that what I call stamps, you decided that you are not interested in collecting stamps and would consider selling the collection if you knew how and where to sell it. Please...just because a stamp is old does not mean it worth tons of money. I get many calls that start something like this. "We have this stamp collection from our Grampa and we just know it is worth thousands of dollars." My response is something like this. " Was Grampa rich?" Most to the time the response is "no Grampa was poor". I say if Grampa was poor the chances that his collection would be worth big money is something I would bet against. Folks it really does take money to make money. Really value stamps cost money they are not found in packets that offer a thousand stamps for $5.00 and finding that really rare stamp is like winning the lottery. I don't want to discourage you but want you face the facts. The following will give you some of my thoughts on what makes a stamp collection valuable.


The value of a stamp collection can be evaluated on 4 different things.
1. Rarity
2. Condition
3. Popularity
4.Topic

RARITY

There are many stamps that are "rare". There are many stamps that appear rare but are not. An example of stamps that are in great demand are 1930 Scott # C13-5 Zeppelin set. The number of these stamps issued was from 60,000 to 90,000. Not rare but very popular. I suggest if a poll was taken asking "what set of U.S. stamps you would like to own" the great majority of US collector would say the zeppelins. The opposite of this would be a stamp that was issued in big quantities but seldom offered by stamp dealers. This stamp could be from a foreign set that dealers do no stock. Another example of rare desirable US stamps the famous "upside" down C3 airmail issued in 1918 with an inverted center with the plane in an inverted position. There were 100 know copies of the wonderful issue. There are many other issues from around the world in the 6 figure value range.

CONDITION

Condition is everything they say and yet sometimes it is not. Generally speaking condition can a very serious effect on the value of a stamp. A stamp graded in the highest grade that might command a $1,000 value with faults ie, thins, poor centering, short perforations, tears could sell for less than 10% of the $1,000.00. There are some well known examples of stamps in very poor condition that sold at various auctions over the years at huge prices.

POPULARITY

Popularity can have a big effect on the value of a stamp. Stamps that are "touted" by person whose main goal is to create stories about an issue that creates a demand. An example of this could again be the Zepps. During the late 1960's and 1970's the Zepps were offered as great INVESTMENT driving the prices up into the $7000 to as high as $10,000 price range only to come crashing down to the normal range of $1500 to $2500 as they are offered in today's market. There are many examples of the stamps that at one time were in great demand that have faded into the oblivion. An example would be the infamous Face on the Moon issue from Sierra Leone touted by a NY stamp columnist that ran up the price into the hundreds of dollars sold to the unsuspecting collector and speculator. Today you can hardly give them away. So beware things some times are not what they seem. Come back for more info and updates. Or contact me with your questions.

What are my options for selling a stamp collection.

AUCTIONS: Truly very value stamp collections by a well know collector are usually sold at auction. The auction house will take possession of the collection evaluate it break it up into various lots and offer it in a public auction. The advantages of selling at auction is your material is listed in a beautiful catalogue with a large distribution the selected bidders. The disadvantages is that the time frame. It could take several months before your material is offered. Your payment is usually several months after the auction is over. The auction house usually charges from 15% to 20% commissions. Bear mind that major auctions because of advertising and catalog costs will not offer hardly anything that will not realize a minimum of $100 to $200 selling price. There are a number of smaller auctions that will list lower priced stamps.

EBAY has become dynamic market for selling of stamps. You can do it yourself or have an agent list it for you. If you do it you must have some extensive philatelic knowledge to be able to properly describe the stamp and some idea of pricing. To be successful you must either be able to accept credit cards, set up a PayPal account or willing to accept personal checks as payment. I do a big business on ebay and believe me it requires a lot hard work. I have talked with various franchise that sell things on ebay for sellers. There knowledge of stamps appears to be very limited. Their commissions are very high. They usually charge a listing fee as does ebay and high percentage of the final sale. I had one customer who told me he as paying from 40 to 50% of the final price to the franchiser.

DEALER Selling to a dealer can be an experience. It is by far the quickest way of disposing of your collection. The stampdealer can have higher selling costs than other ways of selling stamps. If he has a store front he must pay rent, advertising costs, employees etc. He is willing to pay you more for stamps that he can resell quickly. He pays much less for stamps that will remain in his inventory for a long period of time. One of the problems with small dealer is a lack of cash or a line of credit that enables them to purchase a large value collection. I try to buy as follows: If a single stamp of value is offered to me I am willing to pay from 50 to 60% of my selling price if I feel I can sell it in 30 to 60 days. If it is a collection I figure on what I can sell it for and usually pay about a third of what I think I can sell it for. My rational is that my expenses for selling the collection will be from 30 to 40% and I want to make a net profit before taxes of 20 to 30%. Many times a part of a collection can be sold fairly quickly and many times the rest will be sold very slowly. I have collections in my inventory that have been there for years. I try to wholesale them at very low prices to provide cash from future purchases.

These are some of my thought about selling your collection. I will be adding more information is the weeks to come. I will talk about values of various philatelic areas such as first day covers, postal history and whole range of things make up the wonderful world of stamp collecting. Please keep coming back. Thanks for looking. John Sleevar

Selling First Day Covers

There thousands of First Covers serviced every year. What makes a FD valuable? Early first days from the 1920 do have value the great majority of FD's from the 1950's with exceptions have very little value. What makes FD's valuable are the dates, the topic and the cachet maker. Hot topicals such as baseball FD's from 1939 with cachet command high prices. A cachet is the art work that is related to the stamp and event it portrays. There are a number of famous cachet makers. Artcraft and Artmaster printed cachets are very common and provide the bulk of cachets used by dealers who service FD's. These FD's sell today from 50c to several dollars each. Early FD's from the 1930 and back many times do not have cachets but are still desirable and many have very high values. Mellone's Specialized Cachet Catalogues cover most of the know cachets from the 1950's up. The Planty catalogues covers the early years. They show pictures of cachets and a value. The addressing of modern FD's by pen or typewritten reduces the value. Many of the early ones will be addressed. I recently noted that one of largest dealers is currently offering 20c for cachet'd and unaddressed FD's. 15c for addressed and 10c for FD's without cachets. UN covers are very similar to US FD's.