60% Face Value For Collection?

I am selling my entire collection of stamps (~$11,000 in mint US sheets from 1994-2009) for 60% of face value to a dealer online. I am curious to know if you guys think that the offe is resonable. Thanks in advance for your opinions.

It depends on how fast you need the money. Not knowing exactly what sheets are in the lot, I can tell you that you are basically getting the wholesale buy price for "nothing special" face value lot. Most wholesale buyers will give +5% to +10% more for full sheets, as they are easier to resell and also considerably less labor intensive to resell. With the bad economy, the wholesale buy price has dropped noticeably. The problem right now is not so much getting a decent price, but finding a dealer willing to buy such a large lot immediately. That's why I asked about how fast you need the money.

Normally, you should be getting about 70% FV for a lot of recent full sheets. I'm ignoring the current economic situation. Furthermore, there are a number of premium sheets in that time frame, that the dealer will no doubt pull out for premium resale or for their stock.

If you are willing to wait 3-5 months, you might want to consider consigning to an auction that will separate your accumulation into multiple lots of manageable sales size and also probably create a single lot of premium sheets. Even after paying the commission, you should be able to get 70%-80% averaged out. But you should do a little research to see which auction houses do well selling FV material. Just my opinion.

sell them online as discounted postage... you can get 90% of FV

Not wanting to go through all the work of piecing it out, and the time it would take to off this, $6600.00 right now aint bad.

It is reasonable. You could do better, but as mentioned above it would take time and effort on your part.

You will very likely get more per sheet if you try to sell it yourself (factor in time, deadbeats, auction fees...). However, the big problem with selling it yourself sheet by sheet is that you are very unlikely to sell 11K worth of sheets in one year unless you are an established seller. The dealer is willing to spend years doing that, so that is factored into the discounted buy offer.

Again, it goes back to the question, how quickly do you need the money?

If you need the money quickly, I would recommend just calling around the major dealers and some auction houses and asking them how much they would pay for outright purchase. Doesn't take that much time, and most dealers and auctions houses can give you a quick ballpark number based on what you already described. For such a large lot, I would strongly recommend the buyer is either an APS member or ASDA member or well-known (my opinion).

khj has expressed my concerns - how hurried are you?

As SV said, you should be able to get 90% face - especially if you sell them as mint sheets.

Heck, get your 50 posts and throw them up on the Buy/Sell/Trade forum here. I think we can probably take a few sheets off your hands at better than 60% face value.

Selling sheets is a bit of an agony because of the care you need to exercise in packing and shipping. Yes you can sometimes get a good price in an on-line sale but when you factor in the fees and time it takes I think a full lot sale probably makes sense.

As they're quite recent did you consider approaching a small business or not for profit organization and selling them at 95%? That's what I would do.

I like Moonbird's idea. I'm sure a charity would appreciate discount postage, you could get more than the 60% offered, so you would both win. Plus - you get to feel warm and fuzzy for helping your fellow human beans...
(And your bank balance gets to feel warm and fuzzy, too...)

WOW! Selling them at 60% face value seems to me to be like walking into a bank with $10 rolls of quarters and accepting only $6 for each.

Moonbird's on the right path and I'd include family, friends, neighbors, etc. You can get much better than 60% with them and it wouldn't take long to do so.

On a personal note, I'd use them myself. Give them as gifts.

But 60%? Sorry. Not unless I was extraordinarily desperate for IMMEDIATE income.

But that's just me.

I don't know about US stamps but I was at stamp show here in Toronto
a couple of weeks ago and one dealer was selling whole sheets
of Canadian stamps,fifties to eighties for 90% face.
He had one box with a stack about 5" thick with sheets and another
full carton of singles, plate blocks etc.
And he was doing a brisk business too.

I run a not-for-profit organization and surprised my bookkeeper when I started buying older postage for between 60% and 80% of face value. She wondered if it was legal! The percentage of discount is usually negotiable depending on the size of purchase and whether one is willing to apply more than a few stamps to a package when mailing it.

I have also bought collections at auction when I recognized that the winning bid (even WITH the buyer's premium included) would be a fraction of face value. I've got other organizations looking at this method to reduce their postage costs as well. Of course, they may need to increase their volunteer force when it comes to applying that postage!

Matthew. Are you familiar with the concept of "net present value"? In looking at what you are being ofered, consider what you paid over the years and then factor in inflation and the reduced value of the (I assume) US dollar. 60% of face is - I'm going to make a W.A. Guess here - maybe 45 - 50% of what you paid for the lot in the currencies of the day.

I'd be surprised if Matthew is still watching this...if I recall correctly, he had inherited this assemblage and took a stab at selling some on Wensy (or perhaps bidstart). The first message in this topic seemed to imply that he had found his seller and the die was cast, so to speak.

You can find dealers in the U.S. selling at 85% of face without even breaking a sweat. Do a little legwork and that percentage can be shaved a bit, especially if you're willing to take oddball stuff. (Fractional cents, anyone?)

If I were in Matthew's spot, I might have hoped to get closer to 70% on a single-lot sale, but I can understand taking 60.