Found Collection.. Need Advice!!

HI all,

I bought a stamp collection today at the local thrift store for a whopping $15.. Needless to say, its worth a LOT more than that. Everything is pre 1949, and even have some late 1800's in the collection. Strange thing is how many international stamps I have from obscure places.. Couldnt find many of them on ebay etc. Been looking all day.. What I need is someone to check out what I've got IN PERSON, and give me an assessment. Payment would be in STAMPS of course. I'm honestly just looking to sell the whole collection at a deal, but NOT get robbed, as I have a pretty good idea what most of these are worth (ballpark)... So be in touch if you're nearby, or are willing to give me some advice on how I should go about selling what I've got.. I'm guessing I've got about $1500-3000 all up, maybe more..

Welcome to Stamp Community Forum, willow51674!

Why don't you post a few pics of some of the pages. Otherwise we are all guessing. Pre-1949 stamps may or may not be more valuable than modern stamps -- it all depends on which stamps and the condition.



Kim

Welcome Willow:

It's OK to ask questions of a general nature, but please remember that SCF rules prohibit buy/sell/trade activities by people with fewer than 50 quality posts and 2 weeks of membership.

Having said that, you should consider becoming a collector. Don't be in such a hurry to dispose of the collection. You may find a lifetime of enjoyment -- as have most of us.

KirkS

welcome to the forum, don't be surprised when your collection turns out to be worth 15$.

There are two types of "collections" the ones that end up in auction houses and the ones that end up in thrift shops !

Recently I had a distant cousin send me her father's collection as a gift. I knew that it had to be fairly old since this cousin is in her 80's. I had visions of sugar plum fairies dancing in my head. When the collection arrived, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it.

Needless to say, it proved to be of minimal monetary value, (but of immense sentimental value)

I guess what I am saying is that you should not get your hopes up too much. Who knows, you may have hit the jackpot, or more likely it is a lovingly put together collection of what are all too often "unrare" stamps.

Yeah, don't get your hopes up but you never know? Also Welcome to the forum!

Welcome willow51674
Do I detect a note of sarcasm in your first ever post, when you say "Needless to say, its worth a LOT more than that"? Or is it optimism?
Whichever, put as many pics as you can on the site, and there will be plenty of people willing to give their opinion.
Here's to good hunting, stamp-wise!
DavidR

Welcome willow51674. I hope you decide to become a collector. I collect strictly as a Hobby not as an investment and it has provided me hours upon hours of fun. Even people that don't collect are curious and interested.

Of course, we'll never see willow again because we rained on his parade, that his thrift store purchase is going to be worth much, if anything. That's the one thing that really bugs me about a lot of the people who come here, they figure that just because they found a few old stamps, they're going to be rich.

The fact is, 99.9999% of all collections are going to cost you more than they will ever be worth. Why pretend otherwise?

I remember my father looking through my grandmother's collection of envelopes. According to the Scott catalogue he got out of the library, the whole mess of stamps was worth quite a bit.

However, this wasn't taking into consideration the condition of the stamps at all (centering, colour, rips, tears, thins, creases, heavy cancels, ill looking envelopes, etc) nor the demand for whichever stamp he was looking at in the marketplace at that time (the Canadian Admirals where the ones the store wanted, nothing else).

The stamp store where he took the large lot only wanted to purchase about 10% of the lot and, of course, at a much reduced price from catalogue value.

The disappointment was tremendous and all because of unrealistic expectations.

As the motto of this web site states, 'Education is the key to Collector Success'.

99% of all collectiond are worth a fraction of what the none collector owners think. A stamp from say 1890 can be worth just about nothing.

Wow!
you found it for $15
and are going to make $3000!
How lucky are you?

I need to go shopping with you.

Wow, talk about your buzz kill! Poor guy thinks he's stumbled onto a good thing, and gets his tires deflated.
Welcome Willow. Unfortunately (for you) my friends here speak the truth. More often than not stamps just aren't worth a lot. And even if a catalogue says it's worth hundreds, you'll only get a small percentage of that. Fact is very few of us collect for investment purposes. Our investment is time and our dividends are pleasure, knowledge and hopefully relaxation.
Here's hoping you are drawn into those pretty little pieces of paper and find some pleasure. And hey, if some of them do turn out to be worth something, there's your bonus.
And yes, we like pictures.

First off

As has been stated, it is forum policy not to solicit offers to buy, offer for sale, or triad, until after you have 50 quality posts and been a member for a few weeks.

Now that the disclaimers are out of the way, please post as many scans of the collection you can manage. If you can not scan the pages then hi quality photographs will get you started. A few tips about scans and photographs, do them in the highest resolution possible and all ways have a black back ground.

I think you will be pleasantly surprised at the combined wealth of knowledge presented in this forum. The members here are all very well grounded and very eager to share their unabashed views.

One thing you must take into account, weather it is a beginning collector or the hardened investor, we are all treasure seekers at heart. What I am saying is for your $15.00 investment you could very well be that one in a million that finds the golden ring. But the key point is "one in a million".

We are all eagerly looking forward to see what you have

All the best
Ron

I'm with TheSeal on wishing you the best luck. Most of us enjoy looking through a collection or bag or box of unknowns. There's always that chance.

I have three large envelopes here that my brother found in a closet when cleaning it out, left from the in-laws who all collected stamps. I opened the first and went through it but I am waiting til I have finished that one until I even look at the other two. A friend popped by and he had to look in them but I said don't tell me, I want the surprise of seeing what's in them.

The more you know the better chance you have of seeing that good one that everyone else missed.