Help For A Beginner Collector/Seller.

Hey everyone, I know I am not allowed to offer to sell here as I am a new member, but I have quite a few stamps, some used some mint. I do plan to sell them eventually, but I wouldn't know where to begin. I will upload pictures eventually to help me get a better understand of potential value. Any advice would be great, because as of right now, unlike with coins, I can barely tell what country, or year, 99% of these stamps come from. Once again any help would be wonderful. Thanks!

Welcome.

I don't want to discourage you, but there is a big learning curve before you can hope to be successful as a seller. From a purely economic point of view, it is usually just not worth the massive investment of time, unless you are genuinely interested in stamps and plan to continue to collect.

As a hobby, you can derive hours of interest from a $2 envelope full of stamps. As a seller, the $2 you got for that envelope of stamps (more like $1 by the time ebay is through with you) doesn't go very far.

But again, it is not my goal to discourage you as a potential seller of stamps...everyone here likes to look at stamps. Feel free to post some pics.

Hi Bhann. Welcome to the forum.
I think you've got lots of time between now and your 50 posts to do some research. I see you are in Newfoundland. Don't know if Norris Point is near a major centre or if you have a public library nearby, but most libraries will have Scott's catalogues available for borrowing or research. I suggest you start looking up some of your collection and figuring out how much they're worth. Most sellers here will price things at a fraction of catalogue price (it's really just a guideline). Or if you choose to auction, participant reaction to your opening bid will tell you if you've miscalculated (I've had a few of those - live and learn).
The best thing for you to do until then is also just sit back and watch some of the other auctions and sales here. And get involved in discussions. The more you learn about what you've got, the better an idea you'll have about how to sell.
Most of all - enjoy!

Bhann: I hope you get a scanner and can offer up lots of Newfoundland stamp images. My Newfoundland stamps are probably the favourite part of my collection, particularly the landscape and resource ones. An aspect of my interest in them is the lack of good small town or outport cancels on my used ones. Looking forward to hearing more about your collection. By the way, one of my claims to fame is that I rode the Bullet and even placed a joke about here on the forum.

Wow, Norris Point. What a beautiful place.

Post some photos of your stamps and I'm sure folks will be able to identify them.

Hi Bhann,
I am also new to the forum, but not to stamp collecting.
As has been advised by others, catalogues (for comparison try Michel parallel, as Scott usually gives you only one image of the first stamp in a series, unless it is an early one, while Michel gives all) are a must as a starting point. Michel is in German, but having Scott nearby should resolve the issue. Gibbons could be available at the same library. Reading detailed description of the terms used is another must, otherwise you will get lost. First try to define your stamps (Scott has identifyer), then come to ebay to track what the stamps might fetch. Make sure your stamps are the same, as the devil is in the detail: looking the same doesn't mean they are.

Worldwide Stamp Identifier:
http://www.iswsc.org/iswsc_ident.html

Foreign Stamp Identifier:
http://www.stampmasteralbum.com/For...fierHome.htm

Glossary of Stamp Terms at Ask Phil:
http://www.collectorsclubchicago.org/b25.htm