What To Do With My Father's Dealer Stock.....

My father was a part-time stamp dealer in the Thousand Islands region of Upstate NY. He passed in 2009 and I inherited his collection and dealer stock. Working through the dealer stock to rebuild my own US collection (which I decided to sell a few years previously to help keep a business venture running) and getting near the end of the run of issues.

And I have more post-1940 USA than I can ever use for postage. Its in dealer counterbooks, plate block boxes in glassines, in mint sheet files (oh those large plate blocks from the late 70s). And...enough unused postal stationary to choke a horse.

Right now it is all sitting in my spare room, and I really not sure what the best option is. Do not have the time (or really the interest) to go into stamp dealing. But given the nature of the material, I'm not sure what the best way of disposing of the material might be. I know I likely won't get more than a fraction of face for most of it, so should I just total up the face value and send it off to someplace like Mystic and hope for a few cents on the dollar?

Definatly a time vs reward situation. Fortunatly if most is US face you can likely get 70-100% if in lots of $50-200 on ebay but thats the time involved to do so. Having dealer DNA running through your veins you know dumping it all to another dealer will really hurt but it is one way to kiss it all goodbye.

ebay or BidStart for discount postage, and as Nitro says, you can probably get 70% plus, maybe 80% depending on the denominations involved. Why don't you test the waters with $50 face in singles, and $50 face in plate blocks? Shipped only to the U.S., and segregated by denomination.

I would include postage (and insurance) in the price, as that seems to be trade practice now. With every lot you mail out, you include one or two sheets of other stamp offers at fixed prices, since you have a captive audience. Prepare those lists first. BidStart preferred.

hadnt thought of that....thanks..not a bad idea :)

Sell bulk lots on an auction site. I would strongly recommend not dealing with Mystic Stamps because they are well known amongst collectors for their "shenanigans" and low ball estimates and over-the-moon retail prices.

Also depends if you have say 10 lots of $100 FV or 100 lots of $100. If the later it may be fine to loose 10-15% for a 1 shot take all deal but as mentioned do not use Mystic. You'd have better luck doing a take all at 50% than being low balled from a few of the big names . I know a few people have contacted businesses that mail a ton of items and they will happily pay fair value as long as it doesn't take 10 stamps to mail 1 letter.

yeah I was just using mystic as example..i know about their -reputation- as my father would not do business with them.

On the other hand, every contact for a small order ($50 or $100) gives you another opportunity to include your fixed-price list in the shipment; it could even run 2 or 3 pages, no one is in a position to complain -- it's free. The key to a BIG sale or a group of little sales is opportunity costs, and what you're using the money for. If you are trying to pay off a high-interest credit card, for instance, where every month rings up another drastic chunk of interest, then you might go for the big sale.

In which case, you stick with BidStart, where payment with PayPal is not mandatory. You want payment by a no-nonsense postal money order, and shipment fully-insured, tracked, return signature, everything you can think of, to prove receipt. You might have a few witnesses on hand to view the packing and mailing in case of a flap.

A lot of things can go wrong with a big transaction, especially when you are a minnow among the sharks. Remember, PayPal invariably takes the buyer's side of things.

One more way to proceed, not sure where you're located, but join some stamp club(s) and offer discount postage at a price no one can ignore or resist. Worth taking a lower percentage -- no postage, no possibility of return, no problems. And, still a chance to hand the buyer your fixed pricelist, after all everybody at the club's a collector of something or other.

Finally, sniff around smallish churches that mail stuff to members. They might like to save $100, there are always plenty of volunteers to stick stamps on envelopes, so the mix is not as critical. Same thing for local small biz that mail stuff - watch your mail, see who's mailing you junk, using stamps, and act accordingly. Every time I'm in the Post Office, I see at least one secretary or gopher buying 1 to 5 rolls of Forever stamps, paying full price for their mailings. Umm, don't tell the clerks you sell discount postage...........

I assume you mean the USPS clerks. I can just imagine the reaction. "You are breaking the law!"

Wait, what? It's illegal to sell postage under face value (for postal use)? Or is this humor/irony? I've never dealt, but I have used stamps I paid less than face.

It's humor. But hinting that you will threaten USPS with competition will shatter the fragile bond of trust between ME and the clerks. After all, they are on commission.

What % of face you get will depend on what denominations you are selling - if it is 8c or 10c then you will do worse than if it is 29c or 32. For the later you might gross 75% on ebay, but after you pay their fees (including paypal's fees) you will be down to about 66%, plus you will have invested your time in the selling, so you have to decide whther it is worth the time to do the selling or if you want to take some dealer's offer of say 50%.

Basically the only way to maximize your return places you in the role of dealer. That is the gist of all of the selling advice. You need to decide how much time you want to spend liquidating the material. If have a lot of mint US postage and an appropriate income, donating the postage for the tax deduction can frequently be the most profitable.

I appraised a collection for a lady last year that was both used and Mint. The collection appraised out at about $4,000 with about $1600 worth of MNH. I sent the collection to Mystic and they offered NO LIE $36 for the whole collection. I ask them to return the collection. It cost me $57 postage both ways as they do not pay for postage if they (MYSTIC) doesn't get to purchase at their offer. I paid the postage and got the collection back. I SOLD TO A SMALL DEALER SEVEN OF THOSE STAMPS FOR $97 and gave the Lady who the collection belonged to. Her stamps back minus the cost of postage. She told me to keep the difference of sale and postage for my troubles. I would not buy nor deal with Mystic again period!

I think there are cases of the major dealers just having to much stock and in a position to offer nothing just because they can. $1600 FV MNH you would think would garner at least 20-30% being so low as to be worthwhile regardless. I guess when you've had inverted jenny's and z grills all others just don't count. Hope the poster has done well with his venture and if the offers are to low I hope he hits 50 post and unloads here for fun.