Buying Modern Unused Lots From Ebay - What % Of Face Value?

Now nearly 40, I have recently gotten back into stamp collecting which I did when I was a kid. I think I will be focusing on Mint Unused stamps from the US, particularly MNH. I have been reading some posts, and looking at buying some lots from ebay to get me on my way. My question is what % of face value for new stamps is considered the fair value when buying from ebay? Let's assume the face value of the lot is over $100, and these are relatively common modern stamps with no rarities or tough issues like Priority Mail stamps. For example, if a lot as $400 in face value of unused stamps, what is a reasonable winning bid for it? Would it typically be near face value or perhaps only 50% of face? One of the reasons that I am asking this is that many of the starting bids that I see are near face, so I am wondering if I should be skipping these auctions or still bidding on them. Thanks!

Once you meet the forum requirements, you can find discount US postage on this site from around 70% to 90%. Discount postage depending on the amount and values varies from a dirt cheap low of 50% to almost full face. The lower values sell for a lower percentage and values closer to the current first class rate pull in better when looking at them as pure discount postage.

Check out this thread from last month...

https://goscf.com/t/29736

And welcome to SCF,
Kirk

I would say you should probably expect to pay about 75% of face (but I am used to looking at smaller lots than you describe), but it will vary (if its a bunch of 6c to 18c stamps, they will be a lower % than a bunch of 32c-44c stamps, if there is lots of duplication it will likely go for a lower % than all different)

Another thing to consider when buying on ebay is that everyone wants to make a profit (nothing wrong with that of course). Many of the discount postage for less than face was purchased in larger lots at a higher discount off face.
I have heard that some dealers never pay more than 40% of face value (but that assumes larger lots).

So the smaller the lot, the closer to face. As mentioned, the higher value stamps will go for more because less licking requires to make up a modern rate.

I would not buy "unused/no gum" stamps as these may have been taken off of letters that missed being cancelled properly, or may actually be cancelled (but hard to tell), sometimes with a UV (invisible) cancel. These usually sell for even greater discounts, but to me personally, it doesn't seem completely honest.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for this info. It really helped. I ended up paying a set of two albums filled with unused stamps and paying around 85% of face value, so I probably overpaid a bit. However, this did come with the albums and some older used stamps, so I am still happy with my purchase. It's my first one since I was a kid, so I am looking forward to collecting again. The albums do have plenty of spots that I would like to upgrade and other spaces to fill in, so I'm definitely looking forward to slowly building up my collection. Thanks again for the advice here, and I'm sure that I will have more questions in the future.

Cool, what did you get?

Always an exciting time when you score a nice collection to get you on your way! Welcome from a returnee to stamps, Dan

All week, I have been watching an ebay auction of two albums of mint stamps, primarily modern, but going back into the late 1920s; item #300864866154 (sold Wednesday afternoon).

I thought this was an exceptionally nice lot, and quite reasonable at approximately 75% of face value, allowing for postage. If I didn't have a barrel of discount postage already, I would have bid on this lot, not sure how high. This is typical of what I consider a bargain, even though we're talking nearly a thousand dollars. I felt like after the premium items were sold off, I'd have the remainder at 60% of face value, or less.

That's how I bought most of my Lindner hingeless albums for Canada. Maresch had the albums with pages from 1953 to 2008, filled virtually complete with MNH stamps (hardly anything is missing, just the very occasional booklet pane or souvenir sheet that wasn't included in the yearbooks in that format). With the auction fee and shipping I ended up paying just about exactly face value and I got 4 free Lindner hingeless albums out of the deal. Unitrade's website shows the pages and binders from 1953-2006 at a list price of $1100, so I didn't mind paying full face value for those stamps.

As a reference, the large lots of Canadian face value on Maresch auctions will usually go for 50-60% before adding the 15% hammer fee. By large, I mean VERY large - their current auction has 15 lots with a face value over $3000.

Ryan

Hi,
Well, this is what got me back in the hobby last year. I saw lots of lots of US MNH stamps on ebay for what I felt was ridiculously low prices. Soooo, I bought and bought and bought....... Now, I've got a ton of nice stamps mounted beautifully in the albums, but, I also have a ton of duplicates and lesser quality ones sitting in glassine in cigar boxes..........
My advice is be selective, buy "year sets" or Scott # groupings rather than somebody's "leavings".
Pricewise, well even the best deals on ebay will typically be more than face value - especially when you are looking at US stamps from the 20s thru the 60s.

Hi,
Well, this is what got me back in the hobby last year. I saw lots of lots of US MNH stamps on ebay for what I felt was ridiculously low prices. Soooo, I bought and bought and bought....... Now, I've got a ton of nice stamps mounted beautifully in the albums, but, I also have a ton of duplicates and lesser quality ones sitting in glassine in cigar boxes..........
My advice is be selective, buy "year sets" or Scott # groupings rather than somebody's "leavings".
Pricewise, well even the best deals on ebay will typically be more than face value - especially when you are looking at US stamps from the 20s thru the 60s.

There's a problem buying (USPS) mint sets, as I have spot-checked quite a few. They invariably have a few damaged, especially short perfs. The clerks who make them up must wear boxing gloves. Most sellers also try to capture the significant premium for the album, as otherwise, mint sets are just a subset of discount postage. But I concede it is a more efficient process.

This has been a handy thread and thanks for the advice as I am on the other side of the fence and sunk a considerable sum into a 33 album collection, 8 of which are USA which I do not collect going from the start to very recently and includes thousands in unused modern. Had no idea what to do but maybe I'll break down by years. They are absolutely beautifully mounted in showguard style and I could bring myself to pull them all out and sell in bulk chunks as I've seen on ebay. Now to actually find the time...!

I'd give them a shot on SCF first - a lot less problems. Not over $50 per chunk.

Possibly, although I'll have to see roughly the amounts per year as this way makes the most sense now that I think about it. 6 of the albums are loaded with probably a few thousand face value as it's singles, blocks, sheets, etc. another book of precancels and bob. Then a full book of the early stuff. Wish I collected US but Cda, GB, aussie, and ireland take up enough time. Too bad no one trades online these days. Used to work well years back.

Anyway I'm going to finish up a few other things then I'll tackle this US mess