There Are Still Hidden Gems On Ebay!

I took a risk on an interesting lot on ebay: new seller with no selling history, 2 pictures, and overpriced shipping: http://www.ebay.com/itm/321646929589, but two items of the description caught my attention - 1870-1953 and 40lbs. I figured if these numbers are right, there is bound to be some value to be found. I made sure I paid by credit card for extra protection.

Well the stamps arrived via priority mail 2 days after the auction ended in an old suitcase - by the odor, I could tell it had been sitting in someones attic for years...

Well the risk paid off - although it's a complete mess that could take years to get through, the pictures did not do the lot any justice! It's primarily 2x4's but the dates hold true - I'm finding postmarked stamps from the 1870's to the mid-1950s. Plus, this collector also collected revenues as an added bonus. I'm most intrigued by the dates of the Franklin and Washington stamps - I'm finding postmarks covering the entire date range so I'm hoping to find some hidden gems.

My first step was to purchase some storage boxes to help start sorting the mess that was dumped into this suitcase many years ago...

-- Paul

Wonderful story... please post some pics when you have time...

Intriguing. Have fun and keep us posted on your progress.

Hope you find something really good in there! Post pics!

What a fun lot to go through! I'm also interested in what you find.

Wow that's awesome. Here's what I don't get... Anyone with half a nose could tell you that lot was worth a shot, so why only 2 bids?? Is it because everyone has really gotten that skeptical? Everything I know about stamps could fit in a thimble with room to spare, yet even I could tell you it was worth a shot. The shipping price scared away some, no doubt, but c'mon, 1870-1953 from an attic?!?

I also feel like he could've mailed that anywhere in the country via FedEx for about $30 bucks?

Anyway, nice buy. It looks like fun. Honestly, just the entertainment value is worth more than $150 when you think about what $150 will buy these days. :)

Congrats! Looks like to me the shipping killed off the bids. Happy sorting! Post some of the revenue items, would love to see what you find.

The shipping was definitely overpriced, but even putting that into the potential value made it worth the risk. I also purchased another $20 lot that appears to be part of the original lot that was still organized by state. That was included in the shipping.

I'm surprised you could even find it on ebay since the seller "CKStamps" insists on tagging all his single US stamps as "Collections, Lots" as well. The result is that searches for "Collections, Lots" are cluttered with tons of irrelevant listings for singles. I certainly won't reward this behavior by buying from "CKStamps." And no, the desire to have "greater marketing exposure" for lots of single stamps does NOT justify this.

There's a seller on bidstart who's similiar, clogs up all the listings with endless duplicates of the same stamp - several dozen of them in some cases. Bidstart has the ability to exclude certain sellers from search results, which I do regularly. I'm not naming the seller, but it'll be a cold day in Hades before I buy anything from him. There's no reason someone needs to list the same 20 cent stamp 65 times.

Can't wait to see some of the pictures. Good luck with finding a gem! Never the less it will be oodles of fun.

I often use -ckstamps, -pickers, etc. When searching a subgroup like collections/lots. You can usually find something unique about a sellers annoying tactics to minus them out.

Have fun and good luck!!