Where To Begin?

hello everyone....

I began collecting back when I was a kid, but sold that collection back in the late 70's. A little over ten years ago, I began buying again, in hopes of being able to help my son with his college expenses. That day has come...

I would like to ask for some advice about the best way to go about selling stamps. I have a huge collection that I'd really like to sell. I'm talking, several hundred thousand stamps from all over the world, including the US; many sheets, albums, covers, and things I have no clue about. Over the years, it's been a little over whelming at times, to where they end up back in the box...They do take up quite a bit of space.

Is it better to sell in lots? or better to sell individually? what countries are more desirable today, or seem to be trending? Where do I begin? Any input, advice, direction, would very much be appreciated :)

Welcome. A few scans might be useful to help us see what kinds of things you have. Even our small little world is a pretty wide-open place, so narrowing it down will help.

To maximize dollars, you are going to have to be the dealer (i.e., you wouldn't get top dollar by selling to a dealer, so you will be selling to the collector). Generally speaking, the larger you go with your lots, the less you'll realize overall. But your time has to factor in, too.

You'll be able to get as much information here as you want. (Maybe a little more than you want, some days.)

Cjd.

Welcome! You sound like you are on track! You have the stamps! You have the motivation! You are looking for information from a great bunch of stampers! But I must admit I am still looking for the answer to your question myself. So far I have built a web site, or should I say my wife has, and put up some nice images of sets of Australian 1914-1938 KGVs. We are in the middle of trying to put together complete sets of Australian Decimal stamps and packets of all different Aust dec stamps from 400 to 2000+ stamps, which is on another site and still being built. The stamp collecting part has taken 10 years and so far, the used Aust dec we have been at constantly since end of Feb and are about half way with. We are playing with about 750,000 stamps off paper.
We have been told packets of different stamps are popular!
ebay seems to work for some people but we do not understand this approach!
We wish you all the very best with your endeavours!
KGV and Family!

Yes, this forum does seem to be the best place I've seen yet (the activity) and thank you for the advice and time. And yes, even the information here is a little over whelming, but it's a good thing :)

I do have enough stamps to open a store, but dont consider myself a dealer because there are things I dont know. Advertising something falsely is NOT something I want to do, or be found doing out of my ignorance. That is a fear I have doing this, and the last thing I want.

KGV...when you say decimal stamps, are you referring to "perfins"? If yes, I do have a few thousand of those (if not more). You mentioned ebay. I'm not a big fan of them. I used to use them back in 97/98, before they sold stock and back then it was a great place, but today, it seems rampant with fraud. However, I am a big fan of auctions and the true auction form; beginning the auction at $1 and allowing the bidders to set the price regardless of CV.

Scans...I wouldn't even know where to begin. I do have one stamp from Germany that I was unable to find in the catalogue. When I find it again, I'll scan it and ask everyone here what it is. But then again, I have stamps from A to Z, so I'm sure I'll have many, many questions :)

My catalogs are 10 years old, outside of identification, and not spending a fortune on new catalogs, where is the best place to find current CVs? or catalogs that are a year or two out of date? any suggestions?

This place seems to be invaluable...Thank You for that and everyone involved here.

Sorry okonoko! We are all use to our own countries stamp terms I will explain a little about Australian stamp terms and why!

On the 14th of February 1966 Australia changed its currency from pounds, shillings and pence to dollars and cents or decimal currency.

This divided our stamps into two different eras. Pre-decimal and decimal stamps.

Australia's first stamp was printed in 1913 after all the states joined together in 1901 to form federation or the one nation Australia.

Before 1913 all the different states or colonies had there own stamps and they are referred to as the state or colonies stamps of Australia.

If you can it would be a very good idea to post some scans of your stamps as there is a lot of people here that have a lot of knowledge about a lot of different stamps. I am limited to Australian stamps and love to read about all the different stamps of the world in this forum family we have. Just hang in there and things will come clear. We are all learning in one way or another that is why we are here. Welcome again John and Family!

Hello Okonoko, welcome!

All great advice above.

I sell on ebay and have looked at Delcampe and Wensy and BidStart but not having the strong motivation to sell that you might need to turn things into a good money making opportunity it is always seeming like a fun hobby rather than a business to me.

The good stuff sells and the so-so stuff (most stamps) pretty well only sells when you put it all together with with some good stuff in a lot. People like sets of stamps or covers. Of course having great selling skills helps a bit also. That changes the whole ball game.

The fraud and fakes and forgeries and repairs etc etc have been around forever and probably will continue to be around forever unfortunately. Learn what you can and keep learning as you go. There is always new stuff to learn. Don't let that stop you from using a market place that reaches a ton of collectors worldwide (mostly good, some so-so) (you can mostly tell after a while).

As to selling what you have, how much time do you have to do it in? If you have a long time or lots of time and are a super seller you are laughing. A shorter time period forces you to sell in big lots or chunks and perhaps not realize the money you have wished to realize from your investment. Good stuff should always be sold in small bits and drabs as Cjd says above, otherwise in a big lot you will sell everything for less.

Catalogues are on ebay or online dealers or at stamp stores or shows.

You won't sell for catalogue value probably as these values are for excellent stamps in very fine condition, centering, gum, cancel, paper, etc and include a large part of a dealers time and overhead costs.

Look around on ebay for the completed listings of stamps or on the other sites (Bidstart or Delcampe) to see what sells and more importantly how it is being sold.

All of the above has to be taken with a grain of salt and especially if you have expensive stamps $100's or $1000's each. Those kind require lots more specialized knowledge and also building customer trust and relationships.

With all that said, have fun and don't overwhelm yourself. Do stuff that you like first to get your feet wet and keep your spirits up.

After 50 posts on here you can buy and sell on here also (SCF) to members so keep that in mind too. Another basket for your eggs, er stamps.

Do I sound like I know what I am talking about? To me, no, I don't. I just talk a lot and repeat the wisdom of what I have learned and heard and read and hopefully taken in over the years. (the parts that haven't fallen out the other ear!).