Japan Collection, Catalogue Vs. Market Value

Good morning,

Some time ago I bought an estate from a philatelist, which contained some countries and topics which I don't collect, so I'll probably sell or trade them for material that interests me.

Since the previous owner did an excellent job with his albums it was easy to add the stamps to an inventory website, I started with Japan (3 volumes) and the site valued the collection at $3,228, there are some duplicates and minor variations which may add some value but nothing extraordinary.

Most of the stamps are used but never hinged, the newer material (new year's souvenirs and mini-sheets, are mint never hinged).

My question is what would be a reasonable percentage of catalogue value to ask for this collection?

Thank you,











PS: I didn't inherit this collection, but this seemed the proper place for this post, please move if necessary.

"Never hinged" is used when talking about mint stamps with full gum. Once the gum is gone, you can't tell if a hinge has been removed (and almost no one cares).

Can you show the early Japan?

10-17%

Okay, thank you for the note and the estimate.

I'm adding some more pictures, pointing out that the collection starts in 1883 and ends around 2016. Evidently it's stronger on the post ww2 period.

I have other volumes for USA, Spain, and topicals... I've already made my money back on the South American material that was there; but will add them to inventory anyways since it's easy enough. I wonder what are the determinants for discounting catalogue value for certain countries.

This looks like material commonly found in world collections - I'd be surprised if you got much for it based on the earlier stamps.

Jairo,

That's a very nice looking basic Japan collection someone might want to add to, so there may be some people willing to bid on it on ebay. There are also stamp auction firms that might list such a collection, but I don't think that collection is nearly valuable enough for them to want to list it. It's mostly (or entirely) common stamps, though nicely presented. It's a basic collection without any apparent rarities, but worth adding to.

Unfortunately when someone asks how much something is worth or how much to ask for it, who really knows? It's worth what someone will pay for it. If the catalogue value is around $3,000 U.S. that's its imaginary price if all the stamps are in excellent shape and so on, but no one ever pays anywhere near catalogue value. Collectors pay some percentage of that, maybe 10-20-30%, so I'd guess it could sell for a few hundred dollars at the most, but a lot of basic collections like that sell for less than $100. I collect Japan, and I would pay maybe $200 for that -- maybe. You will only know when people bid on it.

I'd list it with a modest starting amount and see how far the price goes up. But be prepared for a low selling price which often happens.

There are few stamp dealers left anymore and stamp auction firms are probably not interested in a single small collection like that, so only ebay is left. Hipstamp also sells stamps, but I'm not sure they sell entire collections like that, but take a look. The European stamps website "DelCampe" may or may not sell collections (as opposed to individual stamps) but I don't remember seeing any.

Good luck.

My experience says lucky to get 10 percent for this one. Agree with DrewM, 100-300 would be the expectation. Japan is not a hot country right now. It's trading better than Europe but lags other Asian countries.

Thanks for the well thought out responses, will post my findings regarding Spain and USA album too!

How/where did you make your money back on the South American countries? What was catalog value? What percentage did you receive of catalog value?

I agree with the others Jairo

The examples you have shown are very common and most are still on paper. This would be considered a beginner collection.

Dianne

Hi Randy, I sold directly to collectors (acquired from facebook and whatsapp groups, made personal offers), one Cuba collection bought at $200 sold $800, one Peru modern (1970-2010s), similar price range. Checked everything first to identify rarities and didn't worry too much after that.

For this Japan collection, I have three possible buyers; negotiating one at a time, if it doesn't pan out, I'll just keep them for a couple years or until the opportunity shows.

This collections has 2874 different stamps, the website I'm using lists 9972 items between 1871 - 2019, so this is about 30% of the emission, if it's beginner level then it's a good start.

The buyers just sent you money? How did the money transfer safely for both parties?

Hi Randy,

A lot of Latin American people have a growing reliance in "neobanking" companies like Zelle or other cash apps that exist in the US.

You can transact for very low fees person-to-person like you would on any bank, the money gets converted from their local currency to stable crypto (USDT or USDC) in the app and then you can move it to your US bank account if you want.

Certain platforms are stronger in each country, I've only dealt with three of these: Brazil-Nubank, Chile-Tenpo, Argentina-Takenos, Bolivia-Meru, Peru -Revoult, US-Grabrfi. For shipping: Fedex, DHL, USPS when possible.

I feel this is outside the scope of the forum but I'll gladly answer any questions on the matter.

Jairo, I've found that when I search for Japanese stamps they seem to be a much higher percentage of catalog than 10-15%. Now I am searching for unused material and in the realm of stamps that catalog for $25 and higher; so my experience may very well be different than trying to sell some lower-ish value used stamps.

As always, the old standby is always an ebay auction that starts at a low price with a lot or page and see what that nets you. Good luck in any event!