Make Money Selling Stamps

Stamp dealers that remain in business and are successful because they have found fresh sources of new material. Without that, there is no chance unless you want to become a listing agent for people trying to sell their collection and charge them a flat percentage. In order to make money the oldest rule in business applies, buy low, sell high otherwise it is no more than a hobby if you're making .35¢ per item. Finding the fresh sources of material is the trick as you need to rotate inventory quickly and efficiently.

Philb that is a worry about the expenses versus the net gain. There has got to be a way to stay in the green doing this. I enjoy when someone buys my items, but I have not sold much yet. Have you had any more successful sales?

Duncan, well right now I am a bit down in the dumps as against my instincts I sent an 18 dollar cover to India...the man won it on ebay so what could I do ? the buyer says he never received it and I imagine ebay and paypal will take the money from my account..it takes quite a few 2 dollar sales to make up that loss !!

Hi Philb I understand that situation. Maybe going forward you either need an exclusion zone for certain countries like India. Or state that such countries need to pay registered mail costs. I have been thinking about that to. Any expensive lots I have I always ask buyer to pay for registered mail. But under 100 dollars I have not thought about. I may modify my ads and say won't post to India unless registered, I think Sri Lanka us another one. Did the buyer in India leave you feedback yet? If he has you could leave him a negative. On that note what is the buyers feedback rating?I don't like it when such things happen, when you know you posted the item. I think you need to tell paypal your situation in this instance. I think they will listen as you are a good seller.

I have sent reg mail Canada to USA and the buyer received the letter with out sighing for it it was stuck amongst his junk-mail, so for feeling secure sending you expensive items reg mail well you might still get burned. if you want to make $1,000 selling stamps start with $10,000. we all sell and buy stamps and yes we often make a few bucks but that little extra goes back into stamps sorry if aI burst ya bubble but very few will make large $$$ sell ing and buying stamps

Quote from Seahorse.




Quote from me some days ago.




Seahorse has pointed out a very important part to selling. "The first 12 months".

Hi Irishjack are you selling on ebay or on your on web site? Can you show me where you are selling so I can see your store as an example of what items you've sold and have on offer? Yes with registered mail that has happened to me to, where the letter just came with the rest of the mail. However most of the time registered is signed for. I once argued with the post office and asked them for POD on registered. They just dropped it in my box and had no signature. I could have claimed if I wanted to.

Hi KGV on that note I have a few Canadian high vale stamps uncancelled, I guess I should soak them off and sell them as mint. But would you sell a $2 mint recent stamp for $3.99?

It is best to never sell any stamp as mint that has no gum.
For me it is a used stamp. But some people would say it is not one or the other.
The used international post stamps I sold last week was a very small sale.
$2.20 sold for $2.99
$2.40 sold for $3.25
$4.00 sold for $4.99

Plus 6 others between 99c to $1.99.

Last year I won about a kilo of inter post + I had a heap to start with.
The last buy cost me all-up just under 20c per stamp.

Other lots I have won at 10c per stamp. Have a bid on half a kilo at the minute at 15c per stamp. I will be very surprised if I loose this lot at that price.

I have search long and hard over the last 12 years for my auctions and I will not willingly add competition by saying where my auctions are located. It is getting harder and harder to get good cheap stamps.
I enjoy the hunt. All the funds from the sales of our stamps goes straight to my wife. I do not get a say in the sale funds at all. I have to save the hard way to buy my stamps now. As my family says that I have a room full of stamps so why do you need to buy more. I have to prove to them why this lot I want to buy should be bid on. The only way I can get approval to bid is to show them the past sales of the stamps concerned. If I can not do this no bids. Sounds hard but I am learning to enjoy buying this way.It certainly makes you think about the what and why of buying your stamps.

If you value your time @ $2 an hour, it is hard to make $. Collectors pay a dealer $5 for an item, and are then offered $1 when they want to sell, so decide that there is big bucks in stam selling. Not factoring in time and the huge amount of inventory that never gets sold!

Its very possible to make good profits while reselling stamps.

With enough patience and discipline there are plenty of values out there.

Unfortunately you'll likely have to burn through a lot of cash in figuring out what's a good buy and what isn't. If you have to ask for advice then you're probably still far from figuring out that formula.

Don't be discouraged by the naysayers - it just takes patience and a certain knack for business to make a success out of it.

This is how ebay sumes up our 1st 12 months. We started on 17th Jan and we received a 1 year old card from ebay on this day.
Pasted straight from ebays records for us on our dashboard. Most of the sales started in May last year, before that we could count our sales on 2 hands.

Sales to date: $7,096.71

Transactions: 1304

First ebay Sale: 01/25/2011

It took 3 people to put the 1st 12 month together. We are very surprised that our sales were that much. It was very hard to get this result. Some will laugh at the income level as costs have to be taken out but we are very happy.

This year on ebay we would like to see around $12,000 in sales. We would be very happy if we could do this. To sell a $1,000 of stamps per month is very hard from where we stand and a lot of work but we are getting smarter at the work load and the way we handle it.

Always Happy Stamping. KGV and Family.

Hi KGV that is a fantastic effort in one year. I have had four sales to date. A few questions from buyers, and lots of people watching my store. If I can do as well as you have in the first year, I'll be happy with that. It will be enough to keep me going in my retirement. But like you said it is hard work to get to that kind of level. But it is enjoyable work and I think eventually with determination I will succeed. I like the prospect of finding lots that will make money, any money at all. I can hardly wait for these few months to pass by and get to retirement. I wish you well this year and hope you will beat $12,000. I have to keep thinking, it is not the stamps that I would buy myself to sell, but what others would be interested in buying from me. The first thing I need to do is refurbish this study, and turn it into a working office. I'm going to need storage space. Keep up the good work. Thanks for letting me know what selling is like, it gives me some hope and good idea.

This is the way I store everything including stock books. Keeps the bugs and moisture out.



By using the plastic tubs as table legs it doubles their usage. I am using a particle board (MFB board?) That measures 600mmx900mmx5mm. I have 5.4m of work space made this way and I use all of this space and it is so easy to move or redesign. Towels are a great way to handle stamps on.



Just some images of these tables at work. As they look at the minute their is stuff everywhere. lol





Hope this is helpful. John

KGV Collector,

Can you let us know how much you are making an hour? Not trying to be a smart aleck or cynic. I too sell occasionally on ebay or here. Its just that the only real way I know of making money is buying in bulk and breaking it down into small groups. And that is very labor intensive. And if you are averaging $5 a sold lot, after you take off you ebay fees, paypal fees and postage, you really aren't left with much.