What Is The Good Buying Price For This

Rizzi, you have to go to a stamp show and run your fingers through the covers....if you are looking for 19th century covers your will find plenty in the $5 to $7 dollar range...the prices asked on those covers would only apply to a specialized specialized collector in that area of intersest !!

how to find out when is next stamp show in my area?

One source would be Linn's Stamp News, another would be "American Philatelist," monthly journal of the APS. A third source is a phone call to your local dealer, if any. What is your city and state?

I agree with philb - any local fair will have thousands of covers which you can choose from. Here in the Uk I go to a number of fairs and have acquired some really nice material at a fraction of the prices offered on ebay. You might also try your local charity shops for some interesting covers. Oxfam often get bequeathed collections and unless they are mainstream then they offer them up at 99p (or 99c) a cover. My local shop currently has over 100 George V postcards at 99p a go. Lots of them have really great postmarks on them, including a fabulous squared circle I picked up last week.

ebay is generally full of people trying to make a profit on stuff they have picked up cheap - I should know, I put stuff on there in the winter when it's cold and dark! The question is, where did they get them? Wherever it is, you too can get them there as well.

I would not be too quick in dismissing the first (Registered) cover. It does have a lot going for it such as an uprated 2d pre-stamped cover, Colombian Consulate hand stamp, good Jersey cancels, the QV 3d Stamp, underpaid by 2d. There can't be many of these out there. I don't know what the sale price should be but then again, it's a unique cover.

It is an unusual cover, no doubt. Maybe I undervalued it at $20.

Like I said, it was a bit of a knee-jerk reaction. I suspect that the pricing on this indicates it is aimed at the philatelic exibitor crowd.

As my old dad used to say, the value of something isn't what it's worth but what you can get for it. And if you start too low you'll never get the higher price!