Ebay Sales

I have set up ebay and PayPal accounts and am going to post a number of German stamps from my inventory, in the range of Scott #'s 1500-1900, almost inclusively. I've been pondering about how to approach it. Would you post it as a (nearly) complete set, split it into smaller groups (topical, sets, etc, and leftovers, or what?)


Obviously, I'll post a variety of other inventory items from various countries, etc.

Some years ago, I had an ebay account, but did not deal in stamps. This will be dedicated to stamps only.

That range covers 1987 to 1995, approximately. Very unlikely that anyone will buy it as a complete set. If they already have half the stamps of that period, or even a third, they probably don't want to buy duplicates. I would forget the "topical" angle, and as this period mostly contains singles, it would be difficult to offer as sets, except for the several long runs of definitives.

Even though Germany uses Euro denominations now, are these stamps still valid for postage? Or can they be exchanged at the P.O. for Euro stamps? If not, I think you will find them selling for well below original face value. You would find this same problem/dilemma for any Western European country's mint stamps of the 1980s - they are just one notch above discount postage. In comparison, I have about 800 pristine German FDCs of this period, and they have proved to be unsaleable at any price, so I'll be interested in your strategy and success.

You might look at ebay and see what your competition's doing. And you might do better on bidStart, where the fees are much less and low-priced material is the norm.

Almost without exception, they are used in fine-very fine condition. The key to the set, in my view, is the heraldry issues (#1699-#1714). Obviously, I don't want any remainder. Unlike a lot of the US Commemoratives, many of these are priced in Scotts in the $.50 - $1.75 range. I'll take a look at my 2012 SG and Michel's before I submit them. If the price is low enough, hopefully, someone will buy the set/partial set.
On the other hand, if I set it up as small lots, I could end up with excessive handling and lthough I do have 30 days to many remaining stamps. The other issue is that, as a new seller, I have no following, although I do have 30 days to post sufficient inventory to, hopefully, gather one, whether it be in ebay or bidStart.

OK, "used" is a whole different animal. In that case, I WOULD offer them (first) as one big lot; the risk is minimal.

If you break them up, I would be tempted to say "shipped only to the United States," then (for a small purchase) your postage is 46c or 66c at most. But for sales of less than $3, the numbers don't work. You might do better to offer them here, 100 different for $xxx, postpaid.

My predecessor, from whom I acquired my inventory, had them split up into three time periods. Might be a good strategy, for these, anyway.

I have to agree with DOUG , on used stamps maybe fill up a stocksheet,scan the full page and start the bidding at 99 cents.Later as you learn the price of lets say 50 different used stamps mounted on a page then try some BUY-IT-NOW at a little higher price and see if that is better for you.

I have updated the market value of approx 100 of the Used German stamps with SG, and converted to USD
2008 US CV $US 49.95
2012 SG CV in GBP 106.80
2012 SG CV in USD $US 171.95
2008-2012 % Increase 250%

Does this modify or change your strategy?

Art, have you looked at Michel prices?

Arbitrage is always an interesting strategy.

Modern Germany is not going to get you anything near catalog value,my guess a stock card full of recent used stamps of Germany is going to sell for around 8 cents to 15 cents per stamp depending on how many complete sets can be identified so a stockcard of 50 different ,would get you a few dollars on a good day .

The 2012 SG catalog values only serve to remind us how much Gibbons grossly overprices contemporary used stamps. You should see their prices for recent used U.S., we'd all be driving a Ferrari...

i think stamps are a glut on ebay...except for the ones I am looking for ! I price my duplicates low and sell perhaps one lot out of 10..now others are going to say they do better..but thats ok !!

I actually have a higher percentage of sales on SCF than on ebay..but the items I sell are in the dollar and two dollar range..so paying the supporter fee to sell is a factor !!

Stampcoder:
Yes, I have Michel's. For example, re the heraldry issue, Michel's works out to $1.50 each, SG works out to be $1.77. Neither correlate to the market value. Which is what I've been saying for awhile, but I had hoped that for as (nearly) complete as this set is, the results would be better. In any case, I'll post that and more, hoping to unload some inventory. We'll have to see how it goes.

All - thanks for your input.

I sell everything I list on ebay. Sometimes I may have to re-list but eventually it all goes. Probably $50k in the last 3 years. Some sell cheaper than I hope and some sell for more than I expect, it all seems to even out in the end.

Just take the time to enjoy it.

Art, I'd be happy to look up some of them in the Scott 2013, so at least you can see what the prices did from the same source. Feel free to pick a few of the higher-value ones, or else send me the list and I'll try to spot-check through it. You can reach me through my email address in my profile.

-- Dave

And if you already have some of this in a Word or Excel file, I can handle that. (Or probably something similar.)