Recommend A Good Auction House?

I have a huge collection of stamps broken up into individual countries. There are WAY more stamps than I have time to sort out and find the Sc. value for. On the other hand, I don't want to sell them as a lot on ebay and sell something that has good value for .99. Can anyone recommend a U.S. stamp dealer you've heard good things about that I can approach about selling or auctioning the stamps? Thanks!!

What part of the country are you in?

First you need to understand that stamp auction firms want collections that catalog over a few thousand dollars per lot before they take your consignment.They need to have stamps that catalog over $25.00 per stamp.If your collection is common cheap stamps they don't want it and tell you to go sell it to a dealer ,their not interested.
If you don't know whats in it ,they are not interested at looking at it or teaching you on their time .The firms get so much low value stuff when they purchase or get on consignment they really don't want extra cheap material.
Your best bet is to scan some of the better stuff here that people can give you advice

On the subject of selling stamps there is a clear pecking order on where to sell it .-----if its a specialised collection or a high value general country collection then its better to sell it at auction . If its a nice collection with lots of $10.00 to $300.00 items you will get dealers and advance collectors bidding on it .But if its a accumaltion and lots of broken sets and 90% stamps under a buck ,then selling it on ebay is your best choice.
The first step is have someone give you a apprisal and don't be afraid to pay for a true appraisal.

The more I hear about other countries auction houses the more I love my Aussie ones!

The last Bastille of a true auction house.

From small cheap lots to the very expensive and all in the same auction and all treated with the same respect.

Where else would you find this but in Aussie!

It must be our convict background.

KGV-------Stamp Auction firms in the U.S. span a wide varity of styles from listing items on ebay up to firms that make specialised one owner catalogs and feed you lunch both while viewing lots and during a break in the auction . So it all depends what level you are at .
The best was Greg Manning Auctions were there was a whole group of international buyers out each night after viewing lots and trying to get each other drunk and telling each other that the stuff you view was junk and never mind its the same stuff the person who is telling you this just spend the whole afternoon looking at the same lot ...lol......miss those days !

Just keep in mind that, in general, a stamp dealer will likely need to purchase a run-of-the-mill stamp collection at 10% of catalog value or below to make a profit.

Now, its another matter if you have a lot of high value, high quality material.

Based on what you have said, I would think your best bet is to deal with a local stamp dealers. There are two dealers in Minnesota, USA who are reputable and also hold auctions They are http://www.belairestamp.com/ and http://www.gvstampauctions.com/.

There are no doubt reputable dealers in your area as well (if you are not in MN, USA).


Cheers,
Curundu

Many collectors bid at these auctions, I talk about, I must admit.

I have very little competition bidding on large, lots of the same stamp. Very rare for me to pay more than reserve.

I have a lot of trouble winning big lots with a good mix of recent high value on & or off paper.

It is heaps cheaper to win 50 large lot of 50 different high value stamps than win those big mixed lots. It might take me 2 or 3 years to get the same variety but when it comes, it comes in huge numbers.

KGV-----We are two different kinds of buyers,Those lots that I bid for are at major stamp auctions and the people who im bidding against are of three types ,they are name dealers ,other smaller local auction houses and two or three of the big volume E-BAY sellers . Many of these lots end up two or three times the opening bid .What im buying is entertaiment and the other bidders are more looking at resale value but sometimes it becomes a battle over wills and that can get expensive .

Interesting floortrader.

At the minute I have an item in Australia's best for collector's and very much for the top end of dealers items. They have many life collections from specialist collectors. They are very discerning about there lots and they get the best result for the seller. There name is Prestige Auctions and they are constantly being voted the number 1 auction house by vendors and their peers. I have never purchased a item from them as my stock needs are very different to the very successful way their auction are geared. Any top end items I find go to this auction house as it helps my buying budget.

Most of my auction win are from another type of auction house that targets expensive collector item and what I call very good wholesale lots and I spend about $1,000 per month at that auction and I get a very good return on what I buy there. So a $1,000 turns into $6,000 of stock.

The rest of my auction buys are spread out over another 8 to 10 auction houses and spend another $500 per month that again turns into a very good stock return.

As you can see I am not at the top end of buying but each year my buying and selling margins are going up. I have had to start at the very beginning and very slowly build up my stock returns.

In another 5 years it will be interesting to look back at all this a see if I got it right or not! Watch out here I come. :)

I got side tracked at an auction a won 20kg+ of Australian pennies.

First Year of sorting. Made for a nice post on CCF.




In the same order as above.