Are Large Ebay Lots Worth It?

I just bought a lot on ebay very similar to this one...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dealer-Stoc...em232c7756b0
Are these lots even worth my time? It was an impulse buy and I got it for $1.49 + $.85 shipping. Do you have any experience with these - does the seller take out the really good stuff or might there still be a gem in there? FYI - the photos are not the actual lot you receive. Thanks!

No gems. Just interesting stamps. Price per stamp is pretty low, so as long as you are having fun, go for it.

You'd have to assume that the dealer will have pulled out anything obviously of value. Though that still leaves the possibility of some little gem that requires specialist knowledge to detect: the question is, do you have the specialist knowledge to find it.

I'd look at it this way. You'd be paying around $2.50 for hours of entertainment cataloguing these stamps. Where else could you get such cheap amusement?

I've found stamps worth upward of $50.00. I don't check for value unless it's a very unusual, old stamp.

Very well stated and spot on. Also it's a good way to fill album spaces that need to be filled. The majority of all stamps in a collection are common so the best way to purchase them is in large lots, buying common material 1 stamp at a time as you need them will kill you in shipping.

When I got back into the hobby, one of the things that attracted me was the presence of large lots of USA unused stamps at very reasonable prices. I highly recommend these for the person getting into the hobby. Another thing I did was buy up albums, and then picked from them.

At a certain point, one well be better served by going to country collections or specific offerings. I am almost there.

i doubt if 1.49 is too much for a philatelic purchase,,what are you looking for ???

i can tell you the seller did not make any money on 1.49 plus 85 cents shipping...he is just giving away stamps he does not need...

Phil - I certainly don't feel that I wasted that money - especially since I'm not looking for anything in particular, just fun!

I like to buy big lots. Especially if you are starting a new country or area of collecting buying a few big lots can certainly help you fill in a lot of the common material pretty quickly. Really if you are getting a lot of stamps for a low price, then the cost/stamp is going to be pretty low. Makes it pretty hard to go wrong.

I love big lots too, and buy one or two per month, generally in the $10-15 range. When someone lists a mixed lot (a lump of stamps) with lousy photos, they might as well wear a sign that says KICK ME. I only have to see one good stamp (usually half covered-up) and I'm off to the races. If the "good" item's damaged, well, sometimes you're the bug and sometimes you're the windshield, as they say. The good has far outweighed the bad.

Better yet, sometimes you can point out the mixed bag to someone else; this morning I emailed LondonBus1 about just such a lot, assuring him I wouldn't be bidding.

Lindsey, As usual I probably didn't understand the situation..hope you find an area you prefer..its fun,its therapy,it passes the time !

I have to admit I'm a huge fan of kilo and mystery/box lots. I went big crazy when I first started collecting and went for lower student friendly budget buys. A couple of times I didn't feel I got what I expected but overall I found gems. I'm just now sorting through the bulk of my stash and have gotten far more entertainment and material than I ever expected. So as long as you're buying from reputable sellers and you do a bit of educated consumerism you should be quite happy.