What Do I Do With My Mid-Century Russian Collection?

Hello,
First I apologize in advance if this is not the appropriate forum for this. I am a non-collector that has just purchased a small collection of Russian stamps. These stamps are are all used. They date from the early 1940's to the early 1970's, with late 50's and early 60's being most represented. I would estimate there are about 500 stamps in this collection. Once again I am a non-collector but they are all are in great condition. I understand that most of these stamps are only valued at under 25 cents or so.

I am an ebay seller that deals in anything and everything, but this is the first stamp collection I have owned. My question to the community is how to move forward in selling these stamps. I am mostly concerned with how to list this collection, whether I should sell by topic, sets, or the whole collection. I feel like certain topics may be more desirable to the average collector? Another problem is describing the condition of stamps. Like I said, they seem to have been taken care of, but I would like to know how to identify characteristics such as 'never hinged' and others. Also, are there collectors who would actually be interested in this collection or would it be considered junk given that they are used? Should I take on the daunting task of identifying every stamp? I have access to a Scott catalog at my university library.

I am leaning toward describing the collection as best as possible, providing numerous scans and selling the whole collection together, but before I do that I just wanted to see if anyone had any advice on attaining the best profit. I don't want to misrepresent this collection and at the same time I need to receive a fair value.

Thank you in advance for any advice you can give. I appreciate it!

I love the artwork and topic of these stamps, so I need to get rid of these before I get too attached!

I would suggest you first look in ebay, under stamps, Russia and area, and under completed. Then search for lots and you will probably find few sell and those that do sell mostly under $20. I am not saying this to discourage you, as you may have some real gems in this lot. You might want to take a representative lot with you to that library to see what you might find. Most Russian stamps from 40's - 70's do not have a lot of variety differences so you should be able to locate them in the catalogue. Mint, of course means never been attached to letter and mailed. Used has been through the postal system.

If you like these, you may find that in time, with investigation and research, you might become a stamp collector! In any case, good luck!

Thank you for the suggestions! I have actually identified all of my stamps from the 40's and 50's. I found that I have a few 'sets' that sell on ebay, used, for around $10 regularly. So this has led me to believe that it is possible to sell certain sets separate from the main collection. If I decide to to sell the entire collection together, should I identify all the stamps and list them or just give the total number of stamps from each year/decade and provide lots of sample photos?

If you feel that some sets can be sold, then go for it and those that remain could be sold as a lot. Personally I would id all the stamps, but I'm retired and a stamp collector and have lots of time.