How To Sell A Big Collection

I have finally finished cataloging my collection, 26,000 stamps. Now comes the challenge of finding a buyer. That of course is not the challenge. finding a buyer that will give me what it is worth or atleast close to the actual value that is the real challenge. can anyone give me a few tips on this subject?

The market for ordinary 20c catalogue valued stamps is down.

The market for good condition stamps is always up. Collectors want good stuff and will pay a premium for it.


So, probably most of your stamps are so-so condition and, if so, you should expect a so-so price.

To sell at a loss compared to catalogue value is to be expected and is ordinary. Except only for high valued (catalogue) and also in great shape stamps.

The more you sell at one time the lower the percentage of catlogue value you should expect.

Sel;ling stamps one by one expect to sell 10% to 15% of them at a time, per month. Keeping them listed up on a site or available to collectors somehow and always advertised costs a price also.

Your time spent and involved is also a big factor.


Prices sold for on ebay, etc are generally a god idea of what regular good condition stamps sell for, But not any indication of what extraordinary condition stamps will sell for. Poor condition stamps will sell for 10% of a good condition stamp, except to beginners perhaps.

Collecting specialties will almost make a collector pay extra for that stamp or cancel he really wants. A nice complete set of stamps in worth a bit more also, if advertised as such.

Details, details.

If you can get 15% for your collection you are doing good. Selling to another collector you will get a little more, selling to a dealer will get you a lot less. If you have some nicer items then identify those specifically when trying to sell. I would not let a dealer cherry pick through the collection unless you got top dollar. If your collection is cherry picked then expect much less for it. For best realised price, I suggest considering selling it on e-bay in groups at a time. Insure accurate description and reasonable starting prices.

Art

As the other mentioned, if you want to try and sell the entire lot at one time to a single buyer, you will get a lot less than if you break it up and sell it in small groups on the open market. A professional dealer is likely the worst place to try and sell everything in terms of price. There's also Kijiji etc.

That is a lot of stamps and as the others have mentioned what they are and what their condition might be is all important. Anything that catalogs for $1 or less is not likely to bring in more than a couple of cents if you sell them in quantity and you will have to look hard to find a buyer even at that price. You might want to think about donating that kind of material to your local stamp club especially if they have a kids program. You would likely get a better return by claiming it on your income taxes as a charitable gift than what someone might pay.

How many of your stamps catalog for over $100 and are in pristine condition? How many catalog for over $1,000 and are in pristine condition? Pristine condition is really, really important. Dirty stamps, over hinged stamps, pulled perforations stamps, creased stamps, not perfectly centered stamps, stamps with straight edges, etc. etc. drag down the selling price dramatically from anywhere from half the value of a perfect speciment to sometimes to near zero value depending on what is wrong with it. The very high catalog value stamps in pristine condition are the ones that will be in demand and for which you have a chance at finding a buyer who will pay something closer to what you might be thinking of. The ones for over $1,000 catalog (you will be unlikely to get more than a percentage of the catalog value unless they are super rare) you should consider consigning to a big name auction house. You will have to pay a hefty fee to the auction house but you will be more likely to find buyers who are willing to pay a going market price for those.

I don't know any dealers buying large lots of common anymore. Maybe there are some. But I have over 100,000 used stamps I can't get rid off. But I keep finding all types of things in it. About 500 $10 items in the last month. But wow the time. I would suggest donating it to charity. One I know of uses seniors to sort and lot all the modern stamps. They even do all the CDS by province. And kiloware unchecked. I can't say more on here because of rules. I would say it takes me about 10 hours to sort and lot 500 stamps.

Just at are stamp club someone auctioned off over 5000 USA pre-cancels for less then $50. An idea of the market. Sorry that's depressing. But finding a gem is always fun. And finding funny CDS cancels are nice too. I like the stamps with cancels that make the women have moustaches.

Thanks everyone. I appreciate all the feedback