New To Stamp Collecting With A Selling Question

Landstuhl dealers will offer you about 30 or 40 cents on the dollar. I would not take them to any dealer. I don't mean to sound negative but they will screw you if they get a chance. It won't take long for them to figure out your a newbie and I'll guarantee you you will come out on the short end. Don't be in any hurry to sell them. Take your time to really figure out there value. Who knows you actually might enjoy stamp collecting and you certainly have a better start than 90% of us did when we started to collect stamps. Most of us started out with a little glassine envelope with about 20 stamps in it.Please don't get in any hurry and DON'T remove any stamps from any envelopes or change anything that is already done.

I would not join the APS. The dues are high and you get nothing but a monthly magazine for your money. I did belong but let my membership run out. I don't miss anything about the APS except the magazine because I didn't get anything else out of my membership. Again the Dues are high.Oh I know I will stir up a lot of controversy because there are diehard APS members here at SCF (Stamp Community Family) but that is what makes our country and SCF strong. Differences of opinions and a widespread and vast amount of knowledge.

Thank you for all the advice. I may be leaning towards ebay for some of the mid range and low range stamps. Some of these older ones though I will have graded and figure out where to go from there. And let me rephrase from earlier, I personally know the family that collected these stamps for 80 years.....me personally I am only about a third of that age!

I would love to hold on to them and carry on the collection but honestly though this is something that I don't will hold my interest in 5, 10 or 15 years. I have many other aspects of life that require me to be a bit nomadic and I don't want to put them in a storage facility and I really don't want to risk them being damaged. Thanks Everyone!

LOL That makes a little more sense. I had you pictured using a walker. Not that there's anything wrong with that !

I still wouldn't rule out letting a dealer take a look. They may save you a lot of time and you're under no obligation to sell. Beware of the dealer that asks you "what do you want for them ?"

The biggest and best collections are always sold through dealers and dealer auctions, not ebay. ebay is a giant yard sale.

haha..yeah no walker yet! hopefully about 50 years sill out on that one! Thanks for the advice all!

One last suggestion...For someone precisely in your situation, there is a stamp collecting software called EZstamp. It is affordable ($45.00 to $55.00 depending where you buy it). Their website is EZstamp.com.

Here is a 15 minute tutorial which is interesting, and will help you decide if you would feel you would benefit from it. It is very user friendly as you will see.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Row3bAQXcv4

You can download a demo and use it, and even import your file into the licensed version should you decide to get it.

http://www.ezstamp.com/ezstamp/ezdemoarea.htm

Just now as you are starting to sort, would be the best time to get it.



-IBFS

I almost fell out of my chair when I looked at your images on the first page! Please take your time and use an auction house as a dealer would likely take well advantage of your lack of knowledge of the collection. I'm by no means trying to be rude but like all collectors I think it important that these treasures get into the hands of a collector that would cherish them and not rip it all apart to sell it off for gain. If anyone should gain from this collection it should be you right?! Take the advice above and ask as many questions and show as many stamps as you can. We'd be more than happy to help!

What a gift! I don't collect US stamps but I have a few, and you even had me drooling. Many good tips here, but I will add one more: See if you can connect with a local stamp club. Members might offer excellent experience and advice, and maybe even help sorting - just for the vicarious pleasure they get. Don't sell anything to anyone until you are certain of what you have. And if you do decide to sell, I second the recommendation of going to an auction house. That way you can sell the lot, including the more common stamps that are much less profitable and much more time-consuming to sell off. (They would likely be offered as "balance of consignment" at auction.) Good luck and have fun!

Tin Man wrote: "I would not join the APS. The dues are high and you get nothing but........." High compared to what? I stand my my suggestion that APS membership might be a valuable asset for someone new to stamp collecting. With all due respect, if you desire a discussion about the value of APS membership, or lack of same, please start a thread devoted to that topic.

Regards,

Climber Steve

Climber Steve we was giving advice to this new to SCF and new to stamp collecting. I even stated it would get someone's dander up or ruffle some feathers. Since he is new to stamp collecting there are better places for him to put his money than to spend it on an APS membership. In act he stated he will be selling the stamps once he knows what he has and what they are valued at.

I am located in the Midwest but I have the capacity to travel to just about anywhere. What type of auction house would I be looking for?

There has been lots of good advice here. Depending on your location in Indiana, I would look up clubs in the Chicago or Indianapolis areas. We have a member, "Revenuecollector", whom I have done business with, lives in that neck of the woods, and is familiar with dealers and auction houses throughout that region. It is my hope he sees this post and speaks up.

You really need an honest & experienced collector or dealer to help you with this stuff - if for no other reason than to set realistic expectations and selling this collection.

Keep posting photos!

Brian

Thank you! Yes hopefully he does see the post!

How often do we get these threads and then the person posts hundreds of pictures of 20 cent (or less) stamps? What a nice surprise. I agree with the advice of not disturbing anything until you get a experienced collector or dealer to looks at it. I have collected for almost 50 years and I still don't have a number #2. You likely have surprises. I don't know the Indy area, but Rasdale is not too far away. They have great auctions. I have a friend that has sold through them before and he was very happy with the results. I have only bought from them. I'm sure other members will have more ideas for your area. The key is knowledge. Look for a local club and I bet you can find a member that can help represent you. There are some really good honest dealers out there that will sell on consignment or mail sale/auction. It is your responsibility to have an idea of what you have before you go see the dealer. He will want you to realize as much as possible because he is working for a percentage. He sees a lot of stamps and covers so you will have to show him where the good stuff is.
Please post more pictures and give us an update.

Thank you so much for the info! I will see how far that is from me and see what other info I can find!