Non Collector Needs To Dispose Of Large Collection

A deceased family member collected old stamps, post cards, postal cards, first day covers and miscellaneous ephemera for years.It hasn't been appraised, but is roughly sorted in cartons and would fill a small van or truck bed. I would like to find a good home for all this--auction, purchase or charitable donation. (In Balto/Wash metro area.) We have no idea where to start. Any advice appreciated.

You might contact the Baltimore Philatelic Society.

http://www.balpex.org/index.html

3440 Ellicott Center Drive

Suite 103

Ellicott City, MD 20143

410-465-5712

You might want to talk to Dutch Country Auctions in Wilmington De

Dutch Country Auctions / The Stamp Center
4115 Concord Pike
Wilmington, DE 19803
Phone: 302-478-8740

They specialize in bulk lots and should be able to give you some advice. I have dealt with them for years both buying and selling and they have always treated me fairly.

No luck w/ Balpex. One of their members came out to look at collection, but died soon after. When I contacted them they had no suggestions.

Hey,The guy at Dutch Country Auctions was great! Thanks for the tip!

yetorno. I sent you an email. I suggest you seek other views that just one dealer - plus - selling the whole collection as one lot will not bring you maximum benefit.

Sorry to hear that Balpex was not helpful.

Apfelbaum's offered to look at the collection. what do you think of them? I have read mixed reviews.

I don't know what you have, but for a large amount of mixed material I think the best thing would be for someone to divide it into logical lots and sell it at auction. I think this is the way for you to get the best value. I'd be cautious if a dealer pushed you to sell it all to them outright.

A friend of mine had a big collection to sell for a client, one of the large auction houses(not Apfelbaum) offered him $5000 outright. He took it to Dutch Country, they broke it down into 115 lots and netted $40,000.

Thanks. It's hard for me to evaluate the collection, as it is not at all organized, and it is not where I can get to it very easily. I remember my relative saying she bought anything that was "cheap" at stamp auctions, and that doesn't bode well. However, the house is full of things she bought at regular auctions, and they range from worthless kitch to cartons of curtain rods to really very lovely antiques. I do think it would be better to sell at auction rather than to sell to a dealer outright. Seems like that is more beneficial to the seller.

Are you considering selling on ebay? If so, please let me know the item ID number so I can look at them. Thanks.

I'm glad you posted your question here, I think one of the most difficult problems with stamps collecting occurs when a collector passes on without leaving instructions for disposal of their collection.

Another possibility for the disposal of your inherited stamps might be an agent, unfortunately I don't know much about their services or even how to find one.

I hope you can come back and let us know how it all works out.

Lot of people here will give you a lot of correct answers ......they all sound like right answers . But you still could get the short end of the deal .
Get 2 or 3 written estimates of value ,if it is worth serious money ,if it is just common philatelic scrap then take a donation from Goodwill or Salvation Army .You may have to pay for the written appraisal but it worth it ...but get a WRITTEN valuation ,that means in writing with a break down to what is worth what .

Have exchanged emails with yetormno and made some suggestions along the lines of what others here have done. He / she is not interested in following up with this advice. (sad to say)

yetorno, did you have to ship the material to them or did the auction place come to your home? A question for the gurus here, would you suggest a cert on anything you have to be expensive before contacting an auction house or even dealer for that fact or would the auction house do it for the sake of knowing what they have before auctioning it. One other question what is the percentage of the split from the auction house 50/50, 70/30 and so on. No trying to high jack the op here just question. Should I start a different post for questions?
Thanks Newby Stamper

Auction houses charge the Buyer between 15% and 18% with 1 or 2 being higher. They usually charge the seller 10% but this may be negotiable for large lots.