How Many Of You Making Good Living Selling Stamps On Ebay

Dear All,

I'm just curious. How many of you making a good living selling stamps on and off ebay?

And Does it suffice for your monthly expenses or decent living?

Reason for asking: I use to sell on ebay in late 2010s. But discontinued due to my tech career. Today I'm in a situation that I can't leave my father. So I have to stay in home and do something that I love.

What come to mind in highest priority to is ebay? This is the best place to earn something than just sitting around doing nothing.
Connecting with customer is another fun part.

So, Is it worth doing a business on ebay just by selling worthy stamps? If so how much I can expect to earn in long run.

Thank you,

P.S: I'm not a native Englishman. Apology for any grammar & misspelling!

Many of us sell on ebay, but very few do so as our only means of financial support. Most of us are just disposing of extra stamps or as supplemental income.

@TheArtfulHinger: Really that makes perfect sense. Collect & dispose extras. !

Consider selling postal history this includes all kinds of covers with or without stamps on them back as far as 1638. I sell stamped covers prior to world war two back to 1840s, entire letters / pre-stamp gb 1700s / 1800s, queen victoria stamps on covers, maritime letters 1700s & 1800s & other bits. Lots of interest in such material. You need a good work space, a computer, scanner or camera to take good pics. You need to pay an ebay bill each month & you need to buy stock. Also it takes time for buyers to find you and follow your listings, you have to list several days a week and ship items daily. Also make sure you charge the right postage and provide general service. Lastly you probably need to reinvest most of your profit back into more items to sell. If you don't you may run out. I would suggest having a look at several postal history stores on ebay, look at their feedback and see what $$ they are making. You could start of slowly and see what happens.

Most of the stamp dealers that I know who are making a good living selling stamps today mostly started out in the 1970's selling stamps since that time and through the 1980's there was a very big money making boon for stamps. This was before the internet and ebay when stamp newspaper ads and big stamp shows dominated.

Knowledge is power - if you want to make a living selling stamps (and/or covers), you'll need to have a really good idea of the market value of stamps and then find some good material to buy either direct from other collectors or at auction that you can then resell at a profit. If you want to make a living at it, you'll want to make sure you're selling material that's in demand - you don't want to have a ton of cheap, common material that no one is looking for. Buying a collection at auction that you can then break down into smaller lots is a pretty common way of making money selling stamps.

Agree with TheArtfulHinger you need to know the market and you need good material in stock. You need to keep buying and listing stamps. Most dealers would not reveal their sources to you. Be carefull with expensive stamps pre 1900, there are many fakes out there. This is why I like to see them on covers, less likely to be a fake. Be cautious of a stamp priced at 420,000 or one with a start price of several hundred dollars and a high catalog value mentioned in the subject line of the ad. Don't buy damaged stamps. You need to buy what you can profit from, common run of the mill irems will not do. Old letters with content do well especially American Civil War ones with battle content. Entire letters or stampless as they are called on ebay have more chance than common stamps. Letters are unique. They don't all have catalog values like stamps do so anything can go in auction. Again good condition is key.

@Duncanvr : Some thoughtful insights. Yes, Some peoples offers definitive stamps in Kiloware that are absolutely nobody willing to buy. I was making that mistake, but later on pulled off my offer to the dealer.
In most of the Western countries Auction house are there. But I can't find even a single auction in India. Maybe I don't know.

And Duncanvr I would like to know your ebay Shop. If you are ok with that. Hope to get some collection from you.

There are not many people that make a "good living" selling stamps at all these days in any venue. Most of what you see through ebay is hobbyists at best supplementing their income. If I were to figure out an hourly wage for what I sell on ebay it would probably be close to the hourly wages paid in the 1950's.

Well ! I have kept very quite on this topic!

We have a lot of Australia used stock from the year 2000 to 2014 that we are being told that no other can beat us for as many different and in the numbers we have sourced.

Like who has 3kg + of high val Australia stamps on paper from 2000 to 2014 that has not even been sorted or added to our stock.

We can sell a lot or back off. We are in great place with stock but it has been a lot of work putting it together. Basically all profit has been plowed back into buying stock.

Our 5th year apprenticeship on ebay has started. Feb and hopefully our anchor store will be overflowing!

But selling coins helps and so does orchids!

Dear KGV Sir,

I was expecting your answer and you did.
As far as my little survey, you are making at least $250 per day. That adds ~7K/Month. Cool!

Good luck for your next stock.

Lets break down one area of selling stamp which most of it does not get sold on ebay.

So each month I sort 10-20kg of Australia on paper straight from a charity.

One container I place 50c,and then etc 55c, 60c, 70c. I also sort out all the 60c defins. All the rest goes into a large tub.Cost with mailing about $40kg but it is good stuff and always over weight.

Break down of 15kg Australia kiloware cost $600 mailed.

No cancels on stamps $500

70c comms $200

60c comms $600

55c comms $100

50c comms $300

60c defins $40 per kg $100

Stamp mix in large tub $20 per kg. $100

These are rough figures but pretty close to what is happening.

It takes about 2 weeks of sorting but I am very quick at it, it is also done on top of all the other stuff I do. But it all comes down to the quality of the stock purchased and cost.

Bad lot of kiloware = zero profit. If kiloware is not up to scratch I send it back! For $600 I want good stuff!

We make money by adding value; what value are you going to add?

KGV adds value by 1) sorting, and 2) presenting for sale.

(You will notice that his post & my list do not include 'find overlooked/undiscovered treasure'.)

What he does is not impossible to emulate, but one assumes that, if he has paid attention and worked diligently, he can do them in a more & more expeditious fashion than a newcomer, thus becoming competitive.

Another way we add value is by arbitrage, that is, by moving things from one market to another. Buying collections, accumulations & piles from estate liquidators - and selling them into the philatelic market - is arbitrage. Cataloging individual items, preparing them for sale, etc, adds further value.

Lastly, in a market replete with amateurs & shysters - I shall not address the question of which poses the greater danger - we add value by being there. ebay quantifies this a bit, with the number of completed sales & the percent favorable. The same stamp is worth more/less when it is offered by different sellers. Being the seller who adds more value by being there takes time.

There are useful bits of tactical advice in this thread - stick to stuff in good condition, find good sources, etc - but the strategic question remains. You are going to have to add value. What value are you going to add?

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

We have a collector's bourse once a month at our local philatelic library. I had a few items on random 102 cards and tossed them in a box. Warrehouse came by and made some purchases. This has since inspired me to get more active in putting together stuff for sale. I bought 1000 102 cards. I now have a 102 box half full with stamps and am adding more each day. Sadly I will not be able to attend this month's bourse, so I will be looking forward to the one next month. Of course I always find a few things to buy as well.

Smauggie.
I need to start doing that with stamps. Paul seem to do very well with it at the bourse.
Warrehouse was at the bourse? Point him out to me next time.
Pat

No cancels on stamps $500

The Aussie post office must love you for offering uncanceled stamps.