To Whom Should I Sell My Collections?

I would like to leave my kids with some instructions on disposing of my stamp collections, and some coins. There is, I hope, no immediate need for this, but I am 75 and in fair, but far from excellent, health.

I have no idea what it is worth, and no idea how to find out. I could sit down with a catalog and four weeks later emerge with -- what? I have paid full CV for very few of my stamps, and most of those had a CV of under $5.00.

I believe I have put between $2500 and $5000 into stamps, albums. mounts, etc. My collection also included stamps I inherited, all of those being pre-WWII. My collections are U.S. postage and revenue stamps, cut squares, and some plate blocks from the 'fifties and 1st Day Covers, mostly from the 'thirties. Also a small collection of German stamps from before 1948.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Don

Don

It is hard to say what the best approach is given your vague description. Are your stamps used or unused? What did you buy. Approvals from some stamp company? Bulk lots of stamps that you sorted? What is the most you spent on a single stamp? What is the year range of your collection? Did you only get stamps in fine condition, or did you acquire a lot of space fillers?

The other question is how much work is your family willing to go to to dispose of your collection? Do they just want a dealer to buy the whole lot? Or do they want to put it up in pieces on ebay? The latter will net more money, but take a whole lot more time.

Joe

I would suggest that they care about Your stamps as a memory on You and Your time. But if they need to sell it ;
Don"t sell it to a dealer. Its the worst thing they can do. Dealers are greedy. Its funny when I sell to some dealer in live when he dont know that I know what I"m selling . It happens when I sell a collection, lot, album. They are sweating, lying, stupid things offered. Its funny for me. I just smile in their face. Sometimes I would be happy to "send them into their mothers reproductive organs" as we curse here in Croatia. But, always stay calm.

Tell them to split Your collection in many pieces (individual albums or stamps lots) and sell on ebay. If selling individual albums, put all the photos of all stamps in add description on ebay.
Start it at 0.01 and the market will tell all about it. Its better than sell it to some greedy reseller.

Don, do you have grandchildren? They might be better placed to make sales for their parents. What would be ideal, I think, would be for your children to hold on to the collection for another generation. Values may not rise all that much, but I don't think your collection would lose value if properly stored.

Don, you have correctly identified the basic issue.

An unevaluated collection is, necessarily, worth very little.

You can put in the hours to evaluate the collection, or you can allow someone else (who has already put in those hours) to evaluate your collection. That person is going to offer you a fraction of that value, because they need to then put in the work to sell the collection.

Q/ And what do you have that is readily salable?

Rarities can have value, but you could only spot them if you put in the time to learn about, and evaluate every item in your collection.

General rules?

Cut squares are badly out-of-fashion.

Most US FDCs - even from the 1930s - are expected to be pristine, cacheted & unaddressed to sell well.

Most US plate blocks from the 1950s will sell for some fraction of face value.

You have a collection that was (hopefully) collected for fun.

Your kids will almost certainly make more money by working a few weekends for a temp agency (or in a fast food drive thru) than they will make by actively selling your collection.

If your kids itemize their US income tax deductions, they can donate your collection and pick up a few bucks that way ... the rules are gentle at your level.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

I've inherited a stamp collection. Now what do I do?https://stamporama.com/articles/dis...=rasd3nklqcq
I do like the comments Ikey Pickey has stated.

I disagree with the poster who says consign to ebay. That's a quick and dirty way to get ripped off if you don't know what you have. The APS ( http://stamps.org ) has an estate advisory service in many parts of the country (US) where you can obtain a rough appraisal from an APS member volunteer. There also are local stamp clubs (see directories on APS web site) and a number of philatelic libraries throughout the country where you can find other volunteers who might be willing to look over your stuff.

IkeyPikey gives additional good advice. Last several years, I've donated unwanted philatelic material to the Rocky Mountain Philatelic Library (in Denver) and have taken modest tax write-offs. Since I have no heirs, you've given me a good reminder, Don, that I need to make better arrangements for disposing of my own collections. Good luck.

A bit more about my collection: It is U.S., and mint when I can afford it. I have paid $100 for one stamp. No, I didn't buy it from Mystic. I have paid $50 or more for a fairly large number of stamps. It runs from around 1860 to yesterday.

I know cut squares are passe, but some people are still after them. Most times when I bid on one, somebody is bidding against me.

I realize that any dealer is going to want to profit on what he buys from me, and this limits what he can or will pay. I just want to find a dealer who will take the collection seriously ad pay some percentage of what it is worth.

I do collect for fun, not profit, but unless there is a big change, my boys are only mildly curious about stamps, not really interested. One lives in Chicago and the other in Princeton, so they would have access to dealers, if they stay put. However, both have been nomadic till now. And neither has reproduced.

Don

Ripped off? I guess You dont sell on ebay. You dont need to be a genius to sell there, bidders will bid if listed with any brain and described. Always can sell lots/albums and show all the photos.

Yes, local stamp clubs like old women"s and those who have no knowledge of what they got. None normal would sell anything to that fool hunters.






Every dealer will take the collection seriously and pay some percentage of what it is worth if it is worth. But that percentage will be really low and degrading for You. Do You like someone make a fool from You? Guess not. So, dont be naive.

Given that this is a mixed-gender forum, could you please be less sexist in your choice of language? The more so since I am prepared to bet that the majority of people at your local stamp club are old MEN.

Huh. Maybe we didint understand each other. English isnt my native. Old lady in the stamps club= male died, she sell it, because dont need it and she came to stamps club to sell it.= $ in the stamps club members eyes and cheap stamps. Also dealers like old ladies selling stamps.
What do You see as sexist in the statement that local club members like old ladies with the stamps? Majority of people at 99,99 local stamps clubs are old MEN. I"m not a member of any club or old men. There are much more males collecting stamps.

As we know all too well, not every collector dies and leaves an old widow (yeah, still thinking of you, Jeff).

And some old widows will enlist the help of their internet-savvy daughters & grand-daughters to dispose of specialized assets.

And some will do that by selling to dealers, who will offer a price at which they can earn a living doing, like, you know, work.

Sometimes, when a topic has clearly got me too excited for my own good, I stop reading & posting to that topic. Okay, not that often. Just sayin'

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Let's get back to the original question. Any of the following will do what you ask: take the collection seriously, visit you, evaluate the collection, and make a purchase offer. You won't have to do any work to value the collection, but if you don't, you won't have a way to know if you're being low-balled, or treated fairly. To achieve that, you would need to consult the APS estate consultation service, or find a knowledgeable local stamp club member (and probably pay him/her).

Daniel F. Kelleher Auctions (Danbury, CT) - 1-877-316-2895
Dr. Robert Friedman & Sons (near Chicago) -
Miller's Stamp Co. (Waterford, CT) - http://www.millerstamps.com/sell.php 860-908-6200
David Medeiros, Quality Stamps - 941-376-5689, http://buyingqualitystamps.com

Get a copy of "American Philatelist" from the APS, at a public library. There are numerous full-page ads for the kind of dealer you're seeking.

See also: "Selling a Stamp Collection - What You Need to Know"
http://www.americanstampdealer.com/....aspx?id=409

The choice is yours about whether to put in the work to value your collection, or even determine more precisely what you paid, but if you don't, you should not complain about the offer you receive being too low. Also, plan to recoup zero for mounts and other supplies. Album binders and pages will have some resale value but it depends on how attractively the collection is mounted or whether the buyer is facing re-doing everything.

Sounds like your collection is mostly US. If I were you, in an attempt to relieve some of the burden on your offspring, and in the interest of acquiring knowledge, I would get a Scott US specialized catalog. Either borrow one from the local library or buy an old one off of ebay. The prices won't have changed that much to make a difference, even if the catalog is 10 years old.

What you are looking for is whether there is anything of great value. I wouldn't worry about counting the value of common stamps (or you could count the common ones and figure 2 cents each). But it sounds like you have some idea the CV of some of your stamps as you say "I have paid full CV for very few of my stamps, and most of those had a CV of under $5.00."

You should be able to come up with a rough estimate. Separate out the valuation of the stamps. How much of that $2500-$5000 was on stamps and how much on accessories (albums, mounts, etc.)?

Focus on the stamps and figure not many folks want your albums unless they are in great shape and top of the line, say hingeless deluxe albums or Scott Internationals.

One strategy is to count your stamps in CV ranges and apply percentages to estimate value and adjust for condition (a slightly damaged common stamp is worth nothing, whereas a slightly damaged $100 stamp might be worth something). There's a thread somewhere that talks about this (I think). You know...how many are minimum cat value (e.g., $.25), how many between $.25-$1.00, $1.00-$5.00, $5.00-$20.00, $20-$100, $100 and above.

Rasdale Stamps near Chicago. Apelbaum if in your area may come to you.https://www.rasdalestamps.com/
http://www.apfelbauminc.com/sell-my-stamps.php

I read about this and it makes me want to just throw the collection away in the trash. That way I won't burden my daughter with nonsense.
The way I feel.
Tom