What To Do When You Just Can't Sell Stamps & Covers You Don't Want Or Need...

Agreed, breaking down box lots is a LOT of work, even when you know what you are doing.

Janet Yellin has testified that, back in '08-09, the Fed knew that things were much, much worse than macro economic statistics would suggest because the banks were shipping truckloads of circulated coins back to the Fed. Why? All over the country, people were literally emptying their piggybanks.

I wonder if that stupid Inverted Jenny stunt reminded the non-collecting public that stamps can be worth a fortune,
leading them to climb up into the attic and ...

Perhaps sales have slowed because The First Internet Wave is over. Selling got easier, buying got easier, people who never would have bothered selling had a way to sell ... and, now, everyone who went on a buying binge has cartons & cartons of stuff to go through "when I get a round tuit".

I know I do.

For a few clicks and a few tens of dollars, I can easily buy 'wholesale' lots ... and I have

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

As I've posted before, I live in metro Denver. I donate unwanted stamps to the Rocky Mountain Philatelic Library and take a modest tax write-off. I don't know where the original poster lives, but one of the dozen or so philatelic libraries in the USA may be near him. There is a list of such libraries on the APS web site (stamps.org look under Services).

I wonder if there is also a glut of product out there.

As for ebay sellers lowering their prices, I have yet to see any deals on anything I want in my price range. I hear people saying they find deals all the time, but I never see them... (this also applies for items connected to my other hobbies).

ikeyPikey - through WikiLeaks (if you believe them) it has also come out that the gvt was well aware that the economy STINKS, but constantly told us everything was great. "People on the ground" must know the truth, possibly explaining the lack of sales like you suggest.

BUT, we are getting off topic (and getting dangerously close to political talk)... should I just hold on to stuff?

Climber Steve - do they care what gets donated to? Do youth stamp clubs even exist anymore?

The main quandary appears to be balancing work versus reward. If individual items are not selling, bulk them up into larger lots and re-list. That's probably your best option for the cover purge, for example - a bulk lot of advertising covers with a low reserve. Set a high reserve, and it won't sell, just like your past experience.

I would not be deterred by the negative views of the market expressed previously in this thread. A couple of the posts are from members who are always negative, regardless of context or market. Your market is not theirs so their comments have little relevance. If you want to sell on the 'Bay, you have to pick the level of work you can accept, go with a lower price, and realize that one factor is that lower-volume sellers get drowned out by the biggies in the search results. It's possible your listings just aren't getting seen.

Finally, some of your material has virtually no market, like the "modern US on paper". People usually sell this by the pound for a few dollars.

For donations, American Philatelic Society accepts them, and what they cannot use in programs, they set out in bulk for other members to take upon visiting the APS Center in Bellefonte, PA.

Sequoia Stamp Club in Redwood City, CA has a large and active youth program. I can facilitate a donation if you send a PM.

You could also put everything in one big bankers' box, weigh it, and sell it as a mystery box by weight.

Chris