Getting Old - What To Do With A Stamp Collection?

I started collecting stamps back in the 1940s and got half of my father's collection in the 1960's - he was alive and well at the time and lasted another 30 years but he felt his eyesight was not up to the necessary rigours. Now I am getting to that stage in life and the question I am asking myself is what do I do with all my stuff. There is nobody in the the next or later generations that shows any interest in Philately.

Recently, I have tried to sell off some it on ebay but that, as far as I can see it has only one advantage. It's rather like collecting in reverse. You have to look carefully at each stamp and make sure you mention any faults, flaws and other distinguishing marks. All in all, this ends up as a long (but quite pleasurable) process and I find I'm lucky to even get my 50 free listings per month. And then, the monetary results are minimal. If I get 5% of catalogue for a standard item or 10% for something more special I feel lucky.

Also, I could just pack them in a big box and sell them to a dealer for whatever he is willing to pay. But I think this would break my heart. What I am likely to be paid would bear no relationship to the stamps' worth, real or perceived.

One of my aims in joining SCF is to try and make some connections with real, live collectors. Then, at least, I will have an opportunity of passing bits and pieces on, at no cost, to others who love the hobby.

There must be many of you out there in a similar situation. I would be very happy to hear what works for you.

Frank

itma21, This is something that has been discussed before, but it is always something that a lot of us have on our minds. Opinions differ all over the place, but one thing I am seriously considering is after I have gone to the big post office in the sky, for my wife and kids to donate my collection to a suitable charity. In our case it would be the Catholic Diocese in our region, but any legitimate charity will do that is willing to appraise and give suitable tax documents would do. In my case, it would be tax advantaged for my estate to do that. Not everyone, of course, would be in that situation. I agree that ebay or dealers would be not suitable, at least in my case. I am interested in whatever opinions others have on this. Best of luck, and I hope you stick around for a good while.

When I want to give some stamps away I simply put a listing up for damaged stamps in the area of stamps to be given away.

Somebody that is a keen stamp collector that has no choice but to collect lesser quality stamps is what I am after and then send them the stamp treat of their life.

Find that it is good to talk to all bidders to get the feel for the right person for the give away.

Break your collection down to 50 lots or 10 lots or whatever. Have some of the best stamp collecting fun time of your life. Go find your dream collector to give away too.

Hello itma, it sounds like you have a rather large collection! I hope to one day be there, since I have only started collecting about 6 months. I had started a few years back but got overwhelmed when I got a box of kiloware. Now that I have more time and a better understanding about the different ways to collect stamps, I find the little finds that I have done at some of the local shows to be really wonderful.
As it stands, I have a couple of books that I am trying to fill, but I know that it will take a long time before I get to any point that would make a difference in collecting US Stamps.
Since you have been collecting for a while, do you have any advise, suggestions or other input that might be helpful for someone like me, collection less than a year?

polo_sal
If I limited my stamp collecting to the USA, I would not have any fun (anymore)- This is why I love being able to collect World Wide (WW)and have acquired lots of albums from my father even though I started stamping before him, but not on the same budget. My collection (and his) will go to my brother with precise info on who to contact to sell it at a decent price. Good Luck with your collection. Rene

You could have one of the larger ebay sellers sell it for you on consignment. Some of the larger sellers have a much larger following than any individual collector such as yourself would. They'll take a cut, to be sure, but they'll likely get more for them than you would and they'll do the work of selling it for you.

perhaps post a few "cheap" stamps free for a child. that would attract young and happy new collectors. they come to collect them, you think the kid is a good place, give them a few more...and really get them excited

I hope that decision is far away for me. My daughter has already told me in no uncertain terms that she'd sell it off. My wife has no interest in it. My hope is to find a young collector to leave mine to as well. My family thinks it must be worth a fortune after the 40+ years I've devoted to it. Boy will they be surprised to find out I collected for fun, not investment. Nothing much in my collection to get rich from selling. I'll be watching this for other people insights as well.

I'm hoping those days are in the distant future for me but I've recently been trying to write up in as much detail as possible information that would be needed should my wife and or kids need to deal with my large collection. It's proving to be a bit of a challenge and I'm trying to give several options.

I think the best low-effort option would be as the TheArtfulHinger suggested find a dealer to sell on consignment. If you enjoy the work, breaking it down and selling in sets, by year, era might be a way to go. Of course I always like the idea of getting new collectors interested, if you know any prospects maybe some could go in that direction.

A friend recently passed and his son made birth years sets for each of his siblings and two grand children out of the small collection. Nice idea and they appreciated the gesture. He sold the rest to a dealer.

Jeff

Jeff, love the idea of your friends son, I will do so for my nice and 2 nephews

That is a good question. I would suspect my family would sale it all. That doesn't bother me too much. I think my wife would be agreeable to down sizing now just for the space. I lost count on what I have. I had a goal to own the most stamps. I guess I am still working on that goal as I have agreed to buy plate blocks and sheets from a friend since his 97 year old father just passed. I don't need them but I like them. I actually get them this Thursday. Getting back to what will the family do with my stamps. I made it simple and made notes on the 5% of the stamps that will bring money and explained having a 1000 copies of each stamp from the 1940 to today is worthless as far a looking for big money. I have a lot of years left since I'm a ways from even my 60s. My thoughts are like this, no one in their right mind would want the amount of stamps that I have. However they are all 100 percent organized. My main countries of interest are USA, CANADA, GREAT BRITAIN, ISREAL, AUSTRALIA and NAZI GERMANY. Then I love USA fancy cancels, I love separating Wahingtons thus I have thousands of them. Oh I am a large fan of precancels. Did I say I never tossed out a cover. Everyone in my house knows how to open up mail for me. Lol my point is what I have is too large. It grows more each year. In the end I hope it doesn't get picked through for the 5 percent then tossed. Even if I gave it to my girls they don't have the passion to keep it safe. I often though maybe in 20 years I would find a younger collector with the same crazy passion and just pass it on. Now I can expand today by building up plate blocks and sheets. Good grief. But seriously I don't have an end for my collection and to be honest maybe that is not all that important since I get total enjoyment out of it now.

Frank..i noticed in your profile that you live in Brockville..not too far from Ottawa where there is a monthly stamp bourse on the second Sunday of each month. You could book a table...meet a lot of local collectors and possibly make a few bucks in the process...something to consider.

Frank, it sounds like you are really having trouble letting the collection go more than anything else. Using ebay, you only release limited amounts; you still probably have the bulk.

Since you like ebay, continue that to whatever extent you want. Please do also try selling things here; it's simpler, but it will require a setting a price. graphis's bourse idea is a good one. There is also Delcampe that has auctions but less of a audience so most sellers do net pricing.

My eventual plan will be to sell the more relatively expensive things first, of which there aren't too many. The rest will go as country collections. I'll probably never make it to absolute zero. The relatives don't need the burden of disposing of my stuff.

ArtfulHinger (or anyone else),

Who are the large sellers on ebay that you are referring to who take consignments? I would like to put together a list for my family as an option, and this is something others might find useful.

One that I am aware of is Asset Auctions Online DBA Dr Jim Stamps on ebay. They deal mostly in covers but that's the bulk of my collection. I am sure others would like to know of consignment dealers more focused on stamps. As for covers, another possibility is Mccusker's. They have an ebay store, but a much larger online store and frequent auctions. I don't know what method they use for consigments.

So what are the other possibilities for those who would want to consider consignment? It would be good to distinguish dealers by specialty.

Basil

My approach will be to get rid of most material by auction. If you aren't a business seller, it's very hard to give a good sense of the content of a well-filled album in the dozen photos available to you on ebay. At present, I'm tidying up the country collections I no longer want with a view to sending them to a couple of auction houses that I regularly buy from. I'll probably have a go at selling the attendant stock-books of duplicates on ebay.

The best advice is that the collector sell the bulk of the collection and not leave it to relatives .
Collectors need to realize prices are falling for most material ,it is most satisfying to get your material to other collectors .
Your collections will get a better price if it is mounted and displayed so the value can be checked by a buyer .