Big Country Collections: Where To Sell?

Hi all,

Not new to the hobby or the forum, but new to selling. I picked up a big lot of fantastic Harris Senior Statesman album that have been broken down into smaller binders for the larger country lots. It's pretty full - some pics of the US binder below. As I collect pre-1940, I'm looking to part with a good chunk of them.

Just wanted to get some general feedback. I'm not looking to go into stamp dealing, but wouldn't mind selling some off on ebay. Would I be better off going it alone on ebay, or contacting dealer, or maybe even an auction house?

Happy to post more pics if helpful.

Thanks all!

I believe a collection like this will sell very well on ebay no matter who sells it. A seller with a lot of feedback and followers might get a little more but a beginner would do very well. The big challenge for the beginner is the 12 picture limit. Experienced sellers have their own web space (isp) and can show as many pictures as they choose. If you can find a way to host the pictures I'd say go for it.

Auction houses and ebay consigners will take about 25% of gross to sell this and I think the final sale price will be about the same.

Ken

Because it is a very basic album though, most/all high value stamps aren't even shown/listed in this album. Do you know if all of the 1870 grille's are actually there and correctly identified? If they are, be sure to advertise them because they're the most valuable thing I see here.

Thanks for the reply. No idea re the grills yet!

@Ken, thanks for the insights. Lots of other countries here, too, besides US. How might I get in touch with ebay consigners?

Do check whether you can do it yourself before consigning with someone who'll take 30%. Where appropriate, you can photograph more than one page, which will get you a little more visibility on ebay than twelve scans of individual pages.

Nice collection. But since you don't really know what you have, it may be worth getting an appraisal first before looking for somebody on ebay. Yes, you will have to pay for an appraisal (I've done appraisals for friends for free, but I'm not certified in anything except having a 47 year membership in the APS, and memberships in various, non-US, specialty societies). Better to pay something at the start than get screwed over later on.

You can check for appraisers by asking the APS. You can also visit the website of the American Stamp Dealers Association (www.americanstampdealers.com) to see who might be interested. Note that you might then get an offer to buy. But, some appraisers would consider that as unethical.

You could also consider giving it away and taking a tax write off, if you itemize deductions on your federal tax forms. I've given a lot to the Rocky Mountain Philatelic Library, which is located here in metro Denver, and has the appropriate IRS non-profit tax status (.501(c)3).

I would add that it is a good time to sell.

Not only is that by far the most impressive Senior Statesman I've ever seen (most I come across are totally empty first one or two USA pages) but I don't think I've ever seen so many early USA stamps so densely packed together. Usually these types of collections are in higher end albums which are more spread out, that is quite a sight to see so many nice stamps arranged like that. I like it and am definitely curious to see how much this would sell for.

Thanks for the replies, all. As someone working on a Scott Intl Vol 1, I'm not very impressed by the Senior Statesman, but this really is the most complete album I think I've come across: almost every space is filled.

It seems that most dealers try to low ball you. Auction houses charge high commissions.
I find more and more people trying to sell on line via ebay and Hipstamps in the US.
Many are doing quite well selling this way.

Still recovering from Eye surgery ,so I don't see as well .

It looks like a very low level U.S.collection ,maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me ,lots of heavy canceled stamps , better stamps with edges cut into , some better stamps with straight edges ,with no cert's I would question those Grill stamps but have to say the more recent issues look good but there is no value there .

Sort of stuff you would find at FLOORTRADER STAMP AUCTIONS .

Better scans and a experience reviewer would find the other defects .

Agree with Floortrader.

Agree with floortrader and rodgcam.
Analysis of each stamp will likely be disappointing
Most look off center or damaged.
I have seen many albums completely filled. But remember....
Anyone could put a stamp anywhere to make it look complete.

However, this is type of album some like to gamble on. May find one or two quality stamps
The rest could be obtained buying a few large lots on ebay for less than a few hundred dollars

https://jpegbay.com will let you post 100's of photos in an ebay auction.

You load the photos into their system, and they move a HTML code into your auction.

It's free and easy.

How much do people think the US collection shown would sell for on ebay or Kelliher?

Doesn't seem up to the quality I've seen from Kelleher, but it might go $1200-1400 on ebay? Pictures are not clear enough to see hidden faults well or tell a 5 from a 9,...or 31 from a 35, etc... I don't think I'd spend that much these days on this, but I might have when starting to fill my 19th century pages, just to get a "good start" :-)