Best Place To Sell Classic Stamps?

The catalog value in Scott is for VF grade with no faults (unless otherwise mentioned).

PSE SMQ values can hint at the potential value of high quality stamps better than VF. That is assuming no faults, which not everyone can make that call.

I've found the Siegel PSE search easiest to use, hope it's ok to link to it here: https://siegelauctions.com/pse.php

Scott US Specialized catalog also has graded values, but I have found them to be inconsistent with SMQ.

Again, both are just a reference, no guarantee stamps can be sold for the values listed, even with an accompanying certificate stating a specific grade. There really isn't a general rule, either, as to how the values increment from say a grade 90 to a 95, 98 or 100. Rarity of stamps and the population of those with a high grade can dramatically increase the value.

Not to mention 'demand' at a given point of time, nor is grading consistent. In my opinion, catalogs are best used to ID stamps. Knowing accurate (and current) values requires special knowledge and much experience.
Market value also depend upon who the buyer is; selling to another hobbyists is (of course) much different than selling to a dealer/reseller. Dealers/resellers make their money when they buy stamps, not when they sell them. As such, they typically 'work hard' to buy under market values so they have a feasible margin in the item. This impacts the liquidity of the stamp value, a person trying to quickly sell a stamp to a dealer/reseller is likely to glean a lower value.
Don

I've been a buyer/seller on ebay for many years, so I didn't mean to offend!


You buy at ebay and now want to sell for a profit at ebay? What makes those stamps different??

Time is one of the most important factors in what you get out of selling your material. If you are in a rush, you will almost assuredly realize less for any given item. What is your timeframe for selling? One of the many reasons that ebay results tend to be low is the need to not have things sitting around. If you have quality material and consign to an auction house it can be a long process from start to finish. Same with consigning material through a quality seller such as Chris Rupp. In the long run you will 100% realize more money. It all depends upon how long you are willing to wait.

You, Stephen-P can attend stamp shows in your country (Japan) to find a US based dealer to handle the material as a consignment for sales in the USA. Philatelic material, all things equal, tend to sell better in it's "home" country. Or do the same via mail with stateside dealers.

Now if one is buying correctly described material in one location, selling the same material in the same location should get about the same price, less all the associated costs. There is no magic way to sell for more. Now if you can spot a described item which is far better than the description indicates, you may be able to later sell it for more with a better more detailed description.

As to your professed history of buying and selling on ebay over many years, why do you think the market should suddenly be different? Also ebay does sell many things as you note, but just now there are over 9,300,000 "stamps" for sale on ebay. While as you say, ebay is not specifically dedicated to selling stamps, having a sales inventory of greater than 9.3 Million daily items in just the USA market is not going to be found in other "'stamps' only" markets. One needs to add together all the "stamps" being sold in the various other countries for which ebay provides a market place to get a real total count of inventory. Likewise, you will be hard pressed to find a brick and mortar auction firm or retail dealer, open today, which has sold 9,300,000 individual sales items in their history.

Setting a reserve or minimum price always stops "rip-offs" but it also may stop or greatly delay sales at true market prices.

Parcelpostguy Yes, that makes total sense, and your oranges analogy reminded me of the Supreme Court's Howey Decision of 1933, which involved an orange grove being purchased and the oranges themselves were later deemed as securities.

I suppose a great way to turn profits is to buy old stamps in bulk, like full albums, whereby you can afford to set the prices lower and expect quick returns.

Rogdcam-, yes absolutely. Time is extremely relevant, and doesn't affect me in the least! If I come across quality stamps, I believe it's worth the wait to keep them in an online shop until they attract the right buyer for the right price.

Sheetguy2, I've never purchased stamps from ebay, but have only used it to sell collectors coins and animation cells that I find regularly here in Japan. If I buy from ebay, it's usually something I need for personal use.

The more that I think about it, ebay's "returns accepted" option gives a great advantage over high-end auctions because it adds incredible safety and assurance to the transaction. I've only had one situation where a buyer claimed the box was "ripped open and destroyed", which he sent back to me, but ebay let me keep the profit.

Caspian, I've added that site to my homepage! Incredible info! Thanks, and a good reference. Adding a numerical value to the grade brings a whole new aspect to the game.

This is very difficult for a number of reasons.

First, buying albums requires significant experience and knowledge, and ebay is one of the last places I would look to for finding this kind of 'source' material. The majority of ebay album listings have already been picked over many times. Some sellers 'salt' this kind of listing looking for people who think they can flip albums; the 'salt' is typically a few 'higher value' stamps but often have faults. (Being in an album, they do not have to call the condition issues out like they would if they were to sell individual stamps.)

Second, if something like was easy, simple or highly profitable there would be thousands of people doing it. There are folks who buy larger lots of material from other sources and break them down successfully. These people have decades of experience, know how to pick out the best material for break down, and typically physically go the source and view the material before buying.

This hobby is great for many reasons but making money is not one of those reasons unless you decide to turn into a full-time stamp dealer. (In my opinion a good way to ruin a hobby is to turn it into a business.)
Don

I have recently been contemplating either selling it all or selling most to concentrate on 1 or 2 areas of interest.

That being said ebay would be the last place I'd turn to other than trying to dump bulk common items for cheap.

I'm fortunate enough to have enough quality material to put in an auction house. Will I get back what I've invested? Very doubtful.

But also I'd be the huge winner because of the years of enjoyment I've had and still have for now which cannot be measured by a financial scale.

Rogcam made a good point about time. If I do sell mine off I have no problem waiting 2 years for the right buyer/s.

I see. Thank you Don, that makes sense. In other words, it's certainly not the same as with coin collecting.

This article in Forbes is on point and worth a read:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/richar...d4644dc430ac