What To Do With My Thousands Of Duplicates?

Hi,
I suspect this is a common problem so this isn't a unique situation. I've been collecting for decades, concentrating on worldwide pre 1961. In the process of buying lots, albums, or improving my collection, I've ended up with "a ton" of duplicates, all off paper and in glassine envelopes by country.

I used to think, "no problem", for I could sell them on ebay. Well, after a pretty thorough review selling stamp lots on ebay just isn't worth the effort at all.

So what are my options? I've given up on the idea of selling them, and frankly I'm running out of room. I'm more than willing to give them away, but only to some entity that would use them.

Your help would be greatly appreciated!

There are several suggestions in this older thread

https://goscf.com/t/81560

If all else fails, send them to me. I'll repay the postage.

I also have thousands upon thousands of duplicates. Has this community ever started some kind of swap group? I still need so many minimium value that I'm sure are quite common. I could easily create want lists and trade if someone should need anything from the duplicates that I have.

The crux of this problem is how much time and money are you willing to invest in disposing of your duplicates compared to what you can reasonable expect to recieve back in return. The older we get time becomes the scarce commodity.

Yes indeed, folks can list any trades they would like to offer here
https://goscf.com/f/6

It is free.
Don

Would I be correct in saying that all your stamps are used?

I am a member of the International Society of Worldwide Stamp Collectors (ISWSC) and they have several dupe swap circuits that I have found very useful in advancing my Worldwide collection. I would recommend.

Hello Mobile - My suggestion would be to advertise to your local community through the library. Maybe sponsor a local club and "seed" new members with your duplicates.

Hi mobilman44,

I'd be interested to know what you have from New South Wales.

Feel free to send me an email

Hi,
Lots of good suggestions, and I will look into the Vet program - locally if possible. These stamps are maybe 95 plus percent used, almost all have been hinged, with many having hinge remnants. Are there any of value? Perhaps, for over the years I've bought sets, where I already have some of the pieces. So there may well be some stamps in the $.50 to $2.00 range, but very few. And of course there are many copies of some of the more common ones.

Like others, I started with a couple of Scott Internationals, and now have 17 WW albums (Plus 3 US) and am gradually migrating to Steiner pages. Ha, "if I had known back then what I know now", I would have stopped at 1950 or 1940 vs. 1960.

I have a Three volume Harris citation album for duplicates.

I don't mind selling lots on ebay and marketplace.

Another valuable post on this forum. My wife would love the extra space.

When I first started my worldwide collection I took advantage of a few online offers for free used stamps. One requested a SASE and a couple others I just had to ask. It was a great way to get started. I would recommend finding a way to get them into the hands of interested beginners.