Stamps - A Whole Lot of Them.....

[hombre_de_plata_flaco]

OK, I am brokering the sale of a deceased person's very large stamp collection. I have approximately $1800 in face value, all mint sheets from the 70's to what I believe to be the late 80's. Face values range from .13 - .32 cents. Lots of .01 - .05 cent stamps as well as a few $1 and $2.90 stamps too.

Calculating the total took me six hours!

What should I be asking for these?

I am thinking about going for 80% of face value on eBay, but I don't know if they will sell there due to the variation of the face values and the high cost. Most stamp lots I see selling for high amounts are 1 or two different kinds, whereas there are hundreds - maybe thousands - of different stamps of all different denominations.

I also have some very old single stamps - some cancelled, some not - from the US as well as Imperial Russia and Nazi Germany. Three or four albums full of them. I haven't even begun to look through them yet.

Any help from the stamp folks here would be appreciated.

 

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[clovis97]

Re: Stamps - Nearly $3000 in Face Value

It has been a few years since I've been a stamp shop, but typically, mint unused stamps have sold for face value, less 10%...and they sell fast at that.

I'd try selling at 90% of face.

Of course, you'll find some stamps that have decent premiums above face.

With all that said, it has been a few years since I've messed with stamps.

 

[hombre_de_plata_flaco]

Re: Stamps - Nearly $3000 in Face Value

I just got back from Atlanta where I sold them to a stamp dealer.

 

[brucebob]

Re: Stamps - Nearly $3000 in Face Value

Good luck Hombre,

My grandpa just showed me his stamp collection that was given to him by his dad. He literally has at least 20 binders full of stamps. A lot of them are the full sheets. He even did this thing where he would mail himself a letter the day a new stamp was released and the post office would post a special mark on it or something. Pretty interesting to look through but I have a feeling I'm going to be in the same situation as you.

 

[hombre_de_plata_flaco]

Re: Stamps - Nearly $3000 in Face Value

Good luck Hombre,

My grandpa just showed me his stamp collection that was given to him by his dad. He literally has at least 20 binders full of stamps. A lot of them are the full sheets. He even did this thing where he would mail himself a letter the day a new stamp was released and the post office would post a special mark on it or something. Pretty interesting to look through but I have a feeling I'm going to be in the same situation as you.

The 'special mark" is known as a "First Day of Issue", or "First Day Cover", as you said, basically a postmark from the first day that particular stamp was released.

I'm out of the stamp business as of today. I am selling the remainder of the cancelled ones to a guy on craigslist. It's just too tedious a hobby for me to get into personally. I do enjoy the historical aspect of many stamps - particularly the Banking and Commerce one with the money on it (I'm a coin collector).