What is the best way to sell stamps?

[DoubleHappinessRecords]

I have a folder of stamps, most of them came from my grandfather, they are the leftovers after he sold off the bulk of his collection. They are loose, i.e. not hinged to the folder but behind clear plastic 'shelves' if that makes any sense. I bought the folder I keep them in when I was a teenager. There are a few thousand, I would guess about 4-5000? They are pretty much all pre-1970, some much older, right back to Queen Victoria 1d. reds. Countries are worldwide with quite a preponderance of GB, USA, Canada and Australia as you might expect to find in this country (letters from emigrant relatives I suppose). They are mostly franked.

I can photograph or scan and list them without too much trouble, the thing I'm not sure about is how to value them? Stanley Gibbons stamp catalogues from the library I suppose? Would I be better off to list them in groups or as singles? Any other suggestions for how to value them?

Any ideas welcome, I am a bit out of my depth as I haven't had anything to do with stamps since I was a teenager. Thanks!

[deltadelta48]

Some stamp books go high at local auctions, some very low. Of course buyers have less time to look at them; but when they go low, someone probably got a good bargain.

On other hand, if you have a few stamps worth big bucks, you might never get anything near that if you sold it whole. Pulling out expensive ones would be wise and sell those separate. Yours are 30-40 years old so you may have some winners in there.

Knowing about what the value is before you sell is best way. You could have a local stamp dealer look, or you could just look some of the stamps up on line at some stamp site. Then decide.

[TiasTreasures]

Wow, you sound like me! Inherited thousands of them. I joined a couple of stamp collector forums and asked a lot of questions.
1) If your stamps, like ours, were not mounted in albums, they won't have hinge marks and that's very, very good. Make sure you mention in every listing. NH or MNH in the title, "no hinge marks" in the description.
2) Collectors prefer single stamps or complete sets. If you have the first six in an issue of seven, it's unlikely anyone will buy the short set.
3) If the stamps you have are already identified with the catalog number, that's great. Otherwise, you're going to have to look them up and include them in the title because the country plus the catalog number is the unique identifier used in searches.
4) The prices listed in catalogs are about right for a brick-and-mortar stamp shop. Online sellers don't have as much overhead, so they should sell for less on the internet. I get prices from a variety of websites (there are a LOT of sites specializing in stamps), and then undercut them by a small bit (5 or 10 percent), and pretty much ignore the catalog value.
5) If you decide to give a shipping discount for multiple purchases, make it clear that the discounted shipping only applies if they wait for your invoice and make only one payment. If they pay for each one invidivually, using PayPal, you're going to get nailed for a 30 cent transaction fee for each stamp. Since many of them are very low-value, you lose money on any stamp selling for less than 30 cents.
6) I asked if I should bother listing the low priced stamps, and most collectors said I should because they often are missing one or two of the low-value ones, also they might buy a bunch in one order if there is a shipping discount. Some of them were beginners and said they preferred the cheaper stamps for now.

And good luck! It's actually kind of interesting doing the research, but you can go brain dead listing stamp after stamp from one country. I mix them up now so I stay awake.

[meebo1]

this has reminded me of my collection which is bried in the loft. I wonder if I have the courage to dig them out and list. The thought frightens me

[CarnoustieCats]

... stamps in loft? Me too

[bykimbo]

Wow, you sound like me! Inherited thousands of them. I joined a couple of stamp collector forums and asked a lot of questions. ✂ snip ✂

And good luck! It's actually kind of interesting doing the research, but you can go brain dead listing stamp after stamp from one country. I mix them up now so I stay awake.

What a super post, thank you. I've made a note of that elsewhere in case a box of stamps ever comes my way.

[meebo1]

fancy having a look in my loft?

[bykimbo]

fancy having a look in my loft?

LOL best offer I've had this week.

[meebo1]

It's a bit tricky to find the entrance, as it is located in my work room

[deltadelta48]

... stamps in loft? Me too

Me too. From the 1960s I think. Lots of blocks of unused from UK too. Maybe I am a millionaire and don't know it?