Old Postage Stamps Album Question

[Drmad7]

The deal is probably offering you 50% of what he expects to sell it for. You wrote that you've done business with him before. While you might get $1,000 on eBay - you might not. Subtract the $150 valuation fee you owe him and you're back where you started at the $850 sales price.

My goal buying on eBay is to never pay more than 25% of what I think something would sell for unless (1) It's rare and for my collection; or (2) It's about $20 or less and I just want it. It looks to me like there are a heckofa lot more stamp collectors in Europe than in the US of A. What would it cost you - and what risks would you be taking - shipping that album overseas?

There's an old Wall Street saying: "Bulls make money; bears make money. Pigs get slaughtered."

This is not to call you a pig. My point is a sale for $850 is a very nice return on your investment. Obviously you have a good eye and know how to buy low and sell high. What is the "opportunity cost" of not taking the $850? You can spend a month selling the album on eBay and, as pointed out above, you might make more or you might not.

In the meantime, what have you not been able to purchase and sell because your money - and potential profits - are tied up in this venture?

One more old saying because I'm an old man - "A fast nickel beats a slow dime."

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo, CM

And you got me with that "fast nickel slow dime". That is me on most things. I've gotten away from it recently and I have too much "slow nickel" crap on eBay right now! I'm meeting with him in a few hours and running out with the cash. He does coins and gold too I think...I MIGHT see about a partial trade for some gold. I keep selling the scrap I find.

 

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[FC-Treasure]

Ok, so if a dealer is offering you $800, then that means there is substantially more profit than that in the album. Did he mention what his target profit margins are? I usually try to target at least 30% return after fees, but I'm kind of honest and generally feel bad for taking advantage of people. BTW, in the future, I would always take pictures of every page in the album and post an eBay auction with a reserve price that ensured profitability after fees. Collector's go crazy over someone who doesn't understand stamps posting an album. They will scan at least the first 10 pictures, then flip to the "back of book" early stamps as well.

When I take pics of entire albums for eBay, I like to group all pages with pre 1900 stamps together, but group them, e.g. back of book together, airmails together, regular issues together, etc. I take pictures of everything. If there are a lot of mint stamps along with older issues, I tally the face value and make sure the reserve has the face value + some bonus amount.

I would like to see some pics, just because I like stamps and can offer a bit of advice. To me, only stamps pre 1900 are interesting, that's where the insane value comes in, (caveat) unless you have some 1930's Zeppelin stamps. If you see pre-1900 stamps with values above say, 30 cents, then that is a real indicator of possible catalog value. Sometimes just the first five pages in an album can tell a lot...

Mint stamps (e.g. no cancels) pre-1900 are another indicator of value. Also, if the album is created using hingless mounts, then that means possibly more buying power by the collector.

99.99% of stamp albums are crap, but if the collector was really into the hobby, had buying power, or was collecting at the start of the 20th century, then there could be absolutely amazing things...

Oh, edit: An auction title like : xx% complete album with 19th century issues - (And put a tag line here that sucks them in by letting them know you don't know stamps. Also say the same in the first few lines in the description) Not sure what the tag line would be, but anything that lets them know you stumbled across the find and it hasn't been picked over by a dealer. So one of the things dealers like to do is buy an album, grab any of the high value, high quality stamps, then list the rest of the album on eBay.

 

[bill from lachine]

FC,

I've been dabbling on and off with stamps since the early 1980's and as you said most collections are just common run of the mill stuff and mixed condition to boot and this comes from looking over collections for friends thinking they are going to hit the jackpot with an old collection they have lying around.....lol.

Up front I generally tell them that most of the old time collections ain't worth much as they were mostly put together using penny approvals back in the day.....there's the odd exception as my wife is in the process of liquidating an old British Commonwealth collection for a friend that has some nice value.....since she's doing it for 20% of net it won't make her rich with the hours she's put into it so far but a nice little winter project nonetheless.

Regards + HH

Bill

 

[FC-Treasure]

I was going to PM the OP with this, but I figured I should post it as it might help someone else.

Just a word of warning, collections can have their early stamps filled but they can all be worth less than 10% of catalog value if they are ripped, have "thins", are really dirty, or horribly off center, etc. I bought a collection once and it had lots of early issues, but they were all "fillers" and I almost over paid.

Here are some easy ways to spot value... This is a famous issue. If the stamp values go beyond .10 cents, then the collector may have had buying power. If they are mint beyond 2 cents, then buying power. If you have the $1 and $2 stamps, then probably stop the sale, the album is going to have value. The $1 stamp is called "cattle in the storm" and it gets collector's excited.

United States Stamp Values - 1898 Trans-Mississippi Exhibition Issue

Here is another easy one to diagnose, the $1, $2, $3, $4, and $5 stamps get collectors excited

United States Stamp Values - 1893 Columbian Issue

Here is another easy one I mentioned, the Graf Zeppelin (mid way down the page, 1930 issue). Don't get it confused with the 1933... Graph Zeppelin's get collectors excited.

United States Stamp Values - 1918-1948 Airmail Issues - Includes Curtiss Jenny and Graf Zeppelin

Ok, one more easy one, the bottom set of pictures here, note anything used after the 12 cents is valuable. 1869 pictorials after 12 cents get collectors excited.

United States Stamp Values - Civil War Era and the 1869 Pictorials

Here is another one (back of book) that I like. The value is in 75 cents and 1 dollar mostly if they are mint. Seeing the full, mint set of these gets some collectors excited. (back of book people)

SCOTT #Q1-Q12 MINT 1913 PARCEL POST COMPLETE SET CV $1,005.75 | eBay


So I picked the above stamps because they are easy to spot and don't have "lesser" valued versions.

Note: your album can be valuable without these stamps. I'm just listing these as a fairly clear indicator that you need to do more research if they are present. Think of it as a test to ensure you are not getting robbed blind.

Hope this helps

 

[Drmad7]

Thanks for all the info...I'll keep it in mind. I took the $850 for a $820 cash profit. He said several of the stamps were regummed , cut, and bleached but had he had a buyer for just above $1000. He said he would not have bought the stamps without a buyer already available. He doesn't sell on eBay but uses their sold prices for research. So I'm happy either way. He also told me "Stay away from stamps unless they are as cheap as you paid for this album." LOL

 

[Old Bookaroo]

Several years an antique/furniture/junk store opened in our town and as my Mother used to say, they do a "land office business." In-and-out. In-and-out. They don't want to sit on it. They want to sell it. Place is so full of stuff you're lucky to find you way from one "aisle" to the other, but they do move the goods!

Then there was a bookstore that was about 75% garbage. Books floor to ceiling - everywhere - and over half of them you couldn't give away. The gentleman ran it as a hobby. His wife had a good job and supported him. I'm very sure he wasn't paying half the bills from selling books!

I asked him one day why he didn't have a $1 or fifty cent sale and clear the place out and start his inventory over. He didn't get it.

The place finally closed and it was still full of books nobody would want.

Two very different ways of doing business...

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo, CM

 

[FC-Treasure]

Thanks for all the info...I'll keep it in mind. I took the $850 for a $820 cash profit. He said several of the stamps were regummed , cut, and bleached but had he had a buyer for just above $1000. He said he would not have bought the stamps without a buyer already available. He doesn't sell on eBay but uses their sold prices for research. So I'm happy either way. He also told me "Stay away from stamps unless they are as cheap as you paid for this album." LOL

Sounds good, I'm glad you made such a healthy profit so quickly. Too bad I didn't get to see, sounds like you had some interesting stuff in the collection.

 

[Drmad7]

Yep....I'll still wonder every now and then if those stamps were awesome or not. I ended up buying 1/10 Gold coin at retail and an old Omega F300hz for $80 before I left his shop.

 

[FC-Treasure]

Yep....I'll still wonder every now and then if those stamps were awesome or not.

Hard to say. I can tell you the people don't re-gum or re-perf cheap categories of stamps. The removal of cancels can turn a super cheap stamp into an expensive "looking" stamp. The removing perforations and turning a stamp into something called an imperforate stamp can also make a cheap stamp "look" expensive.

For the really old stamps, modifying the perfs was kindof common in order to give a more symmetrical appearance. I've also heard of fakes having the spacing of their perfs modified to create a more expensive version.

So the dealers comments imply that, at least on the surface, your collection had some items that appeared to have quite a bit of value.

 

[jerseyben]

Several years an antique/furniture/junk store opened in our town and as my Mother used to say, they do a "land office business." In-and-out. In-and-out. They don't want to sit on it. They want to sell it. Place is so full of stuff you're lucky to find you way from one "aisle" to the other, but they do move the goods!

Then there was a bookstore that was about 75% garbage. Books floor to ceiling - everywhere - and over half of them you couldn't give away. The gentleman ran it as a hobby. His wife had a good job and supported him. I'm very sure he wasn't paying half the bills from selling books!

I asked him one day why he didn't have a $1 or fifty cent sale and clear the place out and start his inventory over. He didn't get it.

The place finally closed and it was still full of books nobody would want.

Two very different ways of doing business...

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo, CM

Brilliant advice!

I also really like your "MATA" slogan!

 

[AlienLifeForm]

Thanks for all the info...I'll keep it in mind. I took the $850 for a $820 cash profit. He said several of the stamps were regummed , cut, and bleached but had he had a buyer for just above $1000. He said he would not have bought the stamps without a buyer already available. He doesn't sell on eBay but uses their sold prices for research. So I'm happy either way. He also told me "Stay away from stamps unless they are as cheap as you paid for this album." LOL

I think you did good - I would've done the same and giggled all the way to the bank. Excellent R.O.I.!

 

[OldSowBreath]

All good advice. Personally, I've given up on stamps (and baseball cards). Stamps are dying out. There will always be the hardcore, dedicated people (think Queen Elizabeth), but in going through ebay trying to research the stamps I've bought at estates sales in the past several years, I've always been burned. Always. And I notice that most of the ones that do have value sell for 1/5 to 1/6 of catalog. Plus grading is everything - some old guy with a high powered magnifier is going to downgrade your stamp because one of the perforation tabs is bent. I would say, unless you really know what you are doing and prepared to do lots of research, take the money and move on.

 

[vwayne1]

I got tired of looking through all the comments, so this might have already been said. But please, please never ever sell to a dealer that makes you an offer. They work just like you do, they buy low and sell high. And they have to make even more money usually considering their overhead. So if he offered you be $850 you know it's worth much more.

 

[bill from lachine]

vwayne,

You do have a valid point....the problem is most people who want to flip a collection don't have the same contact list and customer base as a full time dealer.

They buy a decent collection and odds are they already have a client or contact in mind who'll take it off their hands for a tidy profit unlike most of the general public/collectors.

Regards + HH

Bill

I got tired of looking through all the comments, so this might have already been said. But please, please never ever sell to a dealer that makes you an offer. They work just like you do, they buy low and sell high. And they have to make even more money usually considering their overhead. So if he offered you be $850 you know it's worth much more.

 

[jerseyben]

I got tired of looking through all the comments, so this might have already been said. But please, please never ever sell to a dealer that makes you an offer. They work just like you do, they buy low and sell high. And they have to make even more money usually considering their overhead. So if he offered you be $850 you know it's worth much more.

That would be good advice for a rookie or someone who has no idea what they are doing. However, for all of the reasons stated in this thread, it can be a viable option, if you take the time to properly analyze your situation.

 

[FC-Treasure]

So here is what I thought when the OP said he already had a buyer lined up. I immediately thought the dealer was flipping the collection by selling it to a smaller regional philatelic auction house that runs quarterly online & in-person auctions. Something like Vance Auctions in Canada. https://www.vanceauctions.com

Collections tend to not stay in one piece as they are passed around from buyer -> seller. Sometimes you can extract 1-3 stamps, make $500 - $1,000 dollars AND flip the remainder for a profit. You can't do this though unless you have a lot of knowledge. So when the dealer said he was selling the collection for $1,000, that might have been true. What he might of failed to mention was that he was going to extract a few stamps prior to the flip.

So a dealer might yank a few truly exceptional items over the course of a year or two, then list them in an auction where very wealthy collectors will be present. Something like the Sotheby's stamp auction. Postage Stamp Auction Department | Sotheby's

As with any collector niche, knowledge is power. I do think the OP did quite well considering the circumstances. Was there more to be made? Yes, almost certainly. That's why I mentioned an eBay auction with pictures of every page embedded in the body of the auction. You set a 99 cent opening bid with a high reserve ($1,000?) and see what happens. On that front, here is someone on eBay right now who doesn't know stamps and is trying to figure out the correct price. They started at like $90K and keep lowering the price. It is at $30K right now, but the irony is that no-one will buy until it goes below $100 dollars. (nothing much of value pictured, not enough pictures, overall condition of material poor, and one of the pictures 1847 imperforate is from a modern souvenir sheet)

Scotts USA Stamp Collection Stamp 10 28 29 64 83 85 134 and is 75% filled MORE | eBay

Bottom line, unless you know the collection was assembled before 1900 or was owned by a very wealthy individual, or has a huge amount of face value, an opening bid above $5K won't make sense. (when trying to use eBay to ascertain value)

 

[Drmad7]

Kind of an update. I went to an auction I had apparently been missing out on that is 2 miles from my house. And who was there? The stamp dealer that bought my album. He didn't recognize me and I don't rush to make new friends before auctions. Turns out we both bid on a 10k gold fraternity pin. He bid me up and then stopped and jumped back in at the last minute and I still won it for $70.00. I was surprised because his shop is full of gold and coins and J knew the weight of the pin was pretty close to $90. I listed the pin two days ago and took a Best Offer of $490.00. It's worth more than that, but it's fast nickel time. I never scrap frat pins, they are worth more than their weight in gold!