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I am looking for an overall valuation for a stamp album to see what it might be worth for a trade. (not a stampboards member)

I have been sent a few pages and see that they seem to be mostly stamps from the 60's and early 70's with a few mid-century ones as well. I have been told it has stamps world-side , and can see that it is a child-hood collection mostly of the big, bright stamps of the time.

The pages are foxing, but the stamps seem o.k. They are hinged and a few were stuck right to the paper.

I am not sure how many pages, but it is described as world-wide and a few covers. I realize there isn't much to go on, but some general idea of value would be appreciated.

Evelyn .. I'd offer $1 for this utter rubbish and leave it in the bottom of a carton, but my appraisals are often on the generous side.

Glen

When somebody shows me a collection like this, I generally recommend that they give it away to a youngster and maybe spark an interest.

As Glen has so diplomatically stated, there really is no commercial value here.

When I get collections like this in the door, I generally suggest they give it to the KIds as a Startup collection, and show them some similar that I have in my junk box ready to put in the next suitcase,,as I really have enough of that type of 5c material.

The covers are only 25c covers and the stamps are only 5c which is more of a handling cost than value,,,SORRY.

Agreed

A slightly subtle way to approach it may be to suggest that, although the monetary value is low, it would be worth much more to the family as something to remember "Grandpa" by, and have an "educational" value for the children

Sadly, this is a common situation with non-collectors who assume any "old" stamps are worth a small fortune...

On average I get 2 or 3 daydreamer lots like this above (but much larger) posted to me each week - every week - every year - every decade.

Friday I got 2 x heavy Asian stockbooks some genius had mailed Regd from Qld each in separate packet - cost him $20 each .. crap Defin stamps used as franking of course.

$40 total waste.

I spell out CLEARLY on my buying page that they ALL read, to use high value commems, and I'll allow something for those, but of course they never do:

http://www.glenstephens.com/buying.html

So, several times a week I end up with near worthless junk, and you need to break the news to the owner of it.

I have a standard macro letter that covers 95% of these time wasting lots:

----------------------------

Dear xxxx

Thank you for your recent stamp sending.

I do advertise that I will buy anything stamp related, but I really must stress that what is of some value to a dealer is not necessarily the same kind of material that many collectors feel is of value!

Sadly I get forwarded an awful lot of material that is clearly cherished by the owner, but is just 'waste paper' more or less to a dealer. Often the cost of shipping it to me equates or exceeds its real market value, the way excessive postage rates are today.

I am always astounded that things that if looked up by the owner in a set of Stanley Gibbons world priced stamp catalogues – on hand FREE, in EVERY public library in the land, would clearly tell the owner were near totally worthless – yet are still mailed to me so often!

Many novices assume a stamp 70 years old is “old” thus “valuable”. WRONG. 1940 is quite MODERN in stamps. 1840 is old, and to this day you can still buy the UK 1841 issue for pennies each - retail.

I see a lot of old childhood stamp albums, lovingly assembled from 6 penny packets of colorful eastern bloc stamps and triangulars etc, purchased with pocket money from Woolworths etc.

And now riddled with tone or rust spots/foxing of course. A couple of 100 common letter rate value stamps from various countries all nearly arranged in small glassines or envelopes or cheap Asian stockbooks from K Mart etc. Or common stamps snipped or torn off mail long ago.

I get a lot of ‘pretty pictures’ issued by Australia Post etc decades ago, (packs/FDC/books) that seemingly half of Australia bought, as there was a “stamp boom” at the time. Pretty at the time – YES – but value today only very minor, as half of Australia still has them rotting away in wardrobes and garages!

Dealers get flooded with it, and there is near ZERO collector demand for it. The stamp auctions have 100s of lots of identical material each month.

This kind of material on its own is virtually unsaleable via a mail order dealership, as it is exceedingly common. And in 50 years time will still be exceedingly common – so there is little point in you holding onto it, as it takes up room and space, and attracts pests.

Silverfish and cockroaches infest collections very often, as they love the gum on stamps, and paper mites/book lice of course thrive in old paper, as they feed on mould and other organic material found in dampish paper of any kind.

Also those brown rust/toning/foxing spots caused by our Australian humidity diminishes the value, and of course such stamp material is a perfect target for thieves if you ever suffer a burglary.

Much of this material I end up with, I give to the youth co-ordinators at the various stamp clubs and philatelic societies I am in contact with, as my adult clients are often filling those youth nurturing roles and are always looking for common material they can pass on to youngsters to fiddle with and re-sort and re-house.

Or I amalgamate it into a large wine carton, and sell it for $70 the lot - for another collector to have fun sorting through all over again. Each one of my lists has such assorted mish-mash carton lots.

Stamp DEALING is a business. Stamp COLLECTING is a hobby.

Huge difference. Collectors think nothing of spending a few hours fossicking and sorting and arranging. For them it is pleasure, fun and enjoyment. For me it is WORK!

Bottom line - my time means money.

A jumbled hodge podge stamp lot that may have delighted and fascinated a collector usually represents a lot of chewed up TIME for me.

If I buy a used £2 Kangaroo for $400 and sell it for $500 it takes 5 or 10 minutes to lot it, put it on a stockcard, put it on my website and later on, mail it to a buyer. Even allowing for taxes, internet fees etc, this simple and smooth transaction turns a nice profit, and a GUARANTEED profit, as you can never be "stuck" with a used £2 Roo.

Unfortunately spending time on stamps of little value is a time burner. Receiving them, appraising them, contacting the owner in writing like this, and then possibly taking the time to pack and return them all chews up time. Often TEN times the time involved in buying and selling a single better stamp.

To be honest, what you have forwarded to me fits into the latter category - stamps that really have very limited "real" value to a dealer.

I can offer you $x for them, and we have a deal.

When selling parts of our youth we all value them higher personally, than they are worth to a dealer due to the sentiment. Whether they are old comics, old toys, old books, or old stamps. Bottom line – they do NOT have that same sentimental value to the next person.

If you'd like them returned - that is no problem at all. Cost of this is $X.

This often exceeds the market value of the stamps involved, but some collectors prefer to retain the stamps for sentimental value etc. Your call entirely.

Yours Sincerely,

Glen Stephens

Great letter ..Says it all.

Right! I appreciate the feedback! I didn't think it was worth much if anything. Now to break the news!

Evelyn

That letter is awesome... It sums up perfectly the reason I never became a stamp dealer (though I daydreamed it a lot at a time).

As an small business owner I understand time is money, but when it comes to stamps, I just perfectly lose all sense of time. I just spend 4 hours going through random "junk lot" of France - and succesfully addedd 18 new stamps to my France collection.

That would make a rather nice value per stamp if I counted the hours with my regular fee

I am a young collector, perhaps you could "salvage" them to me