Get the Best Deal When Selling Your Stamp Collection

Here's How:

1. First, the hardest part of the process that must be done before anything else: Remove yourself emotionally from the negotiations. Try to think like a dealer. He has bills to pay and business expenses that you didn't have in enjoying your collection. Remember that to you stamp collecting is a care-free hobby. To your dealer, it is a business and his livelihood -- he must make a profit. Although you may have built a relationship with your dealer that is “friendly”, when it comes down to buying and selling he is all business.
2. Try to catalog the collection -- or at least the better pieces in it -- before you meet with the dealer. When you have a basic idea of its current worth, which may be more or less than you paid for it, you have a starting point for your negotiations. But be aware that the offer you will receive will be a fraction of catalog value.
3. Try to sell to a dealer who specializes in the material you have. He has a ready clientele and can offer you more as he can move your material quickly. Such a dealer appreciates that he will not add to his overhead by holding your material over a long period of time and in turn may make you a better offer.
4. If you take your collection to a general stamp dealer who gives you a lowball offer on your specialized collection, speak up and tell him why you think he’s wrong. Stamp dealers know a little about a lot. You know a lot about a limited area of the collecting world. Whether you collect only U.S. revenues, butterflies on stamps or German semi-postals, you can give him a lesson. It's very possible that his new knowledge will pay off for you via a higher offer when he understands the true value of your material.
5. If you have a large collection make sure you put the better items where they won't be lost amongst the mass of common material that makes up nearly all collections. Dealers have limited time and might miss a better item if it isn't brought to their attention. Don't forget to mention any specialist material you may have in the collection -- misprints, errors, or other material out of the ordinary, though perhaps not obviously so. In short, make sure the dealer is aware of any premium material.
6. Don't expect to realize any financial return from the fancy albums your collection may be housed in. Dealers are buying your stamps, not your albums. You may be better off trying to sell a nice set of albums on eBay, while you sell the stamps to the dealer. Besides, chances are 99 out of 100 that he'll strip the better stamps out of the albums anyway.

Tips:

1. Saying goodbye can be tough if the collection is one you’ve put together lovingly over a period of years or is one left to you by a relative. But you must remove any expectations you’ve built up based on sentimental value. They won’t mean a thing to the dealer.
2. It is important to understand the difference between catalog value and actual value. Only the finest and most rare material sells for catalog value or for a premium. The shock of the difference between catalog value and the dealer's offer is the prime reason many come to the unjustified belief that dealers are crooks.
3. If a specialist dealer offers you less than you think is fair, feel free to ask him how he arrived at his evaluation. If you know your collection well enough, you'll understand his explanation for the discrepancy between what you expected and his offer. If you disagree and he won't budge, feel free to get a second opinion. Or just go elsewhere.

What You Need

• A catalog or other reference works to get current value of your stamps
• A dealer who others have recommended or who you already trust
• Certainty that it is time to sell your collection
• Emotional distance from your collection to be able to sell without pain
• Realistic expectations of what you’ll receive for your collection