Question on stamp evaluation

ajaan

My late uncle accumulated a lot of stamps. Some 'modern' (post-1940) but many older. My cousin is planning on selling his 'hoard' for the estate.

My question, how much off 'book' value do dealers usually pay for stamps? She was told generally 20% of book value is the going rate. Is this about right? She, and I, know next to nothing about the stamp market so we would like to know if this is accurate.

Also, my late uncle had in excess of $10,000 face value of unused stamps from 1940-2005. We were told the going rate for unused stamps is 80% face. Is this also accurate.

Any light you can shed on this is greatly appreciated.

P.S. the estate wants to sell the stamps as a group so eBay is really out of the question.

dougwtx

Are they worldwide or US? 20-30% of cat is sometimes normal for dealers buying US collections. It could be less for foreign even down to 3-5%. It all comes down to the type/quality of the collection and what is hot/not hot for that dealer. Dealers and collectors can do quick glances and get an idea of the collection.

80% of face is fair. Some dealers sell around that amount so I know they have to buy lower than that.

An auction house might take it off your hands too on consignment.

ajaan

Thanks, I should have mentioned they are all US stamps.

StampAlarm

80% for $10K of unused modern stamps may be high. 50%-60% if selling bulk.

In the last Shreves auction...pre-Spinks...$54K worth went for around $24K

The only way to make any money out of a bulk like your uncle accumulated is to go through and 'try' to pick out 100 J's.

LouisCamp

Well that 54k face lot was a bit big, wouldn't you agree? How many people want to shell out that much money for a face lot? Same story with large intact collections at auction, how many collectors want to spend 30k on a collection. It's basically a wholesale lot for the larger dealers to buy and break down. Been there, seen it happen thousands of times.

Lou