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Post by paulperger on Jul 2, 2024 1:21:49 GMT
I hope this is the correct place for posting a general question... I have been cataloguing my stamps into EZStamp and I have come up with a pretty good work flow. I have been logging about 500 stamps per day (only because I am logging my Father's collection in which he has every scott number hand written by each stamp...) In doing this I have noticed the following things about stamp values (supposedly Scott's values):
- Used F Stamps seem to have a minimum value of $0.11 (I have seen higher values, but none lower)
- MHF Stamps however seem to have a minimum value of $0.07
It seems to me that a MH stamp should be more valuable, or at least AS valuable as a Used stamp. But certainly not 40% less!
Am I missing something? |
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hdm1950
Member 
Posts: 1,798 
What I collect: I collect world wide up to 1965 with several specialty albums added due to volume of material I have acquired. At this point I am focused on Canada and British America. I am always on the lookout for stamps and covers with postmarks from communities in Queens County, Nova Scotia. I do list various goods including stamps occasionally on eBay as hdm50
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Post by hdm1950 on Jul 2, 2024 2:02:07 GMT
paulperger I cannot answer your question on how Scott sets their valuations but I can tell you that stamps listed at the minimum level in catalogues sell for a penny or less in the real world. I would avoid getting too hung up on values. Also VF examples are more the exception with most stamps falling in the fine category due to centering.
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philatelia
Member
Captain Jack - my best kiloware find ever!
Posts: 3,622
What I collect: Ireland, Japan, Scandy, USA, Venezuela, Vatican, Bermuda, Austria
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Post by philatelia on Jul 2, 2024 4:40:15 GMT
paulperger I cannot answer your question on how Scott sets their valuations but I can tell you that stamps listed at the minimum level in catalogues sell for a penny or less in the real world. I would avoid getting too hung up on values. Also VF examples are more the exception with most stamps falling in the fine category due to centering. Agree completely. The minimum values are only applicable when a stamp dealer is selling stamps one by one as when filling a wantlst, for example. That is to compensate them for the time to handle a single stamp. When pricing collections and accumulations, those minimum values do not apply and, as Hugh noted, will be priced at a penny or less. I sell pages of stamps with a total catalog value of around $100 starting at a dollar or two. The best way to estimate value is to look at SOLD prices on sites such as EBay. If you click on the link below in my signature you can see my eBay lots to get a feel for real world prices that actually SELL. FYI - I’m not a dealer, I’m only selling my duplicates. MH is a tough sell and I price them at a very low percentage. Scott will note cutoff dates for when prices are for MNH material. After those dates, hinged are sharply discounted. It may seem silly, but that’s the current demand. In many cases, the used value may outpace MH because of the historical interest in the city / date cancels. Classic material is another matter. Generally, the more expensive or unusual the stamp, the more pricing changes. It gets complicated -again look at the SOLD prices to better understand the market. |
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Post by paulperger on Jul 2, 2024 14:05:09 GMT
paulperger I cannot answer your question on how Scott sets their valuations but I can tell you that stamps listed at the minimum level in catalogues sell for a penny or less in the real world. I would avoid getting too hung up on values. Also VF examples are more the exception with most stamps falling in the fine category due to centering. Thanks for the information. I actually meant to put F, not VF, and corrected the original post to reflect that. |
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Post by paulperger on Jul 2, 2024 14:10:26 GMT
paulperger I cannot answer your question on how Scott sets their valuations but I can tell you that stamps listed at the minimum level in catalogues sell for a penny or less in the real world. I would avoid getting too hung up on values. Also VF examples are more the exception with most stamps falling in the fine category due to centering. Agree completely. The minimum values are only applicable when a stamp dealer is selling stamps one by one as when filling a wantlst, for example. That is to compensate them for the time to handle a single stamp. When pricing collections and accumulations, those minimum values do not apply and, as Hugh noted, will be priced at a penny or less. I sell pages of stamps with a total catalog value of around $100 starting at a dollar or two. The best way to estimate value is to look at SOLD prices on sites such as EBay. If you click on the link below in my signature you can see my eBay lots to get a feel for real world prices that actually SELL. FYI - I’m not a dealer, I’m only selling my duplicates. MH is a tough sell and I price them at a very low percentage. Scott will note cutoff dates for when prices are for MNH material. After those dates, hinged are sharply discounted. It may seem silly, but that’s the current demand. In many cases, the used value may outpace MH because of the historical interest in the city / date cancels. Classic material is another matter. Generally, the more expensive or unusual the stamp, the more pricing changes. It gets complicated -again look at the SOLD prices to better understand the market. Thank You... When I am ready to sell, I will definitely look at the market and price accordingly.
I have found a few perfectly mint condition stamps that were hinged and have found that hinged vs never hinged can have HUGE value variances. I have to keep reminding myself that most of these stamps I am going through right now were collected 40+ years ago when hinging was the norm.
Thanks for your input. I'm learning every day!!
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philatelia
Member
Captain Jack - my best kiloware find ever!
Posts: 3,622
What I collect: Ireland, Japan, Scandy, USA, Venezuela, Vatican, Bermuda, Austria
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Post by philatelia on Jul 2, 2024 14:56:18 GMT
Trust me, if you collect stamps you never stop learning. It’s a fascinating, limitless hobby for curious minds. And - folks here are happy to answer questions!
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hdm1950
Member
Posts: 1,798
What I collect: I collect world wide up to 1965 with several specialty albums added due to volume of material I have acquired. At this point I am focused on Canada and British America. I am always on the lookout for stamps and covers with postmarks from communities in Queens County, Nova Scotia. I do list various goods including stamps occasionally on eBay as hdm50
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Post by hdm1950 on Jul 2, 2024 15:47:14 GMT
paulperger I am really hoping that as you go through this process you may get the bug and become a collector. With so much material I am sure there will be heavy duplication that could be sold off. If your intention is too just sell the whole collection I doubt you will get very much return on your efforts to document everything. You will probably do just as well finding a reputable stamp auction house to lot and sell the collection for you. A good one would take the time to find better items to list separately. The bulk of what you have will sell for less than 10% of catalogue. Like most collecting the pleasure is in the hunt and not about the value. I will repeat, I am hoping you will become a collector and will sell the duplications to finance the hunt to fill holes in the main collection. This is not meant to discourage you, just to help you in deciding how best to spend the time. Enjoy!
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Post by paulperger on Jul 3, 2024 1:19:20 GMT
paulperger I am really hoping that as you go through this process you may get the bug and become a collector. With so much material I am sure there will be heavy duplication that could be sold off. If your intention is too just sell the whole collection I doubt you will get very much return on your efforts to document everything. You will probably do just as well finding a reputable stamp auction house to lot and sell the collection for you. A good one would take the time to find better items to list separately. The bulk of what you have will sell for less than 10% of catalogue. Like most collecting the pleasure is in the hunt and not about the value. I will repeat, I am hoping you will become a collector and will sell the duplications to finance the hunt to fill holes in the main collection. This is not meant to discourage you, just to help you in deciding how best to spend the time. Enjoy! I am already catching the bug... I joined the local stamp club and went to my first meeting tonight. I happened to log a bunch of shield stamps from Spain yesterday, but Dad is missing about half of them. Tonight at the meeting what came up for auction but a lot of 250 stamps including a full set of those shield stamps!! Guess what I bought... I swore I was not going to buy any more, Dad has plenty, but I just had to buy those and pray the missing stamps in Dad's collection are in that lot. I just know Dad would have loved to seen those pages complete.
I will definitely keep some, in fact, the effort of logging them is to help me decide what I want to keep, as well as how to sell what I am going to sell. I have already decided I am going to start a "Memory Collection" and pull out stamps that remind me of Dad and Grandpa. I am going to frame some for each of my boys and myself, and then keep a binder or two full of stamps that mean something, but the rest will be sold.
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