Selling Stamps on ebay - advice please

virgil_tracy

I've got a load of stamps I collected in the 1970s , I don't suppose there's any great rare ones , but I want to sell them but don't really know how to get an idea of value etc.

any advice ?

Myyrrddyn

Sell them as sets, this way they seem to sell better. Don't sell them as an album you can make more money selling as sets. But beware there is a large market out there, and selling your sets is only done if someone is actually looking for what you are selling.

BarntheBarn

If they are modern UK currency you'll almost certainly be better off sticking them on items you post.

virgil_tracy

well there's some old ones , 1940s 50s etc. some foreign , but I reckon I need to find a way of figuring out which ones are worth trying to sell .

hermum

completed listings on ebay will give you an idea of whether any of them are worth the hassle.

tazziegirl_2

I was lucky to have an old copy of a stanley gibbons stamp catalogue when i sold some stamps a while back (and I just used the highest value as a guide as the catalogue was 20 years old, (although this doesn't always work in terms of collectability ,) you might find a copy at the library (?!) they were a bit older than 40s/50s though, which are more mass produced and less likely to have rarity/collector value. But it was a slog to go through and identify them. I also found doing a google search was helpful., just to get a current idea of prices.

worbikeman

virgil_tracy wrote: »

I've got a load of stamps I collected in the 1970s , I don't suppose there's any great rare ones , but I want to sell them but don't really know how to get an idea of value etc.

any advice ?

Stanley Gibbons catalogues in the reference library are the best way if you dont own a relevant up-to-date copy. A good general rule-of-thumb is to reckon between a fifth to a tenth of current SG prices as a realistic guide to ebay value. Bear in mind that with stamps CONDITION IS EVERYTHING - damaged/torn/dirty/thinned/sellotaped/perfs missing stamps are effectively worthless. It's best to remove the stamps and examine them for faults as buyers will not be happy if they're less than expected.
Also, as Hermum says, compare yours with the same ones already listed on ebay.
BarntheBarn is right - generally speaking GB decimal mint stamps have no more value than face, pre-decimal mint even less (unless the Queen's head is missing!) and 'used' a lot less than that.