Confused by wildly varying stamp prices?

[termitex2000]

Hi All,

I am trying to work out how to sell my granfathers stamp collection. There are quite a few Australian pre-decimal stamps.

The problem is, when i look up a particular stamp, for example; King George VI,  2 1/2D - Red, i am seeing prices from $9000.00 to $45.00 dollars,,, no distinguishable difference in the stamps as far as i can see, so, What the bleep is going on??

Any advice greatly appreciated?

[paper-jack]

I'd consider contacting the Australian Philatelic Federation (APF)  first, ie before considering Ebay. Get some advice from experts on stamps.

[imastawka]

I'd do as advised but read here before selling please.

If you're not registered for Managed Payments, ebay will have nowhere to send your money.

Registering as a seller | eBay

[termitex2000]

Yep, the Australian Philatelic Federation was the first place i looked, but the branch in Sydney says closed until further notice. But i suppose i can try the national website?

I really just want to understand the values of the stamps, since i would rather keep all the stamps of too low value. And i do not particularly trust stamp dealers blindly, so i do want to have some basic understanding of the value first. But dealers got to lowball me on price since that is how they make a living, so seems like Ebay is the way to go.

[davewil1964]

What is the condition of the $45 stamp vis a vis the $9000 one?

Is $9000 a realistic price for such a stamp? There are many optimists who don't know how to assess value.

What does google say?

Or go to a philatelist. Valuable stamps are not something I would try to sell on eBay. Really valuable ones should go through an auction; the rest probably through a stamp seller.

[sugar249]

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@termitex2000 wrote:

I really just want to understand the values of the stamps, since i would rather keep all the stamps of too low value. And i do not particularly trust stamp dealers blindly, so i do want to have some basic understanding of the value first. But dealers got to lowball me on price since that is how they make a living, so seems like Ebay is the way to go.

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I am concerned for your thinking. 

You would rather trust Ebay over a stamp dealer!!!!!!!!!!  Yes a stamp dealer will have to buy it cheaper than the retail price,  but really to trust Ebay.

[termitex2000]

If you enter this exact phrase on Ebay, you will see what i mean;

"Australian king george vi stamps"

I am not getting a sense that any of my stamps are 'really' valuable aside from wild prices on Ebay which i am leaning towards thinking are total BS.

[termitex2000]

What i said was "I do not particularly trust stamp dealers blindly" ... you seem to have overlooked the word 'blindly' ... it means i would not trust a dealer while knowing absolutely nothing about the value of my stamps. And the whole reason for this thread is because i cannot trust the stamp values i am seeing on Ebay! lol

[eol-products]

Just look at the sold list for what they are worth. 

You also need to know the postage value of the stamp and year as many early stamps where produced with the same design over a long period of time. 

[numismatichemist · Accepted solution]

EBay is full of nutcases: from "Facebook fools" who pay a high price for small change, to hopefuls who are convinced their trash is treasure,  to criminals who are using bogus eBay listings to launder money. EBay used to be a pretty good source of "current market value", but the crazies are making things difficult for us. I'm seeing it in coins as well as stamps, and probably in other collectables categories.

Suggestion: for any one given stamp type, look at eBay Sold Items (not the For Sale listings, the completed sales) to filter out most of the crazy junk, then take the lowest three sale prices and average them. That's a more realistic "actual market value" for your stamp. Even on eBay, a truly valuable stamp isn't going to be selling for 99 cents.