How Much Do Your Stamps Really Cost?

How Much Do Your Stamps Really Cost?

Are you curious how much your stamp collection may cost? Oftentimes, when people get the stamp collection as an inheritance, they are interested if their collection has a real value. To know this, you need to answer the questions below to analyse what’s your collection really worth.

Do your stamps come from a serious collector?

Most often people get their grandfather's stamp collection or end up inheriting stamp binders in one way or another. Well of course, they will ask themselves whether they really have “gold at their fingertips”. So, the first thing to know is whether your stamps come from a serious and professional collector. Wh ere did you inherit these stamps from? If your collector was just an amateur, there is a low chance the stamps in his collection are really expensive. Professional collectors are more likely to have undertaken perilous research to obtain the finest stamps. And that often explains their high values.

What condition are your stamps in?

Do your Stamps look like new ones? Stamps fade and suffer with the time and when stored in wet places, for instance. If they are not stored properly, they can deteriorate. And this is the main thing with any collection - the better the state of the conservation is, the greater is the value. The quality of the stamps generally speaks a lot about the seriousness of the collector who had taken all the reasonable care to protect his investments in the best possible conditions.

What do you already know about your stamps?

Sometimes a lot of information about your stamps is already available on the Internet. Perhaps, you can find it in the rating catalogues, or maybe your stamps have already been evaluated on the market. Such information will be helpful to give you the idea of the current value of your stamps. If you want to place your stamps at the auction, it’s highly recommended you study carefully the information about them first. In addition, you can also look at the results of the past sales/auctions with these stamps. It is essential to compare stamp sales in the similar conservation state. The same stamps as new and impeccable ones will always be sold on a more expensive price.

Are your stamps really rare?

Like comics, paintings, or any other category of collectibles, stamps rarity determines the value. Rare stamps will systematically have a higher value. And, depending on the level of rarity, their state may even not have so much importance. An extremely rare stamp is likely to be valuable and the state of conservation may not be number 1 priority. All in all, a very rare stamp in an impeccable state is a real treasure.

How often do collectors seek your stamps?

It is very important to consider how often collectors seek your stamps. Being rare doesn’t always mean “valuable”. And this is the basic principle: the demand influences the price. That is why, in most cases, rare stamps from Africa or South America will have a different value than those from Germany or China which collectors seek more than the first ones. If collectors and investors often seek your stamps there is a great chance their sale will be successful.

And finally…. are your stamps … authentic?

Now that you have mastered some basic steps to properly evaluate your stamps, take our last piece of advice. Authenticity remains the essential quality of your stamps. If you think you possess a highly valuable stamp, it's important it has a proper expertise. Of course, you can always turn to stamp experts to clear the things out. You will learn about the authenticity and the potential value of your stamps. You will not only determine their authenticity, but this will also allow you to sell them at better prices. If your potential buyer sees a professional certificate of authentication, naturally, he will be willing to pay more for your stamps.

We hope our advice will be of a great help to you when you take a closer look at your stamp collection. It would be great if you could take it as an advantage for the auction.