Stamp collecting values you see in catalogs can vary dramatically from what dealers will pay you when buying your stamps, you’ve probably noticed if you’re experienced at collecting stamps. It’s important to understand the difference between the value of stamps on the dealer market and the value of stamps on the collector market. This article will help you understand the difference between dealer prices and collector prices, how to appraise your stamps accurately for each market, and how to get the most money when selling your stamps.

What Drives Stamp Collecting Values: Collectible Value vs. Commercial Value

Novice collectors often make the mistake of assuming that the prices they see in stamp catalogs are the prices they can expect when selling to dealers. They are inevitably disappointed when they are quoted prices far less than what they were expecting to get. This disappointment can be tempered by understanding the difference between the value of stamps to collectors and the value of stamps to dealers.

To a collector, the value of a stamp lies in its ability to fill a gap in a collection,  its rarity, its novelty, or its aesthetic value. We can call this type of value a stamp’s collectible value.

A dealer, on the other hand, specializes in providing such collectible values in exchange for compensation, which we can discuss in terms of commercial value to contrast with collectible value. The dealer’s compensation covers not just the collectible value of the stamps the dealer acquires, but the additional service the dealer renders in acquiring collectible stamps, making them available to collectors, and acting as a middleman helping collectors sell their stamps to other collectors.

Out of the compensation the dealer gets, they must cover expenses such as the costs of buying stamps, renting space to store stamps, packaging stamps, shipping stamps, advertising, renting space at stamp conventions, and renting space online. What is left over after all this is paid for is the dealer’s profit margin.

In short, a dealer cannot afford to buy stamps at the same price they sell them, because if they did, their additional expenses would soon put them out of business. Nor should they be expected to buy stamps at the same price they sell them: they are providing the additional service of procuring stamps, over and above the stamps themselves, and they deserve to profit from providing this service.

A dealer is like a wholesaler who buys in bulk and sells at retail. It would not make business sense for a wholesaler to buy at retail price and sell at the same price, and it would be a mistake to approach them expecting them to buy at retail.

But this is precisely the mistake novice stamp collectors typically make when trying to sell their stamps. In order for a stamp collector to make a profit buying and selling stamps, they must learn to think of dealers as one market and collectors as another, and realize that the prices for these markets are different.

Appraising for the Dealer Market vs. the Collector Market

With the distinction between the dealer market and the collector market in mind, it immediately becomes obvious that stamp catalog prices are describing prices for the collector’s market. To get an appraisal of what stamps are selling for on the dealer market, we must look elsewhere.

Where can you look to find what dealers are paying? A good place to start is ads where dealers are offering to buy stamps. These can be found in stamp magazines and on stamp websites. These ads will tell you not only prices, but also what is trendy and likely to increase in value on both the dealer and the collector market. If you don’t see something in demand in ads, that also tells you dealers aren’t especially interested in it at the moment. In that case, expect that dealers are likely to pay less than one third the going price on the collector market.

For appraising prices on the collector market, a good place to go is the Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue series.
Scott 2012 Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue Volume 1 These books are a bit pricy if you’re not a professional dealer, so the best place to view them is at your local library. If you lack access to this, you can look at online catalogs, pricing sites, and auction sites to get a sense of what collectors are paying.

Selling to Dealers vs. Selling to Collectors

When selling to dealers, first of all, realize that you’re not going to get more than a third of the collector price for most of your items. Knowing this going in allows you to be realistic instead of getting taken off guard when you’re surprised by a lower offer than you were expecting.

You stand the best chance of getting a good price if your collection includes some high-value stamps. You can offer the high-value stamps at closer to the price a collector would pay, since due to the high price, the dealer still stands to make a decent profit margin even if they pay a higher price than they normally would.

You can offer to sell your high-value items by themselves. Or, as a condition of selling your higher-priced items below market value, you can also offer to include your lower-priced items for a slightly higher price than the dealer would normally pay, in exchange for the profit margin they will receive from reselling your higher-priced items. This earns you more than you would normally earn by selling to a dealer, but still makes good business sense from their perspective.

When approaching a dealer to sell your stamps, if possible, seek out a dealer who specializes in the type of stamps you’re selling. They will be able to resell your stamps at a higher value if they are in touch with collectors who have a special demand for the type of stamp you’re selling. This means that in turn, they can afford to pay you more.

Your other major option is to cut the dealer out as the middleman and sell directly to collectors yourself. The easiest way to do this is by placing classified ads on auction sites like eBay and in other places frequented by collectors.

When selling through these venues, follow good sales rules. For online venues, a scanned image of your ad will show up much better than a digital photo. Describe your item using attractive-sounding copy. Be accurate.  Describe the condition, including any defects, which adds credibility and avoids unhappy customer reviews. Lay out your shipping method and price. State your return and refund policy. Make it clear what payment method they should use to pay you. Track similar auctions in order to get a sense of what price you should start your auction at and how long you should let it run. Notify winners and process orders and shipments promptly. If you follow these principles, you can be successful at selling stamps online without dealing with a dealer.

Worthy Associations for Stamp Dealers

American Stamp Dealers Association
American Philatelic Society
IPDA (Internet)

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