Selling Stamps: Frequently Asked Questions

By selling to a dealer, through an auction, or directly to other collectors. The best route depends on what you have. Our guide on how to sell stamps sets out the options.

Find out what you have. You cannot choose the right route, or sell well, without knowing your stamps and their likely value. Our free valuation gives you an honest assessment at no obligation.

No. The size of a collection does not determine its value; a small collection can be worth more than a large one. Value comes from what the stamps are and their condition.

It depends on the material. Rare and valuable stamps usually do best at a specialist auction; common and moderate material is often best sold to a dealer or directly. Our guide to where to sell weighs the routes.

For rare and valuable stamps, auction, where collectors compete to buy. For common and moderate material, a dealer or direct sale, since auction fees and effort can outweigh the gain. Our auction versus dealer guide compares them.

Yes, on online marketplaces, which reach many collectors and can realise good prices for individual and moderate stamps, but it takes time and care. Our guide to selling online explains how.

Find out what you have, identify the better items, and choose the right route for each, the best stamps where they shine, the rest grouped. Our guide to how to sell a collection takes you through it.

A wholesale price, below retail or catalogue value, because the dealer must resell at cost and risk. The figure depends on saleability, condition and demand. Our guide on what a dealer pays explains it honestly.

Because catalogue value is a guide well above actual selling prices, and a dealer must resell the stamp, paying the costs and carrying the risk of doing so. Our catalogue value versus market value guide explains the gap.

The main cost is the seller's commission, a percentage of the hammer price, with possible smaller charges. These vary by house. Our guide to selling at auction covers it.

Find out what you have, match the route to the material, present the stamps honestly in original condition, sell better stamps individually, and be patient. Our best-price guide sets out how.

We buy quality stamps and better material at a price fair to you, where we can genuinely sell what we buy. Where an auction would serve you better, we will tell you so instead.

Because for genuinely rare and valuable stamps, competition between collectors at auction reaches prices we cannot match, and that serves you better. We would rather send you to auction than make a sale we should not.

No. Cleaning damages stamps and reduces their value. Always sell stamps in their original, untouched condition, as our guide on cleaning stamps explains.

Yes, it is free, and there is no obligation. Send clear photographs and we will tell you, honestly, what you have and the best way to sell it. See how to get your stamps valued.