First Day Covers - Help!

[wolf63]

I have a pile of FDCs that are to be sold.

These are not franked, does that detract much from the value?

We sold two the other day for £30, but they were franked. With hindsight we could have got more for them.

I realise that many are of no real value, but there are a few 'interesting' ones.

Thanks

[Buenchico]

As they're simply stamps stuck onto envelopes, rather than true 'first day covers' (as they weren't posted on the first day of the stamps' issue), they've virtually worthless. e.g. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/154143463248

These, from India, are offered in a batch of 37 for just £11.95:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/264273034044

[Barmaid]

Jeez, I have got hundreds of the wretched things. Even most charity shops wont take them. (Deceased father in law's stuff - I've managed to get rid of the Liliput Lanes and most of the Westminster coin stuff - they are now just taking up space).

[wolf63]

Chris, thanks. That info actually helps.

Barmaid, they are being sold by Oxfam via their online shop. Should you wish to offload the items just remember me up in Perth. You could send your ginger boyfriend too! :-)

We are a book and music shop but we also sell 'collectables' online too.

[Captain2]

Sad story. When I stood on the markets there was a lovely old man who would boast of his items of collectables and reckoned his stamp collection was worth £8 - 10K. He sent it off to a reputable stamp valuers.

They offered him £480. He was somewhat devastated.

[wolf63]

Captain, many people collected such things as an investment of sorts. My mother collected hideous ornaments, she managed to decapitate quite a few and superglued their heads back on, convinced that they were still of value.

We have books that are very old and they are worth less than £10 as they were probably printed in vast numbers.

[Buenchico]

My father collected used modern British postage stamps, which is a very specialist field. For each stamp that was issued, he'd have dozens of different versions, each having slightly different colour tinges, variations in the phosphor bands, microscopic printing flaws, etc. His collection ran to many albums and, according to Stanley Gibbon's catalogue values, was worth tens of thousands of pounds. Both he and I knew that SG values are often around ten times what stamps will sell for between collectors but, even so, his collection appeared to be worth several hundred pounds and possibly even into four figures.

When my father passed away, I lugged all his albums down to Stanley Gibbons on the Strand in London. I was hoping that they'd make me an offer for them but, even if they didn't, I knew that they accepted entries for the auctions that they hold periodically. So I felt sure that they'd take them one way or the other. However they wouldn't buy them from me and refused to accept them for auction, as they said that it wasn't worth their while offering them for sale. I ended up taking them to a lesser-known dealer, on the opposite side of the Strand, and accepting just £50 for them :(

[wolf63]

Chris
We sell used stamps in kg bags.

But the collecting of stamps, coins etc is serious stuff. The collectors want perfection and rare items.

I'll stick, mainly, to the postcards. Normal holiday postcards are usually only useful as a source for stamps. But many are a snap shot of history.

I enjoy my voluntary work much more than the paid job that I had in DWP. I got pensioned-off at the age of forty. And they said that I was the insane one!

[Buenchico]

>>> We sell used stamps in kg bags

I know all about 'kiloware', Wolfie. My father bought, and sorted through, many hundreds of those bags!

[wolf63]

I wondered who was buying them!

[Buenchico]

In case you missed it on the BBC website today, Susan:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-norfolk-60485677

[wolf63]

He must have been really traumatised, he didn't bite the guys. :-)

[roopower]

I also have a grear deal of FDCs, packs of stamps by year plus albums of used stamps. What we need is for philately to become popular again.