what is this collection worth?

[crazyquilter]

I just found this collection of Scott international album for sale $ 75 thousand with free shipping. The first thing that I thought of is OH wow that would fill a room. There are 61 albums plus loose pages.



Lets have a discussion on this wonderful collection. Would you sell it as a whole or not? How long do you think it would take to add up the book value? Would you want to?

[MikeC99]

crazyquilter, firstly I would never entertain spending that much money on a collection. I doubt that I would ever spend much more than a few thousand dollars on any collection. When I look at the number of albums, I don't think that I would derive the enjoyment that you would expect from acquiring such a massive collection. Where do you start going through this accumulation? Do I have enough years left in life to go through every page of every album? I find that I derive the most satisfaction from buying small one country collections.
Mike

[kacyds]

I would get overwhelmed quickly if something like that fell in my lap. I love the hobby of collecting stamps, but that is a little too much for me. Like MikeC99, I dont have that kind of money, or enough years left and I like to buy smaller lots/collections at a time.

Something like that would be great for a dealer, IMHO.

[Craig]

This for a stamp OWNER, not a collector.

[Philatarium]

I think I've seen that collection offered online, esp if it's from a seller that Lorna likes. Since they take consignments, I have a feeling that the actual owner has a figure in mind, whether the underlying stamps justify it or not. I wouldn't be that surprised if, at some point, they end up offering it either volume by volume or country by country, once the owner determines that it's not going to sell at this price.

On the other hand, it really depends on the owner's cashflow needs. They may be fine waiting a few months, or even a couple of years, to see if they get that price. You never know. Someone might bite.

[khj]

I agree with Philatarium's post.

In general, collections that large are usually purchased by dealers/resellers that take out the exceptional stuff (leaving a few treasures here and there), and break the remaindered collection down further to tap into a larger pool of buyers.

Even if a collector had the money, they wouldn't buy it. A big part of joy of collecting is obtaining stamps and putting the collection together.

While I do buy a lot of collections, I would unlikely buy something that large because much of what is missing is likely unaffordable anyway. So why am I paying for somebody else's enjoyment?

The collection in question (and the seller) has been discussed elsewhere, believe it or not. There is a consensus building that the collection will not sell as presented and priced, despite the fact that it is indeed a fairly nice collection. It is too large for the collectors, and too highly priced for a dealer.

The seller also did a huge no-no that pretty much nixes things for me in general -- note some of the albums are laying flat. I'm sure they aren't storing it that way, and maybe just trying to get it to fit in the picture. But...

[Deleted]

I too would definitely not want this even if I had the money. Where is the fun? The point of collecting is to collect, and have time to enjoy what you collect, not to acquire an overwhelmingly massive collection someone else has put together: and part of the fun is hunting out bargains. Mind you, I could name some folk for whom $75000 would be chickenfeed, and met one or two of them when I was working. Though they happen not to be friends of mine (and may well not be the sort of folk I'd want as friends - or who'd want to admit to knowing me  ).

Of course the free postage makes it a bargain 

[khj]

Good point, @michaelcayley. The shipping costs indeed would easily be a couple $100s!!! Of course, they might try to save shipping costs by using the trash bag approach... smiley-face-whistle-2

[Deleted]

But they aren't offering to pay any customs duties, khj . That's not fair

[khj]

May 10, 2016 0:57:32 GMT -5 @michaelcayley said:

But they aren't offering to pay any customs duties, khj . That's not fair

Alas, poor Michael, apparently they lack a "noble spirit"... smiley-face-whistle-2

[cbavier]

I too have saw this collection. I think on EBay. I sure wouldn't turn them down if given to me but I like Mike collect for the fun of it. This would be overwhelming. Probably 90% of you all have twice the number and certainly twice the value of stamps I have. I collect for the fun of it. I doubt if I have any one stamp worth more than six bucks.