Means pre-World War II, and even most of those covers are considered 'But they're so old!' 'Old' in this hobby At least 90% of businesses on covers don't exist anymore. 'But they'reįrom businesses that don't exist anymore!' Doesn't meanĪnything. (salesman's samples they've never held matches, never been inĬirculation) Most US collectors generallyĭo not want Canadian or other Foreign covers, and very few areĮxpectations are almost always far too high. (usually from tacks) - Covers have been glued It's not necessary to do a cover-by-coverĬovers need to be undamaged and unstruck, unless we're talkingĪbout rarities they don't need to have the matches in them.Įxamples of unacceptable conditions include: - Strikers have been cut SELLING: Basically, you reverse the approaches outlined above.Īlways be specific about the numbers, conditions, and age of Go to another good home.because they stay within the hobby. They'll have a good home, and they'll be appreciatedĪnd taken care of.and, when that collector passes on, they'll That case, please consider simply donating them to either a localĬollector or a collector who will reimburse you postage, suchĪs myself (as long as the covers are unusedĪnd unstruck). Trying to sell their covers, the few dollars they may get simplyĭoesn't justify the time and effort in trying to sell them. We go on to SELLING, please read the Treasure page to see why you're not going to become independently Much more knowledgeable about your hobby. Most covers I want eventually come to me through steady tradingīy mail with other collectors. If you're serious aboutĬollecting, your best bet, by far, is to get into the hobby-joinĬlubs, make contacts, go to meetings, swapfests,Īnd conventions, if possible, and trade. Which types these are, look at the Treasure page. Of course, for the more sought-after types.

10 cents per cover, unless purchased in large, bulk lots, in Current ball park figures just to give youĬovers (and this is the vast majority of material) go for. General guidelines that you may find, but they're just that.general A price guide was publishedīy Bill Retskin in the 1980s, but the prices were heavily inflated,Īnd no one in the hobby pays attention to it. You can check my own auction out as an example of the latter.įor $10 today can just as easily sell for $5 tomorrow and have Hobby offers a wide and steady array of 'sanctioned' auctions-clubīulletin auctions, convention and swapfest auctions, and hobbyĪuctions on the internet. The hobby's auctions and known collectors. If you're not looking for true rarities, use Idea of the standards that collectors expect. Many have no idea of what they're selling and have no

Make a killing on the junk they just found in Aunt Edna's shoeĬloset. Selling there, there are also lots of non-collectors hoping to On ebay, although there are lots of collectors Ebay on the internet has rapidly become the glitziestĪnd most talked about auction, but my own advice is to stay within Samples they have not been creased and stapled and areĪnd non-collectors, flea markets, yard sales, and paper shows,Īuctions offer the largest and biggest variety of covers being What you needīeing passed to you when you were expecting the opposite. Hobbies, there is little problem here with fakes. You thought you bought, but you should always be guided by theĪdage 'Let the buyer beware.' Unlike some collectible Majority of situations, you're going to receive exactly what The collector has in both buying and selling covers, more than

Match book collector