The Stamp Market in Florida

Moving your stamp business to Orlando, Florida might not meet your expectations. Buying and selling postage stamps is already a tough gig these days. Since the large majority of collectors are over the age of 60 and the state of Florida is a popular place for senior living, one would think Florida would be a great place to be a stamp dealer and own a stamp shop.

 Truth is, aside from my own stamp business, there are only a couple of other local stamp shops in Central Florida that deal in exclusively in stamps. But, even they do not have a typical store front where buying and selling take place. Instead, they hold auctions, which often does not bring enough bidding traffic. Subsequently, collections are sold at rock bottom prices which includes a seller’s premium fee of up to 15% of the collection’s selling price; this outcome can result in a disappointed seller when it’s all said and done.

One complication a stamp dealer often encounters is the lack of experience seniors have with understanding and navigating the internet. Seniors are left to appraise their own collections with catalogues that value stamps up to 85% more than what the market will actually render. Thus, it is very difficult for them to conduct accurate research in a market where all the wheeling and dealing is done online. Most seniors still believe that common post 1940 U.S. postage stamps are still selling at face value. Contrarily, the online market will only give you about 60% of the face value after fees. This harsh reality is just one of the factors that make it difficult to buy stamp collections in Florida.

With seniors receiving social security checks that barely pay their bills, it’s also hard for them to keep up with the financial side of the hobby. Additionally, the post office prints a new stamp almost every other day; this has left seniors feeling discouraged as they try to keep their album pages full of all the new issues. Unfortunately, without having any knowledge of the stamp market, senior citizens are often in the dark about the current value of their collection. This makes it for a sad day for senior stamp collectors trying to sell a stamp collection.

The content of this article is freely licensed under the terms of Nicholas Vespucci

 

Nick’s Stamps was established in 2002 and  is located in San Diego California.