The Dealer



You contact them or strangely they contact you first because the Tammany Hall group keeps track of the obituaries! Examine the albums of your loved one and see if the books have death stickers, these labels tell you to contact this or that organization if the collector is deceased! Some heirs are bombarded by calls or letters stating they will pay more (lie), their auction firm will get the best result (lie) or can we meet? Beware of Greeks bringing you a gift (Troy of course) and the gift will turn out to be your loss. OK, you feel you have nothing to lose so you set the appointment, one with a famous buyer recommended by Tammany Hall and the other with a famous auction house or two that the collector had been doing business with. The stamp dealer shows up usually dressed in a worn out of date suit that has seen better days. At first he and sometimes she will be very courteous to you quickly looking at the stamp collection and making remarks such as “Oh too bad, this excellent stamp is damaged, Oh what a shame most of the stamps are used not mint. By the time the dealer has viewed all the books (usually one hour) Grandpas collection lovingly put together over a lifetime for possibly tens of thousands of dollars is reduced to rubble. The professional dealer (thief) will basically try and convince you he/she is doing you a favor offering you whatever figure is offered. And now comes the really bad part, try and tell the dealer you want to think about the offer or get another opinion; all hell breaks lose, the very nice person who showed up becomes irate telling you that you have wasted his/her time, that Grandpa wasted his money on bad stamps and on and on and from fifty years of experience about half those I have talked to after this experience sell part or all just to get rid of the pest. What they did not know was if they sold part, the part sold was purchased for nearly nothing and if the entire collection was sold it was a pittance.



The Auction House



Now comes the good part (also described under SHOULD I DONATE); you have survived the Tammany Hall boys and decided not to sell. Grandpa purchased many of his stamps from this or that auction house so you call them if they have not already contacted you. A very well dressed representative shows up usually in a dark gray suit white shirt and tie. You are impressed remembering how the dealer was a bit dingy. He proceeds to show you the companies famous catalogs even inferring how Grandpas collection might be featured with his name on the front or inside the catalog (impressive), Unlike the dealer he admires the collection rarely making negative comments and when you might happen to remark “Grandpa thought his collection was worth $100,000 the auction house pro will let you know it’s possible. Wow is you impressed and possibly can’t wait for them to consign the collection for auction. They give you a five/10 page contract which of course you don’t read the fine print or if you do and you see the paragraph stating “the auction house can’t warrantee the financial result”, they convince you it’s just to protect the auction house but not to worry if Grandpa thought it was worth $100,000 then it will surely bring that figure and here lies the crux: When the final check comes to you for the sale written out for about $10,000 and you call the nice gentlemen whom you met he tells you how sorry he is and it’s not his fault Grandpa thought it was worth $100,000. This is usually when here at The American Philatelic Foundation we get the call and I have to tell them the above. The horse is out of the barn and as Looney Tunes Porky Pig says in the end “THAT’S ALL FOLKS.”  What you should have known and I’m telling you now is you MUST force the auction house to set a minimum guarantee if they want the collection. When you do this suddenly the $100,000 the auction rep. tells you is possible becomes a. fraction of that figure usually 10/15%! Now is the time to call us at The American Philatelic Foundation so I can set you straight. When The American Philatelic Foundation has a collection for sale we always tell you what the real figure is and if consigned to us we never come under that figure.



A Los Angeles attorney whose client wanted to sue California’s largest stamp & coin auction house called me some years ago. I reviewed the facts carefully and told them they were wasting their time the auction house did nothing wrong! I have known that auction firm for fifty years, admire the original owners and in fact all they did was business as usual. Please call me or email me (even better, especially from 7/1 to 9/1 as I spend many summers in Europe doing stamp seminars.