29th May 2013 –
14 persons were present including Matt. from Kalamunda.
Presentations were by John McP., Mike A. and Brian A.
 
John spoke about using the 3 most popular catalogues ie Gibbons, Michel and Scott and the variations in their pricing. Also using specialist ones like Brusden White. He also described how he set his selling prices as a proportion of catalogue price according to factors like the era of issue if mint, lightly hinged higher if older issues or mint unhinged for modern stock etc.
 
Mike spoke of buying collections, particularly on the web, where the main value to you may only be in a few stamps however if  you are astute and knowledgeable you could defray the cost of purchase by onselling the balance of the stamps. Bargains could sometimes be found because it wasn't a specialised area for the vendor.

Brian made the point that whilst some covers sold at very high prices at some high profile dealers' auctions, it was often possible to pick up amazing items in junkboxes at stampfairs and similar shows. Dealers often didn't have the time to price some (to them) unfamiliar material.  Brian went on to emphasise this point by showing a large numbers of covers including ones showng the use of the correct stamps to reflect the postal rates of particular eras.

Brian has kindly submitted his notes. Value_for_money_Workshop_May_2013-SEC

Please note the contents of Brian's notes and the information given above are copyright and no permission is given to copy, print or use the information without written permission from Stirling Philatelic Society Committee, which may be obtained through the webmaster.