What are the real price of British Stamps and are we paying too much? As a collector of British Stamps I feel the price being paid by ebayers is sometimes way too much. What determines a stamps value? Condition,  how rare  is the stamp, supply. Most serious collectors I imagine own a Stanley Gibbons Price Catalogue  which I'm sure collectors would agree is a must have addition not only to determine the market price of stamps but to distinguish the different colours , dies etc. But are the prices in these catalogues inflated to the point of being ridiculous.

There are literally hundreds of collections for sale on ebay on a weekly basis, so are most stamps really that rare? Two examples that spring to mind are 1; a complete set of tudor crown watermark wildings are valued at £100 for the basic 17 stamps but who has ever paid that amount? I certainly haven't, I remember paying about £4.00 for a mint not hinged set only a year ago. 2; a complete set of st. edwards crown watermark wildings which are listed for £160 for 18 stamps, again I paid around £17.00 for a mint set.

So my advice is to obtain a private dealers price list and compare prices before you bid and not rely on just one well known dealers price guide.Not wishing to give free advertisement but the price guide i use is published by Portsmouth Stamps and you will be surprised at the vast difference between the two price  guides. When bidding I see how much the stamp is valued by my private dealer and if the starting price is higher than advertised in his catalogue I don't bid.

I have witnessed on ebay many times a stamp being sold for a ridiculously high price when the same stamp is advertised elsewhere for a lot less. So the choice is yours, continue to pay over inflated prices or take the time and effort to do some research into actual stamp prices.

I am not saying all stamps on ebay are priced too high, on the contrary I have saved myself a small fortune by buying from ebay but its a buyers market remember that and its seems that for the time being that the majority of stamps are not in short supply but are in abundance, so what are you waiting for and get bidding (BUT NOT ON THE SAME ONE'S I'M BIDDING ON)

Thanks for reading this guide and hope it was of some use.