What to do with old postcards? This is a question that many people ask when they have inherited postcards but have no idea of their value. The first thing you should not do is throw them away. The only way of knowing if you have something of value is by finding out more information about them. It’s a sad fact that many years ago nobody knew the value of postcards and simply through them away. Can you imagine the rare postcards examples that have been lost forever?
It’s difficult to value postcards yourself if you have no idea of the collectable nature of some postcards. It’s better to get a free valuation so you know exactly what you have in your possession. I have seen valuers on the antique shows take a guess on valuation only to find out the postcards sold 4-6 times their estimate. In the real World, postcards are only worth what someone will pay for them. But when you get two collectors head not head at an auction then the sky is the limit. Two determined individuals not willing to lose the lot and this is where postcards can go for much higher than their face value.
If you do have postcards you would like to get valued then just take some photos on your mobile and send the images to us. You can contact us here. If your postcards are in an album just take one picture per-page. This should be enough to value them. We don’t need a picture of every individual postcard. If you have a bundle then take 10-20 postcards and take one clear image from above.
I remember many years ago travelling some 2-hours to value an album. The album of 200 postcards itself was only worth £50.00, nothing special in there…with the exception of one postcard. This was a rare example and I offered £200 in total. This just goes to show you that one postcard in an album of 200 can be be worth many times more than the rest of the album put together. But not everyone would have been that honest. They would have walked away with the album for the £50.00 and the seller would be none the wiser.
You could also try the land based auctioneers who specialise in dedicated postcard auctions. You will have to post the album or bundle and wait for the valuation. Some auction houses have only 4-6 sales per year so you may have to wait a few months for your lot to go under the hammer. You also need to take into an account a few weeks delay before you get your payment. Take into account seller commission plus VAT and you can deduct 20-25% from the total hammer price.
I hope you are a little clearer now about your options. Get them valued by someone with experience who you can trust and then you can make the decision to keep them or sell them. Sometimes family heirlooms are difficult to part with so if you do decide to sell just ensure you are getting the best price possible.
