Anyone who has inherited or been given a postcard collection will want to know what to do with their old postcards. Rule No1 is do not throw them away, and unfortunately this is what has happened over the years because people just did not understand their value. When I think of all the quality postcards that have gone into landfill it frustrates me. It only takes a few moments to find out their general value so there is no excuses.
Rare postcards like the Titanic at Harland and Wolff Shipyard in Belfast or departing Southampton on her maiden voyage will no doubt have succumbed to the rubbish tip. But these postcards are worth hundreds to collectors who treasure postcards like this for their lifetime. In the 1950’s many astute dealers were buying old postcards up in their lorry loads because they had the vision that these will become valuable one day.
I remember visiting one of these collectors who always had an interest in local history and so collected postcard views of the area. I started in the early 1980’s and I was paying £3.00-£5.00 for real photographic postcards. When I went through his collection and looked at the back I can see pricing of 5p-10p each. Now, these same postcards are worth £20.00-£25.00 each so they have proven to be a very sound investment. Not that you should collect with that point of view. You collect what your passion is and if you get a return on them in the future then that’s your good fortune.
I remember some northern dealers would visit fairs and collectors shops in London and come back with carrier bags full of northern postcards. A lucrative business because the best place to sell northern postcards is in the north. These savvy dealers would stall at the northern postcard fairs and do very well thank you. Collectors would flock to their stall because they were guaranteed to see new stock fresh from the streets of London.
This is what I do on a much smaller scale. There maybe dealers that I only see once a year because they are so far away and they do not table at fairs north of the Watford Gap. But you can be pretty sure they will have something in their stock that will interest me. Catching the 6:00am train from Manchester to Euston or driving down to Shepton Mallet which is a 10-hour round trip is not for the faint hearted. It’s the love of postcards that drives you on and you can put up with travelling in uncomfortable situations just as long as you get rewarded at the fair.
If you are wondering what to do with your old postcards then simply give me a call. You will find the details on the Contact Us page. I will gladly give you a free valuation with no pressure to sell. You can also seek the advice from dealers at postcard fairs or contact the land based auction houses who will value them. Just remember that dealers have to make a margin and can only offer you 25%-30% of their value to allow for a profit margin. Auction houses charge both buyers and sellers so expect a deduction of 17.5% + VAT on the hammer price. Now you know what to do with old postcards…just don’t throw them away!
