Found Old Stamps in a Drawer? Here Is What They Are Worth
Clearing out a desk, a filing cabinet or a relative’s house often turns up an envelope of stamps nobody remembers buying. Most people assume they are worthless and throw them out. Unused United States postage usually is not worthless, and it is worth taking ten minutes to check before anything goes in the bin.
Unused stamps hold value. Cancelled ones usually do not
One thing decides whether a drawer of stamps is worth anything: whether the stamps have been cancelled. An unused stamp still carries its full postage value and can be sold. A stamp with a postmark across it has already been used, and apart from genuinely rare issues it has no resale value.
What unused stamps are worth
Our rates are set percentages of face value rather than a per-stamp appraisal, so you can work out your own number before you send anything.
- 50% of face value for all Forever stamps, including First-Class Forever, Global Forever, 2 Ounce and 3 Ounce Forever stamps.
- 40% of face value for non-Forever stamps above the current First-Class rate of 82 cents.
- 30% of face value for non-Forever stamps below 82 cents.
Both non-Forever tiers include unused vintage stamps issued after 1930. The 3 cent and 5 cent stamps that turn up in old desk drawers do count, they simply add up more slowly than a book of Forever stamps does.
What we do not buy
Bulk-Rate, Nonprofit-Rate, Presort-Rate, Official, Postage Due and foreign stamps cannot be used as ordinary postage, so we do not purchase them. Those words are printed on the stamp itself, which makes them quick to sort out.
Stamps issued before 1930, and anything already cancelled
Older material belongs to a different market. Stamps issued before 1930, cancelled stamps and organised album collections are valued on rarity and condition rather than on face value, and that calls for an appraisal instead of a rate table. If that is what you have found, West Coast Stamps handles appraisals for collectible material.
How to work out what a drawer of stamps is worth
- Separate the unused stamps from any that carry a postmark.
- Set aside anything that looks older than about 1930 for appraisal rather than face-value sale.
- Add up the face value of what remains, keeping Forever stamps separate from denominated ones.
- Apply the rates above to each group.
Forever stamps are where most of the value usually sits, because each one is worth the current First-Class rate no matter what year it was bought. A roll of 100 found in a drawer is 82 dollars of postage at today’s rate.
Getting paid
Print a packing slip, include it with the stamps, and ship them to us. We send a Purchase Offer once they arrive. You are under no obligation to accept it, and if you do, payment goes out by check, PayPal or bank wire.
We have purchased over $8.2 million in unused postage since 2016, from more than 3,600 customers. If you want to see the full rate table first, start with where to sell unused stamps for cash.