This? is an easy question to answer. It is worth what you can get for it, and that is nowhere what you were hoping. It is also not the answer you wanted.

There are so many factors affecting the amount your collection will bring that it is really an exercise in futility to worry about it, but most collectors do. The only way to find out for sure is to pay to have it appraised by a dealer who will buy it at his appraisal price. Then you will know - sort of. For if you don't sell at that point, the value could very easily change by the next day.

There is a simple way of getting an idea of the minium value of your collection. If it is a world-wide collection of over 30,000 different, just count the number of different stamps and multiply by 2-cents per stamp. You should get at least this price if you sell. If you have a lot of nice stamps and sets among the stamps, you could get more--but not necessarily so. If you want to sell a country collection, write to the packet dealers for their price lists. Find the dealer with the lowest prices and divide his price for your country by half for the number of different stamps in the collection. These are two ways to set a base price. All of the following affect this base price.

If your collection is full of junk and damaged stamps, don't expect to get even these low amounts. Condition is important. It is also important that you have number counts by country before you sell. This saves dealers time, and they may be willing to pay you more. Have really nice items listed with their current catalog values. This saves the buyer time and can increase the amount you get. Mint-never-hinged sets sell better than hinged sets and singles for the given value. Please remember, though, that you usually paid more for MNH stuff in the first place plus you had to pay for mounts etc. All of this generally negates the premium you will get when you sell.

Another major factor in what price you get is what is popular. It is always easier to sell good US than it is to sell good Albania. But good Abania will bring you more than damaged US will, although it may take longer to find a buyer. Quality and condition are paramount.

Where the buyer is from and who are his clients also affects what you can get. For instance, you want to sell a collection of Poland. You will stand a better chance of getting a better price from a dealer from Chicago, Milwaukee or Cleveland where there are large Polish populations and the demand is higher for Poland than, say, in Seattle.

Popular material also has a good chance of bringing more in auction where the dealers have to compete with collectors. The drawbacks to selling at auction are mainly in the hidden costs (commissions, lotting fees, etc.) and the inherent risk that you may have bad timing and the bidders won't be there when your stamps are up for sale.

The larger the collection in number different means more per stamp. You should get more per stamp for 100,000 different than you will for 30,000. If your collection is less than 30,000 different you will get less. The same goes for country collections. A collection of 3,000 different Great Britain will bring more per stamp than a collection of 1,000 different. Because of this, it is sometimes wise to break out your better collections and sell them separately from the rest.

What all of this should tell you is that you have to expend effort in selling your collection. The more time you put into planning the sale and researching the markets, the more you may get.

How do you value your collection? You can now figure a base price. Beyond that, it is just a wild guess so quit worrying. Enjoy collecting stamps for the wonderful hobby that it is, and remember you are paying for entertainment that happens to have some scrap value when you are finished playing.