The Fascination of Philocardry – Cleverly Sell Your Collection of Historical Postcards

It smelled of dry wood, dust, and a hint of decay. When Thomas opened an unassuming, yellowed shoebox in his grandparents' attic a few weeks ago, he had no idea he'd just found a time machine. Inside were hundreds of old postcards, neatly wrapped in tissue paper. He took out the top one: a colored lithograph of a market square from 1912. On the back, in flowing Sütterlin script, it read: “Arrived safely. The weather is wonderful, the beer is cheap. Greetings to Aunt Erna.”

It was a tweet over 100 years old. A fleeting moment, captured on a piece of cardboard that survived two world wars. In that moment, he suddenly understood what drives thousands of people worldwide. Welcome to the fascinating world of philately – the collecting of postcards.

Even though this account is fictional and invented by us, such or similar cases do exist. They are not as rare as one might initially assume.

But as romantic as collecting is, it becomes pragmatic (and often frustrating) when these treasures are to change hands. How do you find out what they're worth? Who buys such things these days? And above all: How do you sell a huge collection without descending into logistical chaos?

The Fascination of Philately: More Than Just Old Pictures

Collecting postcards was long considered a niche hobby for older gentlemen with magnifying glasses. But that image is changing radically. According to recent discussions in forums and on platforms like Reddit (especially in the thriving communities r/postcards or r/ephemera), increasingly younger generations are discovering historical postcards for themselves.

The appeal lies in the unvarnished authenticity. A historical postcard is often the only visual record of what a particular street, inn, or train station looked like a century ago. So-called "local history collectors" meticulously search for every last piece of the puzzle of their local city's history. Then there are collectors of specific motifs: whether Art Nouveau illustrations, airships, historical professions, or cat motifs – the range is limitless.

An active user on Reddit recently summed it up perfectly:

It's like adopting someone else's memories. You're literally holding a piece of history in your hands, including the coffee stains and dog-eared pages that give it character.”

The network: Where the scene meets

Anyone looking for historical postcards today no longer just looks through dusty albums at the Sunday flea market. Philately has become highly digitized.

The major marketplaces: Delcampe is the undisputed industry leader in Europe . Originally launched as a marketplace for stamps, the platform is now the most important international resource for historical postcards. eBay and Catawiki also remain relevant for quick buying and selling, although it is more difficult to effectively use specialized filters there.

Professional exchange: In addition to forums like the German postcard forum, dealers, archivists, and passionate collectors are increasingly networking on LinkedIn. Here, the focus is less on exchanging individual cards and more on archiving, the historical value of ephemera (commercial graphics), and market developments.

Treasure or waste paper? What is the value of old postcards?

The golden question that every heir to a shoebox inherits is: Am I rich now? The honest answer is: Probably not, but exceptions prove the rule.

The value of a postcard can be roughly determined by the following factors:

1. The motivation (supply and demand): A postcard of the Brandenburg Gate from 1920? Tens of thousands were printed. Value: often only a few euros. A photo postcard of the opening of a village bakery in the Eifel region in the same year, showing the bakers' apprentices? Local history collectors are happy to pay double-digit, sometimes even triple-digit, sums for these. Generally speaking: the smaller the village, the rarer and more sought-after the postcard.
2. Age and style: Embossed prints, lithographs from before 1900 or genuine photo cards (recognizable by their silvery sheen) are particularly popular with collectors.
3. Condition: Creases, tears or missing stamps (often carelessly removed by uninformed stamp collectors) drastically reduce the value.
4. Philately: Sometimes the card itself is worthless, but the rare postmark or stamp on it makes it a sought-after object.

Tip for beginners: If you want to determine the value, you should filter for "Sold items" on eBay or Catawiki , or study the completed auctions on Delcampe . This gives a more realistic picture than the asking prices of some sellers.

A real-life example: The pain of selling large collections

Imagine you've inherited a collection of 5,000 topographical postcards. You know there are some treasures among them. Now you have two options:

Option A: You scan each card individually, front and back, upload them, write a message, and send out 5,000 individual letters. An undertaking that would take years. Option B: You call an auction house or a wholesaler.

Most people choose option B. But this is where the real pain begins. A reputable dealer won't buy a collection sight unseen for a good price. So you have to send the fragile, sometimes heavy albums by mail. This means high shipping costs, an immense risk of loss in transit, and a lot of time. If the dealer then examines the collection and doesn't like their offer, the whole thing goes back – at your expense.

Experts from renowned auction houses repeatedly complain at networking meetings about the same bottleneck: It takes an incredible amount of working time to have to review unstructured, wildly haphazardly assembled collections in order to make an offer.

The solution: The “Collection Report” – Selling cleverly in the 21st century

An innovative new format for selling postcard collections addresses precisely this pain point in the industry and is currently causing a stir in the scene: the collection report for historical postcard collections, launched by the specialist portal datenstaubsauger.de.

The idea behind it is as simple as it is ingenious. Instead of sending the valuable and fragile collection haphazardly across the country, a specialist creates a detailed, structured collection report on site or based on well-chosen samples and digital copies.

What makes this format so special? at datenstaubsauger.de/mit-mir-arbeiten-work-with-me/ : It's about professionally describing the collection. The report includes a thorough analysis of the main areas (e.g., "30% lithographs from the Bavarian region, 20% field post from the First World War, 50% mixed topography"), lists highlights and conditions of preservation, and offers representative scans.

For bloggers, collectors, and dealers, this is a truly valuable resource. As explained in detail in the blog article "Selling a Postcard Collection" , a first-class collection description saves a significant amount of time, effort, and shipping costs

The advantages at a glance:

• For sellers and heirs: You don't have to part with your collection until there's genuine interest and a solid price range has been established. The risk of transport damage is completely eliminated.
• For auction houses and dealers: You will receive a professional "exposé" of the collection. Based on the data and facts, you can immediately decide whether the collection fits into your portfolio. This saves hours of unpaid review work.
• Transparency: The report creates a neutral basis of trust between buyer and seller. Nobody buys a pig in a poke anymore.

Contemporary action for timeless treasures

Historical postcards are more than just a dusty hobby. They are sought-after artifacts of our history, for which there is a vibrant international market. But the way large collections are traded was in dire need of an update.

With the new format of the collection report , datenstaubsauger.de offers a modern, digital bridge between the analog world of philately and today's efficiency demands of the market.

If you run a blog about philately, philately, or history—or are simply faced with the task of selling an inherited collection—it's worth considering this method. Share the idea, discuss the concept in your forums. Because one thing is certain: our historical treasures deserve to be treated with care. And that starts with the sales offer itself.

Joachim Rodriguez y Romero

Owner and Managing Director of Kunstplaza . Publicist, editor, and passionate blogger in the fields of art, design, and creativity since 2011. Graduated with a degree in web design from university (2008). Further developed creative techniques through courses in freehand drawing, expressive painting, and theatre/acting. Profound knowledge of the art market gained through years of journalistic research and numerous collaborations with key players and institutions in the arts and culture sector.

www.kunstplaza.de

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