The value of stamp collections is difficult to determine and being able to project when a stamp’s value might increase can be equally difficult. However, there may be some signs that investors use in order to buy low and sell high, just as they would with any type of investment. It is estimated that serious investors have approximately 10 percent of their portfolios in alternative investments, which includes stamps.

While the market for stamps is relatively small it deserves some notice. It has been estimated that the stamp market is valued at about 5 billion Euros ($7.2 billion USD) and that about $1 billion (702.8 million Euros) worth of rare stamps are traded annually in a $10 billion (7.028 billion Euros) market. It is also estimated that rare stamp collections have been increasing in value by about 10 percent per year for the past 10 years.

Investors look at developing countries that may appear to be seeing an improvement in their living conditions and wages, anticipating a growth in their middle class. Some see this as an indication that they will have more time and money to devote to stamp collecting, but others insist this is not an ideal way to predict the future value of stamp collections. Recently, stamp collecting has gained traction in China and India adding some value to lower-level valued stamps.

Some of the better stamps purchased for investments include United States stamps and British Victorian stamps issued before 1900. Those usually included in an investment portfolio are typically exceptionally rare, in excellent condition and worth thousands of dollars.

Groups of investors often pool their money and form a mutual fund and use that money to buy expensive rare stamps as part of their investment portfolio. Each member of the mutual fund will own a portion of the collection’s value based on the amount they contributed.

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