Frequently Asked Questions
Registration and your account
Why do you need to sign up?
The information on prices of stamps is provided only to users who have purchased a paid subscription. Subscriptions can only be purchased after registration. This only takes 3 minutes and we guarantee your data security.
I didn't receive a letter confirming my registration on the website.
It is possible that the message has reached you in the Spam folder or has been rejected by your mail server. Try logging in to your account by clicking the Log in button and entering your user credentials - if you are successfully logged in, then your registration was successful. It is to be noted that if you have not received the email and it is not in the Spam folder, it is rejected by your server and we will not be able to reply to you if necessary. In this case try to contact us from a box in a different email domain.
I didn't get a letter confirming the payment.
It is possible that the message has reached you in the Spam folder or has been rejected by your mail server. If you can see the cost of stamps in their descriptions - then the payment was successful. If not, please contact our support team.
It is to be noted that if you have not received the email and it is not in the Spam folder, it is rejected by your server and we will not be able to reply to you if necessary. In this case try to contact us from a box in a different email domain.
How do I login into my account?
You need to enter your login and password used during registration by clicking the Log in button.
I have forgotten my password!
Click the Log in button, then Forgot Password, enter your email address, and click Reset. You will receive a new password generated automatically via email.
How do I change my password?
Go to Your Account then press the Change password button.
Rates and fees. Subscription management
What’s the difference between your rates?
The For 1 month rate is our most popular tariff. It allows you to perform an unlimited number of searches within 1 month and get the support of our philately experts should there be any difficulties. For example, if your country's stamps are not in our database, you can send us a picture of it and our experts will find it manually! This is completely free-of-charge, but can take up to 72 hours (weekdays only).
This rate is paid once and will not be renewed automatically if the Automatic renewal tick box is not checked. If it is, we will automatically charge you 1 month's fee each month (until you cancel the subscription in Your Account). You will be notified about the upcoming write-off via email 3 days in advance.
In order to stop the monthly subscription, you need to go to Your Account and click the Cancel subscription button. After that, your subscription will be valid until the date specified next to it. If you do not have this button, it means that you have a one-time subscription and you need no further cancellations.
The For 1 year rate has all the same advantages as the 'For 1 month' rate, but it gives you a discount for a one-time purchase. The 'For 1 year' rate does not have an automatic update.
The No worries rate is designed for those who need to determine the cost of just a few stamps, and they want to do it as easily as possible. Simply upload photos of your stamps, make a payment and get full information on your stamps within 48 hours (weekdays only)! They will be evaluated manually by our experts, so it doesn't matter if the country's stamps are in our online database.
I can't pay via PayPal, I get an error. What do I do?
Sometimes there may be a payment error if your PayPal account is linked to your PayPal business account. Try to pay either from another account or by simply entering your credit card information (without logging into your PayPal account).
Is it safe to pay using credit cards on your website?
The on-line payment system is protected by all the rules and meets all the requirements for online payment. We do not see or store any information about your credit card - after the transaction, the payment system informs us that you have become a paid user and then processes and stores all authorized information about you.
Why do I have to pay to find out what my stamps cost?
We have a full team of specialists who fill the database, keep it up to date, develop the site and support servers; we pay for the services of philately experts who help our customers determine the cost of stamps in complex cases. Your payments help us do it all.
Stamp description - what does that terminology stand for?
I've opened a description of a stamp. What do all these terms mean?
Only a few terms are used in the stamp description. It is enough to acquire them only - you do not need to become a professional philatelist. For your convenience, we have collected all the most important terms here
→ https://findyourstampsvalue.com/helpful-terms/
Why does one stamp have several different prices?
Usually, the cost of the stamp depends on its condition, and can vary tenfold. Read this article and everything will become much clearer:
→ https://findyourstampsvalue.com/stampwiki/article/value-of-stamps
Stamp search
Looks like I have found a valuable stamp! How do I make sure of it?
If you have performed a search using our service and among the results there are variations that seem valuable to you, you can send us a photo or a scan of your stamp and our experts will identify it and confirm that it is really valuable or clarify how much it really costs.
But it's better to check the following typical characteristics on your own, they make seemingly identical stamps actually different.
The most frequent and obvious difference is perforation. The difference between perforation 8 and 12 can be seen with the bare eye, but the difference between, for example, 12 and 12 1/2 can only be determined by special tools. Sometimes there are stamps with different perforations (e.g. 11, but 10 at the top or bottom).
To identify rare stamps it is better to measure perforation using perforation gauge.
→ https://findyourstampsvalue.com/helpful-terms/perforation
The second obvious difference is paper. It can be of a number of types - hard white paper, bluish paper, laid paper, etc. Often the quality of paper has a strong impact on the value of the stamp.
Another, usually obvious, difference is watermark. Its presence or absence, as well as the type of watermark can make a stamp more valuable, and sometimes it is the absence of watermark that makes the stamp more valuable. In order to see the watermark you may sometimes require special equipment.
For some stamps an important element of determining increased value is the image size of stamp design
For example, a stamp with image size 19.75 x 22.25 mm can be much more expensive than an identically looking stamp with image size 19.50 x 22.50 mm
Another feature that requires special equipment to detect is tagging. To see it, you need an ultraviolet lamp.
The most difficult difference is the catalog colors of a stamp. For example, one stamp may have a red color, while the other may have a rose red color - and this shade makes it much rarer and more expensive. However, as a rule, to determine the color you need to conduct offline examination of the stamp with special tools, it is impossible to determine it using online services.
Quite often, it is not one feature that makes the price increase, but a combination of several features, for example perforation + watermark
One more feature – among the U.S. stamps mostly – is grill. The Grill consist of small square pyramids in parallel rows, impressed or embossed on the stamp.
Usually you need to check presence of the Grill and measure it size. Please review this article concerning Grill sizes and types:
https://findyourstampsvalue.com/helpful-terms/grills
You may also want to pay attention to Special Characteristics and Special Peculiarity on the stamp page in our catalog - you can find descriptions to different stamp variations there.
How do I use text search?
Please enter a brief description such as the scene or the words, numbers and dates represented on your stamp, denomination and color (use simple colors only) of your stamp.
Please use issue date only if you are sure about it. Stamp cancellation date is not equal to issue date and we recommend you not to use it.
For example:
Liberty statue 8c blue red in god we trust u.s. postage
Queen £5 blue facing left
USA 33 mold-blown glass
I get way too many stamps in the search results!
You can:
Select a specific country in the drop-down menu if you know where the stamp was issued
Increase the number of words in the request. The more words - the more accurate the result and the less marks in the output you get. Please be aware that if the description is too long, it may result in missing stamps in the search results! In this case, a shorter request should be made.
The search shows no results!
You can:
Check if we have your country's stamps in our database if you know where the stamp was issued. To do this, you need to see if this country is in the drop-down list of countries
Put your request in other words
If you are a paid subscriber, but can't find a stamp in search (also because it's not in the list of countries) - contact the support team, our experts will find it manually. This is completely free of charge, but can take up to 72 hours (weekdays only).
How do I search for a stamp using a catalog number?
You can use our catalog search
→ www.findyourstampsvalue.com/stamp/catalogue
I have a block or a strip of multiple stamps / plate block / sheet / souvenir sheet. How do I learn its price?
You have to search as if you're looking for one stamp, not a block. Do not enter the words block, sheet, strip, plate number in the text search field. Our database contains all valuable blocks/plate blocks, strips and sheets. You will also find the cost of all the valuable blocks among the variations to the found single stamps.
If your search results do not include your blocks or if there is no special mention of a valuable block or strip in your search results, the value of your block can be estimated as the value of 1 block multiplied by the number of marks in the block plus 10-20%.
I'm uploading a photo, but the stamp isn't found. The results are empty or consist of completely different stamps.
Our Image recognition search is powered by a neural network, but heavily cancelled stamps as well as poor quality of photos can dramatically affect the results. Try to take a picture of the stamp as shown below and cut it off strictly at the edges, without getting the background. You can also click on the Advanced photo search button to rerun the search using less filtration options.
In case of strong cancellation mark please use our text search.
The search may be problematic with pictures like:
Shoot the stamp strictly vertical
The photo should be in focus
Do not use flash and avoid bright light spots
Do not shoot multiple different stamps at once
Better chances of successful search with pictures like:
My photo of the stamp meets all the requirements, but the stamp is still not found!
If your stamp is issued in a country whose stamps are in our database, try to perform a text search. If you have a stamp from a country that is not in the database, or it is not in the database yet, please contact us - our experts will evaluate it manually (available only for paid subscribers).
The stamps in the search results are similar to mine, but my stamp isn't there. It has a different color/stamping/no perforation.
When you perform a search using a photo, the illumination of the stamp and the color rendition are of importance. If you have found similar stamps, it means that yours is also there.
Try:
— to run Advanced photo search. It takes more time to process a request (up to a minute or more), but gives a more accurate result, including a more precise color;
— to open the most similar stamps and browse the Same Series and Same Images sections;
— to search for your stamp using text search indicating its color;
— to take a new picture of your stamp or try to trim it more carefully to prevent the background from getting into color analysis.
If your stamp is exactly the same as in the photo, it's a variation of the stamp. Its price is given in the description of the main stamp.
If you still can't find what you're looking for, please contact our support team - we'll be happy to help you.
I have a block or a strip of several stamps, or a plate block, or a sheet or souvenir sheet, how do I know how much it costs?
Take a photo of your item as is, our database contains all valuable blocks/plate blocks, strips and sheets.
If the search results are empty, take a picture and trim your block to one stamp. Search for a single stamp, determine its value. The cost of your block can be estimated as the cost of a single stamp multiplied by the number of stamps in the block plus 10-20%.
Catalog search. Why do I need it?
Advanced search is designed for professionals. It allows you to search for a stamp by a wide range of accurate parameters, including catalog numbers.
Stamp selling and purchasing
I want to sell my stamps, would you buy them from me?
Our service is not engaged in buying and selling stamps. We allow you to identify them and preliminarily estimate the cost, separating deliberately cheap stamps from potentially expensive ones. If you find a stamp similar to an expensive one, you can contact one of the offline dealers, a list of which is available on our website.
→ www.findyourstampsvalue.com/dealer-directory
Please note that the list of dealers is only available to paid subscribers, it is not complete nor does it guarantee the availability of dealers of stamps in your area. It also does not ensure that the dealer you choose will be interested in your stamps.
In our catalog there is information about the most reliable and well-known dealers. It is also worth mentioning that, for example, for U.S. stamps one can usually hope to settle for a good and fair price with a U.S.-based dealer only.
Why would I use your service if I had to go to an offline dealer anyway?
The estimation of one stamp at the offline dealer costs up to 5-10 dollars even if it appears that your stamp isn't worth a dollar. We can preliminarily estimate an unlimited number of stamps for 19.98 dollars, choose the potential high-ticket stamps among them and refer you to the offline dealer to sell them. In this case, you will be warned about the possible value of your stamp and you will not be so easy to deceive.
You should never take your entire grandfather's stamp box to the dealer for inspection and ask them to check if there is anything of value. We recommend that you check if you have something potentially valuable by yourself at first.
It should also be taken into account that it is possible to estimate the value of the item 100% accurately only in real life, seeing the quality of the paper, the presence of watermarks and other small nuances that make the stamp valuable.
Contacting Support Team
I sent a question to the support team about the value of my stamp, when do I get an answer?
We do not provide stamp value information to those who are not our clients. If you are our client and you cannot find the information by text or picture search, send us a picture of it and we will manually identify it (this may take up to 72 hours and require additional information from you). In order to make sure you are our client, send your photos only from the email used in your account.
I've sent a request to the support team, it's been over 72 hours, and I still haven't heard back from them!
Sometimes our clients' email settings reject our messages, even though we don't send spam; or we are too busy to handle more emails. If you are a paid customer and are not answered for more than 72 hours, we may not be able to get through your mail server. Send us your message from a mailing address in another domain - this should help.
