POST CARD
One collector, buying collections nationwide
I buy old postcard collections, whole.
Hi, I'm Mike. Albums, shoeboxes, dealer boxes, the attic lot nobody has sorted: I'd love to see them. Real photo postcards from small American towns are what I want most. Tell me about yours, add a few photos, and I'll email you a free quote.
- ToAnyone with old postcards
- WantedWhole collections, albums, boxes
- MostReal photo postcards, USA
- PaidPayPal, check, Zelle or Venmo
How it works
Four steps, all of them by mail
You never have to meet anyone, haggle at a show, or list cards one at a time online. The whole sale happens by email and the mail carrier.
Today
Tell me about the collection
Fill in the short form: roughly how many, what kinds, how they are stored. Photos are optional but make the quote far more accurate.
Usually within two business days
Read my quote
I look at everything you sent and reply by email with an offer, or with a question if I need to see a bit more first.
When you say yes
Ship it free, insured
I email a prepaid, insured label. Pack the cards snugly, tape the box, and drop it off or schedule a pickup.
Within two business days of arrival
Get paid
I check the cards against your description and pay by PayPal, check, Zelle or Venmo. If my offer has to change and you disagree, they come back to you free.
What I buy
From one great album to forty thousand loose cards
I buy whole collections and large lots, including the ordinary cards that come with the good ones. These are the groups I get most excited about.
Real photo postcards (RPPCs)
Actual photographs printed on postcard paper, mostly 1905 to the 1950s. Street scenes, storefronts, people at work, county fairs, depots.
About RPPCs →
Town and main street views
Small-town America as it looked a century ago: the bank, the hotel, the depot, the school, a parade going past the drugstore.
About town views →
Holiday and greeting postcards
Embossed Halloween, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter and Valentine cards, many printed in Germany before 1915, some signed by known artists.
About holiday cards →
Topicals and advertising
Trains and depots, early automobiles, occupations, advertising cards, disasters, expositions, fairs and parades.
About topicals →
Inherited and estate collections
Handling a parent's or relative's collection and have no idea what it is? It's one of the easiest situations to help with.
Selling an estate collection →Why sell it all at once
One buyer, one box, one payment
Selling postcards one at a time can bring a little more per card, but it means photographing, listing, packing and shipping hundreds of separate orders. Most people would rather be done.
No sorting
Send it the way it is
Don't pull the good cards out or break up the albums. A collection kept together is easier to judge and often worth more as a whole.
No guesswork
A real offer in writing
You get a number by email, with a sentence or two on what drove it. No vague ranges, no pressure to decide that day.
No risk
The label and the return are on me
You pay nothing to ship, and if the cards turn out different from your photos and you don't like my revised offer, I send them back free.
No waiting
Paid in days, not months
Payment goes out within two business days of the box arriving, by the method you choose.
You never pay to ship, and you never sell at a price you didn't agree to
Once you accept the quote, I email a prepaid, insured shipping label. When the postcards arrive I go through them and pay you within two business days.
If what arrives is different from the photos and my offer has to change, you can say no, and I ship everything back to you at my expense.
- PayPal
- Check by mail
- Zelle
- Venmo
When a collection arrives
What I actually do with your box
I open it the day it arrives and compare it with your description and photos. Albums stay intact while I look through them page by page; loose cards get stood up in rows so I can flip through them quickly.
First I count roughly and check that what arrived matches what you described. Then I look for the cards that carry the value: real photographs, small-town views, early holiday designs, topicals and anything unusual. Condition gets a look along the way, since corners, creases and stains affect every group.
If everything lines up with what you described, payment goes out within two business days and you get an email saying so. If something is meaningfully different, I write to you before paying, explain what I found, and you decide whether to accept a revised offer or have the whole box sent back on my label.
That's the entire process. No haggling, no fine print, and no surprises after the fact.
What I need from you is simple: an honest description and a few photos taken in daylight. You don't have to know the history of a single card, use the right terms, or guess at a price. Describing what you see in plain words is always enough, and if something is unclear I'll ask a specific question rather than leave you guessing what I need.
What they are worth
Most old postcards are worth a little. Some are worth a lot.
The honest picture: the bulk of most collections is common printed views, national parks and big-city scenes that sell for well under a dollar apiece in quantity. The value usually sits in a smaller group inside the lot, often real photo postcards of small towns, people at work, early transportation, or a holiday card by a well known artist.
That's exactly why I look at the whole collection. Two albums that look the same from the outside can be worth very different amounts, and the difference is usually a few dozen cards. The values guide walks through what makes a card desirable, and the dating guide shows how to tell roughly when yours were made.
Guides
Questions people ask about old postcards
Straight answers from a collector: where to sell, what old postcards are worth, how to tell a real photo, and what to do with a box you just found.
Where to sell old postcards
eBay, Delcampe, dealers, shows, auctions, antique malls and collection buyers, compared honestly.
Read the guide →Are old postcards worth anything?
A quick, honest way to tell whether your old postcards are worth a little or a lot.
Read the guide →Real photo postcard values
What real photo postcards are worth, and why two RPPCs that look alike can differ tenfold in value.
Read the guide →Postcard price guide
Typical value ranges by type of card, with what pushes a card to the top or bottom of its range.
Read the guide →What to do with old postcards
Sell, donate, keep or recycle: how to decide what to do with a box of old postcards.
Read the guide →Vintage Halloween postcards
The most collected holiday cards of all: artists, publishers, and what makes one valuable.
Read the guide →See all the guidesOld postcards by stateHow to sell old postcards
Who you'll be dealing with
I'm Mike Ferreira, and I collect these myself
Old postcards are my passion. I can lose an evening to a single album, reading the messages on the backs and trying to place a street scene from a town that has changed beyond recognition. Real photo postcards hold me the most: they show ordinary American life from a century ago, photographed by people who lived it.
Buying whole collections is how I get to see more of them, and it lets me give sellers a straightforward way to pass a collection on to someone who will appreciate it.
I should say it plainly, too: I Buy Postcards isn't a company. There's no team, no call center and no buying department. It's just me, one collector at my own table in Sarasota. When you send the form, I'm the one who reads it, writes your quote, opens your box and sends your payment.
What I look forward to most is a box nobody has looked through in fifty years, and the chance of finding a card that makes me stop: a street I can almost walk down, a crew of workers squinting into the sun, a message written by someone who clearly never imagined a stranger reading it a century later. Finding those cards, and making sure they end up with people who value them, is the best part of what I do.
Frequently asked questions
- How does selling my postcard collection work?
- You fill in the quote form with a description and, ideally, a few photos. I reply by email, usually within two business days, with an offer for the whole collection. If you accept, I email a prepaid, insured shipping label. When the box arrives I check the cards and pay you within two business days by PayPal, check, Zelle or Venmo.
- Do I pay anything to get a quote or to ship?
- No. The quote is free, the shipping label is prepaid and insured, and if a revised offer after inspection doesn't suit you, the return shipping is on me too. You're never out of pocket for asking.
- What if I do not like the offer?
- Then you simply say no. Before anything ships, declining costs nothing. After the cards arrive, if what I find differs from the description and my offer changes, you can decline the revised offer and I ship everything back to you free, insured.
- How do you pay?
- By PayPal, Zelle, Venmo or check by mail, whichever you prefer. Payment goes out within two business days of the box being delivered to me, and I email you when it's sent.
- Do you buy small lots or single cards?
- My focus is collections and large lots, but a smaller group of good real photo postcards, early holiday cards or strong topicals is welcome. A handful of common printed views usually isn't worth shipping, and I'll tell you so honestly.
- What if I have no idea what I have?
- That's a very common situation, and it's fine. Describe what you can see in plain words (albums or boxes, roughly how many, black and white photographs or colored prints) and add a few photos. I'll tell you what it is.
A question first?
Ask before you send anything
Not sure the collection is worth a quote, or what to photograph? Just ask. Every message comes straight to me, and I answer each one myself.