Postcards can be a reseller's dream; many sellers buy thousands at a time then spend entire days photographing and listing them for sale on eBay. Sources of collectible postcards are plentiful; namely estate sales & auctions and of course eBay itself.

A Brief History of Postcards

In 1861, a patent for the first private postcards was issued to J.P. Charlton (later transferred to H.L. Lipman, a fellow Philadelphian). These cards were decorated with a slight border pattern and sold until 1873 at which time the first government postcards came on the scene. By 1870, picture postcards were being sold in Europe in limited quantities.

Before March 1, 1907, writing on the address side of the postcard was not permitted. Up to that date, all written messages were on the picture side of the card; this does not hurt the value of the card.

Pre-1898 postcards were from the Pioneer Era. These cards were characterized by undivided backs and printed lines for the address. Most were from large cities on the East coast. (Only government issued cards were allowed to be called "postcards" - private cards were called 'souvenir cards', 'correspondence cards' or 'mail cards').

Private Mailing Cards were issued from 1898 to 1901. Called "PMC's", these included many reprints of Pioneer cards and have undivided backs. During this era, Real Photo cards (postcards on film stock) began being produced which bore actual photographs and were mostly advertising pieces. In 1898 postage was reduced from 2 cents to 1 cent.

1901 to 1907 is called the "Undivided Back Era". The government began allowing private card companies to use the term Postcard or Post Card. However, the address side could still not have any writing other than the address. This era saw postcard collecting grow by leaps and bounds. Millions of cards were imported from Europe. Kodak issued a Pocket KodaK, enabling the masses to take pictures directly onto paper with postcard backs (Real Photo cards). The negative was postcard size, hence the high quality of the cards. The photographer could then etch an identifying caption or comment directly on the photo itself.

1908 to 1915 was the Divided Back Era and marked the Golden Age of postcard collecting. Divided backs now permitted the writing of messages on the address side. Millions of these (pre-linen) cards were being mailed and collected. But World War I and the great flu outbreak caused the hobby to collapse since most of the cards were imported from Germany which produced the highest quality lithographed images. English and U.S. cards were of inferior quality which when combined with the war, the terrible flu epidemic and the advent of the telephone nearly killed off postcard collecting.

The next era was the White Border Era which lasted from 1915 to 1930. The white border was needed to save ink following World War I. Germany's publishing industry was in ruins and other European sources dried up due to high tariffs. High post-war costs of publishing combined with unskilled labor resulted in poorer quality cards. Interest fell rapidly in mainstream cards and movies began to capture the enthusiasm of the masses. But Real Photo cards retained their popularity; rotary drum negative imprinters could produce thousands of copies of any image and a great variety were sold on roadside stands.

An exception to the poorer quality cards of this era were the hand tinted cards from France and Belgium. This method consisted of photo postcards being meticulously hand tinted by teams of trained women artists. The production didn't last long due to the lead paint being used which caused illnesses due to the women moistening their brushes with their lips.

The next era was the Linen Era which lasted from around 1930 to the forties and fifties. These cards were printed on stock of high rag content and were seen to be a vast improvement over previous cards. The cards had a 'textured' feel and could handle bright dyes for image coloring. These became very popular along roadside stands and in fact they documented each phase of the building of America's highway infrastructure. The most notable publisher of this phase was Curt Teich. This phase was replaced around 1940 by the newer chrome cards, although many (mostly southern) linen card companies continued to produce linen cards until the late 1950's. Real Photo black & white cards continued their popularity in this era. World War II once again caused a decline in postcard production and collecting.

The modern Chrome Era (1940 to present) was marked by new demands for top quality full-color cards that could be produced easily and at low cost. They quickly replaced both linen cards and Real Photo cards at roadside souvenir stands. Linen and black & white firms either merged with larger photochrome companies or went out of business.

Finding Sources of Collectible Postcards

We'll now turn our discussion to finding collectible postcards which will consist mainly of eBay and estate sales & auctions. Cards can be purchased in lots or individually for resale. I prefer buying in lots, but when I can find individual cards for $1 or two each and see them selling for $5 and up, I don't mind buying them by the card. Lots can generally be had for around twenty-five cents per card unless they have a lot of rarer varieties in which case they could go for fifty cents to a dollar each. Usually cards will be quantified so you will know exactly how many you are buying, i.e. packed in groups of 100. In that case you need simply to analyze the cards as to quality, age, condition and scarcity. Some estate auctions do not quantify the cards, but sell them by the boxful or basketful. Buyers cannot make an accurate assessment as to the number of cards. An auction house may not have the time to sort and count them out, or they simply may feel such a situation may result in higher bidding. This situation is a bit more challenging; again check quality, age and condition of cards and just make an educated guess as to how many are there.

If you are looking through individual cards, there are many categories you can safely rule out to save time and concentrate on the collectible cards. I never buy chrome cards unless they are highly unusual. I also avoid foreign cards as I have found little market for them in the U.S. and not much more overseas. Another category I avoid is the folders which have little demand. Lastly, I avoid larger "continental" size cards, normally 4x6 or larger. Collector's cards are the standard 3 1/2 x 5. Anything larger is a souvenir card and not a collectible item.

One estate sale I attended offered a small stack of about 20 vintage linen cards in pristine condition with some duplicates. Subjects were mostly old time motels in Tennessee, many of which are now long closed. The packet was marked $11 which I bargained down to $7. The first card I sold on eBay fetched $23. Luckily, I had three more of that exact same card in the stack. The next ones sold for progressively less since I had now "saturated" the market, but overall I made quite a nice profit on my small investment.

I found a single card of a B-58 Hustler bomber at a local antiques store in the militaria section. Its cost was only $2.50 so I purchased that and a few others. My subsequent eBay listing attracted 3 or 4 competitive bidders who drove its final price up to $24.50. Another small antique store was in the process of closing and sold me a small basket of about 150 postcards for which I offered $35. They consisted of a lot of foreign and continental (larger) cards but a good variety of good older cards as well. My offer was accepted and I then listed the lot on eBay for which I received a bid of just over $120.

I also purchased a box of 1,000 new linen cards on eBay for a price of $250. Scenes were from the Southeast U.S. The cards had come from a closed drugstore in Asheville, NC and were produced back in the 1950's. They had set on a back store shelf for fifty years untouched. My 25 cent cards sold for an average of $2 to $5 each. Subjects included Jefferson's home, Monticello, Univ. of Virginia and many other small town scenes which did well.

The scenic cards were a challenge. Mountains, streams and country roads generally sell poorly, but I found an answer. I grouped all the waterfalls together and sold them as a set. I did the same with the Skyline Drive cards and the Blue Ridge Parkway cards and they did rather well in sets. Grouping postcards in like categories appeals to collectors. Incidentally I once found a very old Monticello card shown before its restoration. Few can remember seeing a Monticello as weather worn and battered as that card showed; it was a strange sight; that is one card I now wish I had kept.

Many vintage postcards sell for $20 or more each. It's not hard to see how one can make good money selling their 25cent to 50cent cards for $15 to $20 apiece! Doing a simple search on eBay can show you many of  the higher priced cards and give you an idea of what to look for when buying your own cards. Go to Collectibles > Postcards and click on US State, Town Views. Sort by Time: Ending Soonest to find actual near closing prices. Then click on PRICE: Highest First to find the more valuable cards. Get to know these higher priced cards in order to know what to look for when buying.

Many estate sales offer one of a kind postcard lots. Sometimes you will find them in neat scrap books and other times they are all thrown into a box or basket. There are two distinct times to arrive at an estate sale; I have found both to be quite profitable. An EARLY arrival will give you first choice. I've seen people walk away with literally hundreds of dollars worth of valuable cards for a few dollars. The Second method is getting to the sale an hour or two before it ENDS, usually on a Sunday. Any leftover cards can usually be negotiated for a small price and could fetch many times that on eBay by listing them as a lot. I employ BOTH these methods.

When you find a particular postcard lot you are interested in purchasing for resale on eBay, check the "Seller's Other Auctions" to see what other items are offered. Are they selling other lots or are they selling individual cards which may have been cherry picked from the very lot you may be considering purchasing.

Curt Teich and Rafael Tuck Postcards are always in demand and are quite collectible. To find additional info on the web about postcard collection, do searches for Curt Teich Postcards, Tuck's Camera Postcards, and Postcard Collecting.