I would leave them out over the winter or bag them with peat moss in the freezer. Be careful of squirrels if the nuts stay outdoors!

Don't freeze them. Store them in the bottom bin of the fridge in damp sphagnum moss. It's really best to plant them outside now, but you will need to rig up some type of protection from squirrels. Laying chicken wire over the ground usually works, just don't forget to remove it come spring. What kind of maple seeds do you have? Red maples set seed in the spring, so I don't know why someone would sell those now.

Thanks for the replies. Concerning the red maples, I am unsure what varity they are. And I was thinking the same, maple do not sprout until the spring, so I am unsure if the seed pods are still good. My guess is that they were a waist of money.

Some maples produce seed in spring and germinate immediately (red and silver maples), while others produce seed in the fall and require stratification over the winter (sugar maple).