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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2024 21:50:20 GMT
Moderator Note: This thread was originally created by former member Clovermite.
What is the best way for somebody with a relatively small collection to acquire more stamps at a low cost? I currently try to buy stamp collections in books at car boot sales for €10-15, but this is not a reliable method, as most car boot sales are hours away from me, and it relies on weather, and not often do people even have them for sale at these car boot sales. Is there an easy way to acquire lots of stamps for cheap (particularly pre-2000)?
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hdm1950
Member 
Posts: 1,867 
What I collect: I collect world wide up to 1965 with several specialty albums added due to volume of material I have acquired. At this point I am focused on Canada and British America. I am always on the lookout for stamps and covers with postmarks from communities in Queens County, Nova Scotia. I do list various goods including stamps occasionally on eBay as hdm50
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Post by hdm1950 on Sept 17, 2024 23:53:23 GMT
@clovermite it takes time but over the years word has got around that I collect stamps. As a result stamps often find me. I get calls from friends or people that are referred to me by friends with old collections. Most of theses collections have little of value and I tell them the sad facts. I sometimes give them a sympathy offer for the fun of picking through the stuff. Long story short, word of mouth.
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madbaker
Member
Posts: 778
What I collect: (Mark) General worldwide collector (to 1975 or so) with a soft spot for Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia.
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Post by madbaker on Sept 18, 2024 4:44:27 GMT
@clovermite, I've added stamps in quantity a few ways over the years, but the #1 way for me is to join my local stamp club. The club in Saskatchewan is small, but every meeting has an auction where collectors get rid of their duplicates for slightly more than free. I tended to come home from every meeting with a packet or two of stamps for a dollar or two per lot at the most. My current club in Victoria BC is much larger, but so far that just seems to mean there are more stamps available for even less money. I posted in another thread that I bought a stockbook full of Canada for $3. There were other packets, collections and stockbooks at the same meeting that sold for $5-7 each. If there isn't a club nearby, there might be one slightly further out that organizes a show a few times per year. That's my #2 way to get material. There's often a dealer or two specializing in larger lots / collections where the cost per stamp is very low. We only had one show per year in Saskatchewan, but that just meant I saved up for that one glorious weekend in February. If you're driving to boot sales, perhaps seek out stamp fairs and take a targeted trip to a show.  My #3 way was back 20 years ago, I found a dealer who did 'packet approvals'. He would send me a packet of stamps from a country I requested and I took as many as I needed for so much per stamp (say, 10 cents each.) I filled many gaps in my Sweden collection that way; it was quite efficient for the common issues. Maybe there is a Irish / UK dealer who does that? I keep seeing ads for Avon stamps that do something similar but I don't know if you can request certain countries. And hdm1950 is 100% correct about word of mouth too. I'm still too shy to promote myself as a collector, but the times it slips out, invariably people are bringing grandma's old collection around for me to look at. I've only once seen anything of big value (and the daughter knew her dad was a serious collector) but I don't have the means to buy something really valuable anyway! I hope some of this helps! Mark |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2024 5:31:08 GMT
Moderator Note: This post was made by former member Clovermite.
@clovermite, it takes time, but over the years word has got around that I collect stamps. As a result, stamps often find me. I get calls from friends or people that are referred to me by friends with old collections. Most of these collections have little of value and I tell them the sad facts. I sometimes give them a sympathy offer for the fun of picking through the stuff. Long story short, word of mouth. My grandmother used to send me all of the stamps she had cut off of her post over the years, so I got a LOT of Dutch stamps from the 80s and 90s when I was a child. In fact, before I started actually buying stamps at car boot sales recently, that made up most of my collection. I have been thinking of telling the people in my local second-hand shops that I am interested in stamps, they might have gotten in some old stamp books, but decided not to sell them, because they often throw out things they think nobody will buy.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2024 5:36:14 GMT
Moderator Note: This post was made by former member Clovermite.
@clovermite , I've added stamps in quantity a few ways over the years, but the #1 way for me is to join my local stamp club. If there isn't a club nearby, there might be one slightly further out that organizes a show a few times per year. That's my #2 way to get material. There's often a dealer or two specializing in larger lots / collections where the cost per stamp is very low. We only had one show per year in Saskatchewan, but that just meant I saved up for that one glorious weekend in February. If you're driving to boot sales, perhaps seek out stamp fairs and take a targeted trip to a show. I live in a small town in Tipperary, Ireland. I'm pretty sure there aren't any clubs or shows anywhere near me. I don't drive myself; I rely on my father for that, and he's never willing to go further than +/-1 hour away. If you know of any (somehow) that are, please tell me, or send a link to them. I'm hoping in 3 days that I can use this forum's trading section to acquire new items, too (that is when my account is old enough to access it, I think).
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wakeybluenose
Member
Mostly harmless!
Posts: 311
What I collect: GB to 2000 (but definitives to date) / Ireland to 2000 / General WW classics & definitives / ASFEC / SciFi & Fantasy Literature / Local History
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Post by wakeybluenose on Sept 18, 2024 9:22:45 GMT
Here is a link to Avon that Madbaker mentioned in his post: www.upastampauctions.co.uk/about-mixtures/The 1st 500 stamps are free, it doesn't say how much they are thereafter, but I used them 20 odd years ago and they were pennies if I recall. |
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Post by Statesman Stamper on Sept 18, 2024 9:49:02 GMT
I tend to prefer mixtures and single country packets, although I will sometimes buy small remainder collections on pages.
You might try Court Philatelics in the UK. I've ordered from them a few times and have been happy with the service and the mixes I've gotten.
Dale
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2024 10:40:11 GMT
Moderator Note: This post was made by former member Clovermite.
Here is a link to Avon that Madbaker mentioned in his post: www.upastampauctions.co.uk/about-mixtures/The 1st 500 stamps are free, it doesn't say how much they are thereafter, but I used them 20 odd years ago and they were pennies if I recall. Is this site trustworthy? How do you pay for it? It's not stated clearly how payment is made. I'd be happy to try, if I could trust it and understood how everything worked.
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wakeybluenose
Member
Mostly harmless!
Posts: 311
What I collect: GB to 2000 (but definitives to date) / Ireland to 2000 / General WW classics & definitives / ASFEC / SciFi & Fantasy Literature / Local History
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Post by wakeybluenose on Sept 18, 2024 11:13:16 GMT
@clovermite
I can't remember. As I say, it was about 20 years ago that I used it, but they are still going!
It's basically a mixture on approval. They send you a bag of maybe 1,000 stamps, you take up to 500 for free and send them the rest back. You won't have anything to pay until your second mixture, by which time I'm sure they will have told you how to pay and how much, and you will have a better understanding of how reliable/trustworthy they are.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2024 11:27:24 GMT
Moderator Note: This post was made by former member Clovermite.
wakeybluenose So, it's like a subscription kind of thing? I can't find any testimonials from people who did it online, so I'll exercise caution.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2024 11:47:07 GMT
Moderator Note: This post was made by former member Clovermite.
Well, I gave them all my details, let's hope it's all legitimate.
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vikingeck
Member
Posts: 3,527
What I collect: Samoa, Tobacco theme, Mail in Wartime, anything odd and unusual!
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Post by vikingeck on Sept 18, 2024 13:16:25 GMT
UPA the overall owner of that site is a major buyer and seller advertising widely and thereby supporting the publication of various UK journals eg Stamp Magazine, Stamp & Coin collector. They regularly produce large illustrated auction catalogues of 10000 or so lots.
Perfectly legitimate and genuine , but with some gimmicks to hook you in as a regular buyer, bidder, or subscriber , Such as the free pick mixture described. They also offer a £50 discount to new first time auction bidders from their catalogue.
I have never used them though a couple of my Club colleagues have.
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madbaker
Member
Posts: 778
What I collect: (Mark) General worldwide collector (to 1975 or so) with a soft spot for Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia.
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Post by madbaker on Sept 18, 2024 14:58:45 GMT
I live in a small town in Tipperary, Ireland. I'm pretty sure there aren't any clubs or shows anywhere near me. Yeah, that's tougher for sure. I think putting the word out in your local area might help you in the long run. Even some 'new collector seeks stamps' posters on library bulletin boards might help. But working through dealers might be the way to go until you meet your people locally.
Avon promotes being accessible to 'all' collectors. You might also want to reach out to dealers in Dublin. A dealer who specializes in high end product will still have contacts that cater to collectors who are starting out. Saving up and buying a box lot or large collection from an Irish dealer once a year might give you enough stamps to process until you save up for another purchase.
Trading through the forum might pay dividends. When I started out 20+ years ago, I had a trading partner in Australia and another in Belgium. We traded stamps that were common to us but useful to the others. The challenge (and I don't want to discourage you!) is that postage rates have gone up and up, so mailing stuff around the world might be more expensive than a local solution. And there's still the issue of getting nice, trade-worthy stamps in so you can trade out.
Sorry, I don't have a simple solution. But keep going! You'll find something that works for you, that is more predictable than car boot sales, I'm sure of it. 💖
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator 
Posts: 5,889
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Sept 18, 2024 16:38:33 GMT
@clovermite I can echo what Alex ( vikingeck) has said about UPA. They are, indeed, a reputable firm, and I used them many times while I was living in the UK. That said, I only ever bought from their auctions or post-auction remainder sales, but if they are making an attractive offer on mixtures, you can be sure it is legitimate. I also had positive experience with them in making returns. I wasn't happy with a stamp I received one time, and they took it back and refunded me in full with no questions asked. |
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vikingeck
Member
Posts: 3,527
What I collect: Samoa, Tobacco theme, Mail in Wartime, anything odd and unusual!
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Post by vikingeck on Sept 18, 2024 17:10:15 GMT
I was about to list a bunch of Commonwealth on my eBay account at the weekend. ( no GB, EU , USA or other non Commonwealth) with some duplication , most of them will be pre 1990 period. Around 2500+ off paper for £12 /€14 Which works out at 2 for a penny.!
As I have not yet listed them I could offer them here as a buy it sale if you are interested @clovermite …….i would even cover the postage from UK to Ireland 😎✈️
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,889
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Sept 18, 2024 18:18:14 GMT
@clovermite Please respond to Alex ( vikingeck) by PM if you would like to discuss/ accept his offer. Thanks!  |
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cursus
Member
Posts: 1,987
What I collect: Catalan Cinderellas. Used Switzerland, UK, Scandinavia, Germany & Austria. Postal History of Barcelona & Estonia. Catalonia pictorial postmarks.
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Post by cursus on Sept 19, 2024 6:28:09 GMT
Another good source might be charity shops. I'm sure there are some in your area. They get donations of all kind of items. If you visit them and let know that you're interested on postal items they might save them for you or, even, accept donations of such items, knowing that they've a potential buyer. I know it first hand (I volunteer on one of such shops) that, due to lack of space, they might refuse donations of items that they're not sure will find a buyer. If you go there once in a while, and get friendly with the people, it might be a reliable and cheap source for postal items.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2024 8:29:34 GMT
Moderator Note: This post was made by former member Clovermite.
cursus I mentioned second-hand shops in a previous post. Never have I found stamps in them, in all my years going to them, not in Ireland, at least. When I was in the Netherlands last Christmas, I found some books with really nice stamps in what's called a kringloop ([Dutch] basically, a big second-hand shop), but my father wouldn't let me get them. Instead, he bought a book of Czechoslovakian CTOs because he thought the space stamps looked cool or something like that. I'm still raging about that.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2024 21:10:53 GMT
Moderator Note: This post was made by former member Clovermite.
Beryllium Guy Turns out, it's a scam. They advertise 500 free stamps on their site, but my father received an email from them saying they will charge him £10.50 to send 250 stamps, and that only the next 250 will be free. Surely that's illegal.
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Londonbus1
Moderator
Cinderella Stamp Club Member 3059
Posts: 5,061
What I collect: Wonderland; 1912 Jubilee International Stamp Exhibition, London ('Ideal' Stamp, ephemera); French Cinderellas with an emphasis on Poster Stamps; Israel and Palestine Cinderellas ; Jewish National Fund Stamps, Labels and Tags; London 2010, A Festival of Stamps (anything); South Africa 1937 Coronation issue of KGVI, singles or bi-lingual pairs.
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Post by Londonbus1 on Sept 20, 2024 6:48:28 GMT
@clovermite......that's not good ! Their website clearly states, "Approvals and Mixtures – prices are inclusive of shipping.". I too have dealt with them without problems so I hope this email is an error. What exactly did it state ? The offers for the mixtures and approvals do not include info about postage, this is found at the bottom of each page under 'shipping and insurance'.
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cursus
Member
Posts: 1,987
What I collect: Catalan Cinderellas. Used Switzerland, UK, Scandinavia, Germany & Austria. Postal History of Barcelona & Estonia. Catalonia pictorial postmarks.
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Post by cursus on Sept 20, 2024 9:10:27 GMT
In our charity shop "L'Encant de Gràcia", in Gràcia, Barcelona, we always have a container full of used stamps at a fixed price, that varies depending on the quality of the stamps and/or the demand. Now, they're at 0.02 € each stamp. Aside, we've a stock book full of USSR cto stamps, that I priced at 10 €. Our stamp offer depends on the donations that we get. We have had catalogs, books on philately, as well as commemorative covers, postcards, etc. The offer changes day to day.
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TimG
Member
Posts: 212
What I collect: Worldwide
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Post by TimG on Sept 20, 2024 12:38:10 GMT
Like madbaker I belong to a local stamp club in Alberta, Canada, that normally has an auction twice per month (September to June). Most often I can walk away with all kinds of goodies for $5-50 (sometimes more). I'm a worldwide collector and therefore, less discerning about how I grow my collection. Someone specializing will of course have to look to more expensive auction sites to grow their collection (and pay more money). I've been thinking about putting an ad on Kijiji, indicating I'm interested in buying collections or at least, willing to check out a collection and maybe make an offer. What I see offered on Kijiji however, are ads from people trying to make a killing for stamps worth a pittance. |
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wakeybluenose
Member
Mostly harmless!
Posts: 311
What I collect: GB to 2000 (but definitives to date) / Ireland to 2000 / General WW classics & definitives / ASFEC / SciFi & Fantasy Literature / Local History
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Post by wakeybluenose on Sept 26, 2024 15:34:29 GMT
Turns out, it's a scam. They advertise 500 free stamps on their site, but my father received an email from them saying they will charge him £10.50 to send 250 stamps, and that only the next 250 will be free. Surely that's illegal. After you posted this, I filled in the online form and submitted my details, I didn’t receive an email, instead, yesterday I received a package in the mail! It contained 3 bags of stamps, 1 worldwide mixture from which I can select the 500 stamps (extras can be taken at 3p each), the other 2 were ‘on approval’ bags based on the collecting interests I informed them of, I am under no obligation to take any of these stamps, but they are priced at 20p and 12p each. They also enclosed a payment/re-order form which I have scanned here so others can see how this works. There is no obligation to take any further packages, but it seems, if I’m interpreting correctly, that for a £7.95 pre-payment I can take a further 500 stamps (1.59p per stamp). Postage is included both ways, they enclosed a SAE for the return. In conclusion, it doesn’t seem to be a scam to me, whether you think 3p / 12p / 20p / 1.59p is reasonable for the quality of stamps offered is another question.     |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2024 15:55:23 GMT
Moderator Note: This post was made by former member Clovermite.
wakeybluenoseThe website advertises 500 free stamps and requested £10.50 payment for only 250 stamps. That is false advertisement.
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Post by Statesman Stamper on Sept 26, 2024 16:45:40 GMT
@clovermite I'd call it more a case of mis-communication on the vendor's part. I had also filled in the form (I live in the US) and was quoted the £10.75 amount. Rather than casting aspersions I replied to the e-mail asking for clarification. The pre-payment amount covers the cost of postage, and as seen in the scans from wakeybluenose applies to the world mixture bags only. Other bags are sent on approval. If I weren't sitting surrounded by many, many thousands of stamps waiting to be sorted and worked into my collection I'd very likely be sending UPA a payment. In an earlier "life" I had an approval dealer who sent out mixed packets and I have fond memories or working through them. The bags shown in the scans look fun.  But to each their own. Happy collecting. Dale |
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,889
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Oct 1, 2024 0:05:42 GMT
Being an unapologetic philatelic treasure hunter myself, I was also intrigued by UPA's offer of 500 free stamps, which I was easily able to find online. On the other hand, I was troubled by Clovermite's experience, because I had always known UPA to be a reputable and honest company from personal dealings with them, and Clovermite's experience did not seem to live up to that reputation. Like Kevin ( wakeybluenose) and Dale ( Statesman Stamper), I decided to apply to UPA and see what happened. I received an email, much like what Clovermite and Dale received, offering me 250 stamps if I paid an up-front fee, and then 250 more stamps for free. So, I followed up with an email response to Mrs. Pat Mobey at UPA, and I explained that I was confused about the email compared to the offer I had found on their website, and I included a screenshot of the advertisement, just to be sure there was no mistake about what I had seen. Mrs. Mobey responded: It's as simple as that. The reason Kevin got the 500 stamps straightaway is that he is in the UK, and the rest of us weren't. Based on Mrs. Mobey's response, it seems pretty clear to me that originally, the offer was open to all customers, but eventually, it was changed to be exclusively for UK customers. To my thinking at least, while this isn't a good look for UPA to leave this advertisement in place without noting the necessary conditions, it doesn't qualify as a scam, which would imply that the company is intentionally trying to deceive people. It's a misstep on UPA's part, for sure, but it seems an honest mistake. In my capacity as a TSF Moderator, I am planning to reply to Mrs. Mobey by email, explain to her that this situation has caused some consternation amongst our members, and to express my hope that UPA will update their website to prevent this sort of misunderstanding in the future. |
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,889
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Oct 2, 2024 14:02:07 GMT
Update on the UPA situation: after making my previous post, I did send an email back to UPA voicing my concerns about what has become a misleading advertisement, and I did tell them that their offer has caused some lively discussion amongst our members on TSF.
I received a further response today from Mrs. Mobey at UPA:
I will keep everyone informed of further developments.
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,889
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Oct 9, 2024 16:41:21 GMT
Greetings, everyone: I just wanted to give this thread a bump to let you know that I did receive personal email back from Mr. Andrew McGavin, the Managing Director of UPA. He thanked me for bringing this matter to his attention, and he apologized for the lack of timely revision to the website advertisement for mixtures. He took full responsibility for the oversight. No excuses. He committed to ensure it was fixed, and then sent a follow-up email to let me know when it had been done. There are two other posts just prior to this one that interested members may also want to review, as it tells the whole story. I know that some who were following this discussion were vikingeck, michael, wakeybluenose, Statesman Stamper.... Here are the links to the revised content: www.upastampauctions.co.uk/about-mixtures/www.upastampauctions.co.uk/request-approvals/I would like to conclude by saying that I was very impressed by the prompt, decisive, and no-nonsense follow-up by Andrew McGavin at UPA once he had been informed about the problem. In my former role as the Managing Director of a manufacturing company, I always used to tell our employees that it was how we handled things when something went wrong that our customers would remember, more than when we got it right in the first place. I still think that's true. |
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vikingeck
Member
Posts: 3,527
What I collect: Samoa, Tobacco theme, Mail in Wartime, anything odd and unusual!
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Post by vikingeck on Oct 9, 2024 17:35:12 GMT
Pleased you got an explantion Chris Beryllium Guy . A further note in UPA's defence , The offer has been running for some time, evidently without trouble, but in the past year Royal Mail has hoicked the cost of postage on European and overseas packages between 100 and 500g no fewer than three times, October '23, April and Oct '24 . Now almost double what it was a couple of years ago. This must have made their offer unsustainable . I know I have been caught out under-charging on my overseas postage due to relisted ebay sales that eventually sold after the price change. I guess the advert never caught up with the Mail cost increases, |
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madbaker
Member
Posts: 778
What I collect: (Mark) General worldwide collector (to 1975 or so) with a soft spot for Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia.
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Post by madbaker on Oct 9, 2024 22:28:50 GMT
This whole conversation is fascinating. I'm so glad a few of you tried it out recently. I've been following UPA ads for years, every time I get a UK stamp magazine. So glad to see what's offered.
Postal rates for packages are so cost-prohibitive these days that I'll bet 90% of the markup for packet material is going to the post office.
I'd love a service like this, but they would lose money on people like me. I might buy 50-100 stamps from that Scandinavian packet, but after postage and labour, there's not a lot of profit there. I'd fill spaces at 12p per stamp, but would anyone buy the whole thing for 65 pounds?
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