Stamp Collection Build Versus Buy !

I believe that the fun of stamp collecting is building your own collection...but if theres a chance to buy a hingeless album with stamps that would cost you 3 times to buy individually...whats a fellow to do ????????

Well... you buy it!... Then you take all the stamps out and throw them into a box in no particular order...
and finally Start sorting, cataloging and putting them into your new blank album!

That should make it feel like you're building your collection!

I would only consider buying it if it contained a lot of the ones I needed and had better examples of the the ones I had and even then ONLY if the price is right. Otherwise no.

Only if you are going to sell the ones you don't need here.

That's quite a dilema. It may point to why a complete collection can sell for less than the individual stamps. This might make a good poll.

I suppose you could buy it and rip out the stamps needed to put into your existing collection. I've a couple older Scott Junior International albums with smallish numbers of stamps that I am doing that with. It seems terrible to rip apart somebody elses old collection this way, but I don't want to have 30 little other peoples collections. I want a single orderly collection with my own notes and comments on the stamps. They had their fun. Now it's my turn.

Alternatively, you could buy it, put it on the shelf and start a new collection - maybe another country.

Hi Phil

If I am in a position to buy, I buy it! LOL

You might not get a second chance either.

Chimo

Bujutsu

The hardest thing to do is to recognise an opportunity when it presents itself. So, have fun trying to figure out if this is an opportunity you should jump at or pass.

Art

Butjutsu is correct BUY BUY BUY...of course I am not talking about stamps I already have..this would be a new area...i do not pay for the album..i figure roughly the catalog value of the stamps..if they are in a hingeless album I usually find the condition to be quite good !!

I would LOVE to buy a classic collection of Canada -- assuming I could afford it, of course.

Kirk, wheres your sense of self worth...go ALL IN and buy a Prince Albert !!

It depends what you want out of the hobby. For me it is the chase the ever unfolding journey of discovery. Very early on I realised that I could either just buy stamps and hoard them as far as my finances would allow or study the material I had and make some seance out of that.

What happened eventually was that about 40 years ago mt late father and I agreed that he would collect all the new stuff (GB Commemoratives mint and FDCs) and I would collect used.

The upshot of this was that we inherited a complete collection of stamps. We decided to continue his work but in our way. He was not interested in the definitives (Machins) or any of the booklets or mini-sheets. We are now in the process of rehousing the mint stamps from a selection of stockbooks and card into hingeless albums (Have you seen how much those are these days ) And we are scrambling our brains trying to work out which Machin is which from the odd ones we have acquired over the past 40 years...

I think if the collection had been all in albums, sorted out and finished it would have just stayed that way and been put on the shelf.

In the mean time I will continue 'chasing' except now I look at line engraved AND Machins AND everything in between. I don't suppose I will ever get anything finished but I don't think I want to.

Ralph.

Ralph, you probably know this but I often see some very nicely conditioned "used" hingeless albums being sold at some of the smaller auctions.....in fact I have sold a few over the years.

They tend to sell at a low percentage of their new price....10% or so.

The ones I sold also had the slipcase and as I had no use for them I was pleased to see them go.

Best wishes,

Brian....machins.

Brian,

The problem is finding the one you want when you want it. It is the same old story, if you want to sell something nobody is buying, if you want to buy something nobody is selling...

The silly thing is that the stamps are probably worth less than the album costs new and the cost of the year suppliants is positively eye watering But if it was only about the money I would be a dealer and I am a collector(Or should I say we are collectors). Resale value is going to be far less than investment but it is the fun of filling the albums and using the blank pages (also available at vast cost) to customise the collection with all the stuff deemed too specialist for inclusion. Such as the odd error here and there.

The basic issue Machins will be added but the 'interesting stuf will be housed elsewhere in the same style of album we use for our main collection.

For us it's all about fun - not money. We only spend what we can afford and that way it does not loose it's appeal. We are now living in a tent on the common next to the local soup kitchen.

Ralph.

Listen, we all have our vices or addictions...thank goodness stamps float my boat...But,i have to avoid getting overwhelmed when a couple of opportunities hit at once...i have to remember that there will be dry spells where I am not buying !!