Suggestions For Purchasing?

I have checked out a few companies now for approvals and since I purchased a 2013 Scott United States pocket stamp catalogue I've realized that the approvals are priced at least +150% over the 2013 recommended pricing. I am starting collecting again with used and NH mint US stamps from 140 to present. I plan to then continue pre 1940's. I am slowly getting some used pre 1940's in large sets of used stamps from ebay. I am a little frustrated in ebay because my attemps to buy albums or collections keep getting sniped at the last minute. Can anyone recommend some good dealers who would have mint year sets for sale that are at the Scott market value or less? Thank you for your consideration!

David

I personally don't like approvals as they're overpriced and not necessarily in my collecting interests so I stick with the on line auctions like ebay stamps, Bidstart, and Delcampe.

When I started my Canadian collection (the goal to fill every space in the album) I also started at about the 1940-1950 era and worked up. I filled the album by buying year sets from dealers until about 2001, where I started buying the annual sets from Canada Post. For stuff below 1940, I would look for deals of complete series in VF or VFNH and buy them outright. I figured it was cheaper to get the inexpensive sets this way than to try to find each one individually. I am down to the last three pages in my album and find now that I have to buy stamps individually, which gets expensive. Still, I have 5 volumes filled with only about 26 more stamps to go (55 if I replace my used ones) and I complete the goal.

As for your question, I don't know of any US dealers that sell year sets but I imagine that there would be lots more available than in Canada. I picked up a three-volume hingeless Davo US album with the second and third volumes virtually complete with mint stamps and it only cost ~$300 in total, which would have been about what the albums themselves would have cost. I got it off ebay so keep on looking for items like this.

David,

On ebay, I search for United States year sets, mint. I found a lot of offers. Did my homework on prices and purchased accordingly. I was buying mint year sets 1979 to 2005. Compare the catalog for year issues ( number of issues in the year) so you know if you are getting the complete set. Hope this helps you, Dan

Thank you for the advice! I am also going to try and find a local stamp club here in San Diego. Maybe I can also meet some local dealers that way.

David

If you go on ebay and enter "1985 US Commemorative set" (for example) you will see 15 listings. You can sort by Price+ shipping lowest and see the very wide range of prices. I agree that you must do your homework. US commemorative sets are always available on ebay and sometimes you can find a real bargain. I have found that you can sometimes win a bid for not much more than face value, which I think is fair enough.

David:
Are you a member of American Philatelic Society? If you are, you can request APS circuit sales/buying, which is very similar to approval buying. You receive 10 books at a time on specific stamp groups, such as US stamps mint or US stamps used. You might want to look into this and join the APS.