Where Do You Find Your Stamps?

Hello everyone. I am not looking for a specific answer, just wondering where everyone gets stamps for their collections. Maybe I can find a new source that I haven't thought of yet!

I buy stamps from ebay, though I would like to try other "free" auction sites. I also bid on, using credits on Listia.com.

And I am very excited to find a local stamp store, many mint stamps at "face" value, old postal cards with 1 cent value, selling for.. you guessed it.. one cent! Many FDCs, for 25 cents each.... I needed some 104 cards, and bought 1,000 just this morning.

I don't do much trading but would like to !
Where else do people buy stamps???
I always wonder about "dealer" lots, where do the dealers get them from? LOLOL

Where I used to live, I was able to get the city water dept to save the envelopes people sent payments in. They would let me sit in their office,look through the shoe box of saved envelopes and cut out the stamps I wanted. Now that we moved to a small town, I still am able to have the local water dept and phone company save their envelopes for me. Some places have denied my request, but these two didn't. So I guess it doesn't hurt to ask. Using the stamps I get this way, I am able to do some trading for other stamps I need.
And of course the auctions/sales on this group and other stamp collector group sites.

Dave N.
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I get mine from ebay, Bidstart, Delcampe, and Stamps2go. I favor ebay for the potential to find great bargains. Last week I won a lot of very nice Canadian stamps 1906-39 for $7.55 and the book value is about $200. The other sites I mentioned I haven't had the occasional score like that.

Every one is different which is one cool aspect of stamp collecting.

For my collection over the last 40 years, I have obtained 90% of my stamps from :

1. Attending auctions in person at local large stamp houses (in Los Angeles and NY). An old dying art but still historical and fun
2. Subscribing to mail order auction catalog--like Eastern or Vance or the like. This is my bread and butter because you get a large newspaper like magazine once a month, then get to go through it with color (or check their website), then you can fax or mail or email your blind bids. Then you win or lose and then pay up. Most of the auction houses might charge you an annual subscription, but once you buy one lot, they will then keep mailing it to you at their cost. I also have credit with most, and get the stamps first, then pay via check or credit card.
3. Attend local hobby Sunday stamp shows. These are usually 10-20 people at tables with their collections. The sell and trade and buy a little. I've found that working the circuit is hit and miss--but i've found some great deals at low prices. Because these guys are highly motivated to real Dead Presidents and bluntly have been decimated by the great recession. so if you have cash, they are desparate and will sell for fraction of catalogs
4. ebay occassionally, but I find it uneven and have had many instances of forgeries. Sometimes you can get a bargain, but sometimes things just run away to an artificial price. So, I only use it for covers and for items less than $10-20.

Thanks! I will have to check out those sites. I have gotten quite a few stamps from craigslist, I usually get them in big lots. That is actually my main source of stamps right now. But as soon as I start looking for rare stamps I am sure I will need to find a new source.

I have only found one local stamp store about 30 minutes from my house. His prices are very fair too.

I occasionally also check the local Craigslist and once in a while you can find a decent collection up for sale.

Most of my stamps I get at the local club and at some stamp shows. I do get some from online auctions but seldom bid on stamps since my main interests there are covers & postcards.

Chimo

Bujutsu

1. Post office
2. Dealer
3. Auction
4. On line auction (ebay, delcampe, etc.)
5. Swap

Stamporama, ebay, Bidstart.

I use a couple of auction houses, including Michael Rogers & Nick Follansbee. I use one dealer fairly regularly with want lists and also have used the APS Stamp Store for both buying and selling. I don't use ebay, delcampe, bidstart, or similar.

ebay worldwide, Delcampe.net worldwide, local Stamp Club, asking everyone Do you have any stamps? (or cancels)

My best fun is buying collections / lots on ebay and Craigslist and hoping for the best. I've done pretty well with that plan and it's a lot more fun for me trying to find something worthwhile in those than just buying individual stamps. I've filled a lot of holes and upgraded quite a bit doing this over the last year or so. Eventually though, my holes are gonna be things that will rarely if ever be found in collections like these. I guess at that point I'll have to approach it differently or change my focus up a bit.

Ebay, APS Sales Circuits, Catalog/Auctions. I also get my recent issues from incoming mail at a local university. They let me pull all the interesting covers, some of which I keep, and the others I trade for what I want.

Matt

I am literally in that same boat Mike33. I have been very lucky myself using local finds.

Garage/Estate sales, online and Antique shops. But best of all the guy behind my shop does clean outs that is where I get a ton of stamps