Re-Building A Collection

Gerry another good way to build a collection is to buy the bulk lots from ebay you can get 1,000-1200 stamps "OFF PAPER" for around $12.00. Just watch the shipping cost. Shop around to get a feel before ordering. About three of thse bulk lots will get you far down the road toward building a collection. The LOts are even numbered if you buy from the same seller so as not to duplicate too much.

Welcome Gerry

There is no wrong way to collect. Once you get you required posts send me an email I think I can get you on your way as I have a ton of used US I could send you.

Dianne

Thanks everyone for responding to my post. I'm pretty much going to stick with US stamps. I'll sort through what I still have and go from there. I've already gotten a lot of good information from the forum so will continue visiting here.

Thanks again!

Welcome back to the hobby! I recommend buying a good magnifying glass too.

Glad to see someone coming back to the hobby. I'm sure many of us here could help you fill some spaces.

I found myself in the same situation without clear direction. I started with the Heirloom collection of binders from Mystic and have purchased a couple cheap lots off of ebay to start filling them. After 5 months I have my books half filled. Most of any used lots I buy now are just redundant and have more doubles than anything else. I'm pretty close to having to buy what I need individually now. I think I've ended up in my kitchen with every Liberty Bell ever printed!

Just keep it fun and don't be OCD about it and it'll provide loads of satisfaction for a long time. If you're looking for something specific to help you out or keep you interested, let me know. I have a boatload of stamps. Just make sure you're aware of values or have a couple price guides anyway if you're shopping ebay. Sometimes you can get some great deals and other times pay more than something is worth.

dpoul34 What is OCD ??????

Tinman - Obsessive Compulsive disorder. Anyway, dpoul34, what you describe about everything being doubles/extras is one of the problems with buying "collections" on ebay; most of them are remainders. They're usually missing the same stamps, over and over, that sell for a significant fraction of catalogue; the stamps that are left often have poor centering, small flaws, or are just "count" stamps that aren't valued highly enough for individual sale. Sooner or later, everyone gets to the point where they either have to buy intact collections, or buy stamps individually. That's where it starts getting expensive...

I recently heard this stated as:

"Every lesson learned by experience began life as a mistake."

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

jaxstamper what you said is true because all of the sellers have gone through and taken out any stamps of value so all the buyer is getting is the scraps. A lot of sellers advertise unsorted but that is an outright lie. Somebody somewhere has sorted them out and took the good stuff. Then they market them as individuals or a small lot to get more money. I will never buy on ebay again unless I find something just too good to turn down. I really don't even look on ebay anymore. SCF went to pot when they closed down the auction area and merged with ebay. The best place I have found to buy stamps is on Stamps2Go. You actually see what you get and you get only what you want and can actually chooses the price you want to pay or stay home.

gets expensive when you get to that level. Kind of silly but I'm always looking to better the copy of whatever I got and when I'm done with that I chase colors. There come to a point when you know your not going to have it all, and specialize

I started building a new collection last month with the 1938 Presidential (Prexie) issues. They are now nearly complete except for a couple of coil line pairs and a booklet pane. I am now working on the 1922 Series and the 1954 Liberty series simultaneously while also picking up commemoratives here and there. Go with what you can afford and collect at whatever pace you want to...there is no wrong way to collect.

wash your right it does get expensive but there's no point in buying what you already have. You just wind up with a bunch of duplicates. As I said above all the expensive stamps, the hard to find stamps, the rare stamps have been picked out so all you wind up with is the common stamps stamps you already have. ebay used to be a great place to buy and build a collection but those days are gone. Occasionally somebody finds a good buy but those times are rare now.

TinMan, I bought a PNC (plate number coil) FDC of the 5¢ Motorcycle, plate number 4, USPS Souvenir page this week on ebay for $2. The Scott/Mellone catalog value is $2000.

There are still deals out there, you just need to know what you're looking for.

I'm confused as to who is valuing that USPS Souvenir Page so high (and why).

We're talking about a SP542 (Scott #1899 coil stamp), right?. My Scott Specialized Catalog (2013 ed.) lists the Souvenir Page for only $4.50 and I can't imagine the premium for a PNC 4 strip would add that much to its value. Even the PNC 4 single stamp is only valued at $0.45 used as compared to $0.25 used for a non-PNC, suggesting to me that the PNC only commands a very small premium.

Am I missing something?