You Wouldn't Think It Was A Problem...

Recently, I came back to actively collecting stamps after being away for a couple of years. My U.S. collection is essentially complete from the mid 1910s but I realized that a small handful of modern stamps were either missing from my collection, or I had used examples, or I had singles and was missing a block, or a block and was missing singles, etc. I figure I'm missing less than 20 stamps total between 1918 and 1993 when I stopped collecting. So I figured what the heck, get on Bidstart or Delcampe and just order them, they can't be that hard to find, right? Wrong!

I wanted to find a single U.S. based dealer that had either all of them, or a majority of them so I could just get it done in one fell swoop and not have to pay tons of different shipping costs. Yet no one I was able to find on Bidstart, Delcampe or even ebay, had even a good percentage of the stamps I need, which I figured is weird because they are all low-value, common, modern issues. I even e-mailed a couple of dealers I've dealt with in the past and they sent back that they don't have these issues at all.

Gah, collecting can be so difficult sometimes. :)

Try MURPHY.

He's super nice and a pleasure to do business with. His prices are VERY reasonable. I built most of my modern US collection with his help.



His webiste is a big spreadsheet mess; but if you email him with a want list, he'll take care of you.

Kirk

We've previously talked here about Mystic Stamp Co. Of course, the prices are high, but if you're only talking 20 stamps and want a well-established company to provide everything at once with a single shipping charge, it may be an option in this case.

http://www.mysticstamp.com/product_summary_usa.asp

Yeah, I'd much rather give my money to an independent dealer, I could go to one of the big firms but, as you say, they're ridiculously overpriced and frankly, I've been less than impressed with their business model (not Mystic, but others).

A thought: Post your want list here: https://goscf.com/f/5, , basically a "want to buy" forum.

Perhaps some members may be able to help at lower prices?

Cephus,

I am in the same situation and have tried all the venues you have identified. Except one. Why not try a STAMP SHOW? Google it for your local area. By the way, I have had very good luck with both Bid Start and with ebay. Not very good luck at all with MYSTIC. They have been very disappointing. Very Disappointing.

Good Luck,
Jack Kelley

There aren't any, at least not any time soon. There is a local monthly show, but I've been extremely disappointed with them, I usually walk in with a pocket of money and walk out empty-handed. It's also incredibly insular, the dealers there are incredibly rude and too busy sitting around talking to each other to be bothered with customers.

I checked out Murph and he has just about everything I need, at least looking at his list. The only two he hasn't had were Sc#2049a and #2050a, but looking around, it seems virtually nobody has those for some reason.

I'm more or less in the same situation with modern Germany stamps and the reality I'm finding is that the small time dealers simply don't have all of them, even all of the cheap and easy ones. If I'm shopping on ebay or BidStart I always try to find the seller that has the most items on my want list, but I've reached a point of diminishing returns and can only usually find a couple here or there. At that point the seller with the cheapest shipping usually wins.

Please clarify what you mean by Scott #2049a and #2050a. They don't exist. If you're talking about the 1984 Summer Olympic stamps issued on 07/28/1983, the single stamps would be #2049 and #2050. If you are looking for the block of 4, it would be #2051a.

I don't know the ebay seller, but here's a block of 4 of the stamps you're looking for at $1.74 (including shipping):

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1983US-2048...em27d7c88c4a

Yeah, I guess it would help if I typed right. I meant 2149a and 2150a and yes, Murph has those. Typos suck.

I have the same problem with China and Australia stamps. Most dealers in the U.S. have very limited selection at all and outside the U.S., shipping costs, especially for small orders, are prohibitive, plus I don't want to wait a month of Sundays to get my order. I really wish that places like BidStart and Delcampe would let you sort a particular seller's store by Scott# so you can just go down the list and check off "I want that one and that one and that one and that one". Instead, you have to go through and search for every number you want, then try to decide who had the most. It's a real hassle, I thought things were supposed to get easier online, not harder. Way back when, when dealers had paper-lists, you had everything in order, it was easy to see what they had. Not so much on these auction sites.

I see 2149a and 2150a on ebay free shipping if that helps you. The vendor is "Invest".

Jack Kelley

Then again, I see the same two stamps on Murph's for $.20 and $.23, respectively. Big difference! Are the Murph's prices for MNH?

Jack Kelley

I have no idea, I'd hope so because that's all I collect. Used is a total no-go.

I told you Murphy's prices are good. And yes, his stuff is all MNH.

I do this on BidStart all the time. I just go to a seller's store, click on the category I'm interested in, and change the sort order to sort by Scott#. It's not perfect, but it works pretty good in most cases. I don't use Delcampe, so I can't speak to that. And ebay's search feature for stamps, at least in the categories I buy in, is a total mess, in my opinion.