How You Go About Buying Classics

I am trying to understand a few things about how you buy stamps, in particular classic stamps in the US

1. Do you always comparison shop? Check ebay, SAN, mystic
2. Do you review the Scott catalogs?
3. Do you adjust your quality/grading requirements as the price of stamps are more $ or do you insist of MNH or whatever level you deem of standard to your collection?
4. Do you keep dupes or sell them as you replace with better
5. Do you prefer collections or single issues? Have you bought collections and been burned by lots of concealed damage?
6. Do you buy a stamp on a whim or is it a well planned execution or based on availability of a rarity?
7. Do you set a budget? Do you break it?

I am restarting buying for my classic collection and want to know what people's processes look like.

1. Always. Identify dealers/sellers who can be trusted and who have good material
2. Only as needed
3. Set a standard and don't waste money on something you will only want to upgrade later
4. See 3 above
5. I don't buy collections: most are either cherry-picked or out of my price range
6. I admit to the occasional impulse buy but often regret it
7. Yes. Yes

1. Yes.
2. Yes,though I have to adjust alot. Some items are high, some are low.
3. I adjust based on the likely hood of finding a better item. Especially with US carrier issues, you may not get a second chance to add a stamp to your collection
4. I sell them as I have time. They seem to pile up on me.
5. I'm very happy with buying collections. I often get to upgrade a whole lot of stamps as I compare the two. I also find some curiosities that I can add in.
6. I buy what peaks my interest at the moment.
7. I don't buy more than I can afford to. More often, i'm not buying much because I can't find what I am looking for.

1. Yes. My comparison shopping also includes dealer websites for trusted dealers.
2. Yes.
3. The latter. I pick a particular level and look for it; if I can't afford it, I move on to a different issue. When stamps are in sets (e.g., 1901 Pan-American issue) I set a standard per set and stick to it.
4. No, I don't keep duplicates, I sell them at my local club.
5. Single issues. No, not "burned." I don't buy collections that I can't inspect in advance.
6. Both.
7. Yes. Break the budget? Sometimes per stamp, but not aggregate for the year. I tend to budget by calendar quarter.

1. Most of the time I comparison shop, at least when possible.
2. All the time.
3. I have been down that road and, for the most part, will stick to my standard. The exception is when the material seldomly comes on the market.
4. I have a closet full of dupes I need to move.
5. It depends. For precancels, I'll take a collection. For the U.S. collection, it's to the point of one stamp at a time.
6. What, someone has a plan and uses it? Seriously, though, it is mostly availability.
7. Every month.

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. Depends. Most early stamps are rarely available at the quality of newer stamps or are so out of reach financially I am willing to expect less or merely consider them a curiosity.
4. Would keep dupes as an investment if that kind of quality, otherwise sell them to help buy ones I lack.
5. Single issues unless it is a more modern set.
6. Yes and no. I may search for a particular issue but may instead stumble on another in the process and must be ready to act, but never impulsively.
7. Wife indirectly sets the budget but I occasionally break it!

I can't stress the importance of familiarity with the market as a key to knowing what is a fair price for a given stamp and don't succumb to the urge to spend more than anticipated in auctions.