New Member From Ontario, Canada

I am a beginner in the field of collecting stamps and would like some advice on getting started. My main interest lies in stamps from Canada,U.S. and Greece.

First steps:

1. Think budget. How much do you plan to put into hobby by year
2. Think knowledge. Do you have a stamp club in your area? Have you read anything on the hobby? Do you know what a "stamp catalogue" is? Have you scanned listings on ebay to get an idea of what's out there and what things cost?
3. Are you interested in mint (unused) stamps? Used? Covers (envelopes with or without stamps)? Mounting in an album or in stock cards? Some other arrangement?
4. Do you have an interest in trading in person - or by mail?
5. I have a good lot of Greece I might trade with you....just send me what we call a "DM" - that's a personal mail through Stamp Community.

Good luck with the hobby.

Welcome.
Invest in knowledge; this includes not just the stamps but also in dealers/sellers.
Don

Welcome!

If you want to organize and keep track of your collections you will need a catalogue. US collectors usually use Scott's and not sure the best catalog for Canada and Greece. You can pick up a used catalog off ebay, etc. Scott prints annually so always used ones available. My only advice is do not take prices in these catalogs too seriously..most are inflated.

My sister lives in Calgary.

Honeydo
Welcome to this Forum, a good and diverse group of people. What do you have right now as a "collection" Canada-Greece-US ?

For Canada my favorite catalogue is the Unitrade catalogue.

Thank you telchar. I will look into your suggested catalogue.
Honeydo

Renden: Thank you for the welcome. As soon as I have some semblance of order, I will gladly let you know about my acquired stamps which have been collected mainly from letters received and friends saving their postmarked stamps. I am into sorting out the U.S. lot of the Transportation Series. I have quite a few, but have to check to see what is missing.

Thank you for the welcome angore. Once my stamps are sorted out, I am going to check what's available on E-Bay as well as at the library. I like the advice on the catalogue prices being inflated. Thanks again,
Honeydo.

51studebaker:
Thanks for the welcome and the good advice.
Honeydo

Canada Stamp:
Thanks so much for the welcome and the advice. Presently the stamps are sorted by country. I have read up on collecting and find it interesting albeit overwhelming. Unfortunately, budget is minimal.
I found a number of sites to look up stamps so I will be able to get an idea of what I have. The U.S. and Canada are great as they give information of the history of the stamp. I know that all that data could not be included in an album, but it is nice to have a bit of background. As for Greece, I do not have a lot, but when sorted, will let you know what I have available for trade. My stamps from Greece are all cancelled. Could you tell me how I send a DM message.
Any advice for the best way to save the stamps - album vs. stocksheets? Also information for each stamp - date of issue, denomination, country and perforation scale? How can this data be included with the stamp? Would appreciate any advice you may have.
Honeydo.

After all these months on the Forum, I would have to say I also have no clue how one sends a DM message, knowing very well that you (Honeydo) have to build up your # of posts to 50 to be able to e-mail a member.

Renden:
It will take some time to be able to rack up 50 posts!!
Honeydo

Honeydo. To start, you have to go into your profile - which now indicates you DO NOT wish to receive email. You need to change that so members can email you. You won't be able to mail a member directly for some time.

Not if you participate on a regular basis with your own stuff, opinions, etc. Good Luck and please unlock your e-mail !....the only way we can contact you and help, newbie !....as I still consider myself, except Canada Stamps ! and some other Countries !

CanadaStamp and Renden:
Thanks so much for the advice - email is now unlocked!