Excess Stamps...what's Best?

It's almost silly to ask this, given how few stamps I really have, but I know now there are definitely some stamps I'm looking to part with in the not too distant future. It's not that they're not nice stamps...they certainly are. It's just not what I'm interested in collecting and I find trying to organize these stamps into an attractive design cumbersome. I'm not into picture stamp albums and prefer do to organize stamps myself in a stockbook.

Anyway, most of these stamps are "modern" (i.e. bright and colourful), so I know I wouldn't get much if I tired to sell them, like at most a couple dollars. Frankly, I don't have the time to sell them either and I know these type of stamps aren't really the type dealers are lining up for. Would donations/trades/give aways be more worth it?

If you don't find other uses for them I'm sure that your local Boy Scouts would appreciate them. I run a program for the scouts and this is just the kind of stuff that the kids usually like. They are more into modern topicals than collecting by country.

Richard

Trading is deffinately an option. That's how I've accumulated some of mine. Someone will want what you have and may have what you want at the same time.

Dianne

Thanks for the ideas so far! Maybe a mixture of trades/donations will be best. Time will tell I guess!

Keep the ideas coming!

There are plenty of worthwhile charities out there that would love to have anything you can provide. One of my favorites is a program called "Stamps for the Wounded" administered by Lions International. They provide philatelic materials to Veterans Hospitals. This is especially important now considering the number of returning vets with traumatic brain injury as well as those with PTSD.

Thanks, I'm liking the charity idea the best so far!

when your at 50 post show us what you have alot of us collect topicals so trade what you can for some you want then donate whats left

hi luvthecommonwealth! Yes being cumbersome is an understatement.
Going for a world stamp collection is tiresome,
Until I got an idea 2 months back. It goes like this:

I stick all, including excesses, of a country's stamps onto a thick single std A4 paper, then insert that paper into a plastic sleeve, write the country name title for that sleeve, then put that plastic sleeve into a ring binder.

194 flags so that's 194 plastic sleeves, or about 4 binders! at 50 sleeves per binder, and I'm only on my 27th sleeve = 27th country!

still 167 country stamps to go!

The stamp club I belong to has circuit books. These are small books where you stick your excess stamps in and write a price on it - often 1/3 catalogue - and then the book does the rounds of all the members. people purchase what they want and you get a check at the end of the month. It takes some time to fill up a few circuit books - maybe an exercise to do in front of the TV! Most stamp clubs have something similar so I recommend that you join one in your area, it also helps opening the eyes to new and different ways to collect.

Thanks for all the ideas. Right now, what seems to be the best, might be selling off some by country once I'm high enough on posts, then after donating some. I still need to sort of go through what I have and decide what I want to keep/sell. I know for sure I'm keeping my pre-1960 stamps regardless of country.