Accidental Purchases?

Recent statements posted by Phil (about record keeping) and Larry (about winning two bids for the same item) have me wondering how many of us have purchased stamps only to later realize we had already acquired them.

I maintain a 'want list' and I'm diligent about keeping the list up-to-date. But just last week, I bought a U.S. Scott #723. Only when I started to mount it in my album did I realize I already filled that hole. I guess I forgot to update my want list after the last find.

The 723 isn't a huge investment, but I wouldn't want to repeat that mistake with a a set of Columbians

I'm sure I'm not alone in this. Who's got a good story?

KirkS

I can't tell you how many times I've done it, Kirk, but it would take more than two hands and two feet to have enough digits to count the total!

Sometimes I just get carried away. In the vast majority of cases the cost is low, so it doesn't really bother me. I mount the better of the issues and put the other(s) into my "accumulation."

I can always sell them off when I retire and become a successful Internet stamp dealer!

Just recently I found two copies of a scarce item that I was looking for. I placed modest bids on both thinking that I could be outbid on the nicer copy and would still be satisfied with the less expensive one. Guess what happened ...

I've been guilty of the same thing. Even though I try to be diligent in my online record keeping of all the stamps I own, every once in a while I'll acquire one or two that I already own. They then find there way into my trade pile.



Butch

if I buy the same thing again and again is that an accident? sigh

If I end up with two of one stamp, I try to convince myself that there is a difference, no matter how small, and mount the second next to the original. It's amazing how I can find a "difference".

I've sometimes ended up with duplicates, but all good if I got the rest of the collection at a good price!

I always look on the bright side and call it an upgrade

That's what my first wife called replacing me, Harry!

I have to confess that this happens to me more often than I believe it should but so far it hasn't happened with a high dollar item. (Knock on wood). I must say that I have come close on the latter in that I have bid on what would have been duplicate at auction but so far, mercifully, I've not prevailed.

Purchasing the same stamp twice is the topic of the Generally Speaking column of the newest Linn's weekly. Worth a read.

War stamps (MRs) from the Caribbean British colonies are terrible for me. I've brought many home thinking I'm filling a spot, only to find out I had already filled it. I think that I don't need a list; I think I'll remember. Doesn't work that way.

Collin

Greg after 33 years of marriage mine starting to looking for the trade in section for used husbands so I keep pointing it out to her.

rohumpy you should visit my store often. I need business to grow and quickly

I'm guilty of accidental purchases on the same day out. There was a stamp fair in my town not too long ago and I purchased a stockbook of mixed Arab world nations as a job lot from a dealer. A few moments later I found myself rummaging around his penny box and pulled out a few copies of Kuwaiti stamps I already had in a great abundance within the stockbook. I'm only out a few extra pennies so can't complain.

That describes me Collin. I can't get dressed in the morning without a list.

If you get Linn's, check out Lawrence Block's column "Generally Speaking" in the latest issue. It is a great one covering this very topic!