Ww Acquisition Strategies? Need For Focus?

What are some good ideas for aquiring a worldwide stamps?

1. Worldwide collection buys (i.e. thousands of stamps in an International Vol 1) with hopes of getting a good mix of "better stamps" and not just a box of commons? These aren't cheap.

2. Focus on one country for awhile before moving on to the next buying single country collections and selling off the dupes to buy more and then finally filling in the remaining (obtainable) holes with single stamp purchases?

I find that I can spend years buying stamps in <$100 lots at an average price of 10cents each and build a high volume collection but one that is mostly the <$1 more common items. When I buy a more expensive single country collection to fill more holes I find I rebuy what I already had. If I buy singles I often have to buy entire sets to get ones I'm missing.

In the end it seems I should either admit I'm just accumulating commons and will have all the expected holes or save up for bigger buys much spaced much farther apart....probably start with a much narrower focus an then expand over time as get one collection more advanced.

I like all the albums I've build by region/empire/etc. but I've created a lot more pages than had I stayed with International Albums.

I think you get the idea of the questions.

One idea I had was to select highlights of a country (A1, A2, A3 etc. numbers for major catalog numbers)....or just those few stamps I really like even if there ar multiple variations of one number...and build a custom album where eash stamp was hand selected and the pages have good descriptions. Each page would merit more attention vs. just flipping through a huge binder of looking at the arrangement of spots.

I'm going through a phase of asking "what am I trying to accomplish and if I will really ever get there". At first I just liked finding the spot in my albums for a stamp.

it's like deja vu all over again

Go with the flow. Don't be too concerned about completeness. Go with your desires and your gut. Just have fun and its not a sin to live for the moment and whatever summons you at the moment. One of the main reasons, besides the platitudes included here, I remain a WW collector is that I can 'work' on whatever moves me for the moment while having some more specialized or serious pursuits at the sides. Good luck in whatever your pursuits. Have you considered involving yourself with many others with WW habits in the International Society of Worldwide Collectors?

If you get tired of sorting through the same old stuff and buying more of what you don't need, you can turn to approvals or APS circuit books or buy from a site like StampWants. You can also bid on individual items you need at auctions, both online at sites such as ebay and StampWants, as well as stamp firms such a Bel-Aire that offer printed catalogs.

hmmmm....I wonder how my thread got posted again????? Sorry if it was my error.

See same thread already posted.

If you're buying individual lots, I highly recommend buying sets is possible. When you buy bulk you will often get the three or four low values and end up having to pay as much for the high value(s) individually as you would for the whole set anyway. Like the others said, StampWants and StampOffers are good places to pick up specific issues.

I find I go in streaks. Germany for a while, then US, and now Israel. If you don't zoom in on something specific it would seem to me that you can get way to scattered and inefficient in your purchasing.

I collect World stamps Quanah, but your way way ahead of me in amassing those beautiful stamps.

My main and Only goal is to acquire used stamps, say minimum of three, from each of all countries listed with flags in the 2007 World Atlas. The number is exactly 194 Flags Flying, am now up to 86 countries and a long way to go.

It gives me a great feeling that somehow, somewhere, all those nice stamps got mailed and landed in my album from the four corners of the earth.

Of course, with only three to seven stamps representing each country, I pick only the ones that I truly fancy for whatever reasons known only to me, and difficult to explain in one sentence. The most difficult are USA stamps, imagine picking only 7 stamps from a pile of all beautiful USA stamps! That's where you get to know not only the stamps but also why you like those particular stamps, it's enlightening as one goes along.