Just A Suggestion - Try To Get Too Specialized Too Early

For the newer collectors we all collect differently so this is just a suggestion...i would not try to get too specialized too early in your collecting..we all have to crawl before we walk and make our mistakes...we all buy junk in the beginning..i confess I still do if I see a ten dollar cigar box..90 percent of it turns out to be the same o same o...but theres always a CHANCE of a find ! nuff said.

I agree 100% with you Phil.

I always know when I buy lots on ebay that there is good chance I already have at least half and sometimes more of them. But I never pay much for them and I always find (so far anyway) nice surprizes in them.

I just purchased a lot of 10,000 worldwide for $1.25 Great Britain price which is about $2.50 our price. There are lots of duplicates but there are also lots of stamps I don't yet have and some from countries I didn't even know existed. I even found a few early 20th century belgian stamps that I was missing.

I figure I'll have lots to trade and give away and I always have a blast going through them. My husband sais I look like a little kid in a candy store when I go through lots. He gets a real kick out of watching me
dianne

We will have to rename you "wise phil" because us newbies know that you are so right with that statement.

Thanks for sharing your expertise!
Gussyboy1

BTW, Phil, did you notice that someone had been digging in your back yard--I was looking for that fortune you buried and I couldn't find the X that marks the spot! ha

I'll second Philb's comment. To be honest you will be cheating yourself if you try to specialize too early. Sometimes I wish I had started collecting something besides German material.

On the other hand you will be tempted to take too big a bite also. I promise you, you can't collect it all. Once you've had some good exposure, and as Phil says - made some mistakes - then start narrowing down your interests. This gives me another idea about a top ten list!

10,000 stamps in a lot??? That is a LOT of anything to go through! how long does it take you to take it what you got? I am amazed there are still that many stamps out there. I love the nostalgia of looking through things that were mailed 30-40-50 years ago.

It was actually 10x1000 stamps that he took out of a massive lot. There are quite a few duplicates but so far lots of stamps I dont have. It will probably take me months to go thru all those.



Dianne