Alternative To Mystic Stamp

I am looking for another company similar to mystic stamp. Is there any other ones out there? Sorry if i'm posting that in the wrong place, thanks in advance

That depends on what you're looking for, Benay148. What are you in the market for?

1900-present us stamps

Hi Benay148, just my opinion, but I have always found that the company you mention is somewhat overpriced. You can try zillions of stamps, bidstart, ebay, or get a copy of Linn's and find many advertisers of stamps in there.
good luck and regards, yakboomer.

Another source, although no real bargains in terms of price:

https://www.whitman.com/Inventory/B...tible-Stamps

Mystic, Brookman and a few others rely heavily on new collectors and are on the upper high end of costs. I wold recommend to search around the net some more to get a idea of true costs. And better yet get 50 posts and many here can help you save a great deal starting a collection.

Hi, Benay148 -- I would seriously consider BidStart, especially for the area you're looking for. There are both full-time dealers on there, and also small hobbyist sellers who sell their duplicates, and others in between. Prices are pretty competitive, because there are so many buyers and sellers of US stamps.

To me, one of the advantages of buying there, instead of ordering off a list or from a catalog, is that you can usually see the scan of the actual stamp you'll be getting. (Some sellers just have a representative scan, but many (most?) sellers have scanned in the actual stamp for sale.) That way you can evaluate centering, perforations, and, if it's used, the cancel.

You can also create a wantlist on there, so that you get an email anytime someone lists a stamp that's on your list.

Most sellers are in the US, and most try to keep the shipping to a reasonable charge. There are auctions there, but a lot of fixed-price store items, too.

Here's a link to the stamps section of Bidstart:

and here's a link just to the US stamps section:

http://stampwants-stamps.bidstart.c.../2705/c.html

It says there are 995,000 listings in the US category alone. I see that there are 4 sub-categories just for the area you've mentioned:
-- US 1901-1940 unused
-- US 1901-1940 used
-- US 1941-present unused
-- US 1941-present used

Hope that's helpful!

-- Dave

I notice that ebay auctions are typically 30 days long or so, whereas Bidstart auctions are a day or two. Any opinion on which is more appropriate?

bidstart, ebay or stampwants are probably your best beats. My advice about Mystic stamps is simply this- If your looking for a decent album then go for it but if your looking to fill it look elsewhere. Just my opinion. -Cheers

Art,

Anything listed for 10 days or more on ebay is not an auction, but a store item and will always have a "buy-it-now" price. The vast majority of ebay auctions are 7 day listings and have low starting bid prices (10 day auctions are available, but not common).

Bidstart also has "buy-it-now" store listings that are listed for more than 7 days. Many sellers list the same items on ebay and bidstart simultaneously, because store items can be unlisted without penalty.

Try using one of the sort options in ebay. If, for instance, you're looking for a specific stamp, after typing in your search criteria, click the sort option "Auctions only". This will allow you to exclude high-priced "buy-it-now" store items.

Brian

A bit of advise to someone that's been where you are: picking a stamp dealer is a bit like choosing a dentist or a spouse -- both are going to involve a pain and money!

If you're looking to build a collection on your own, you can certainly go the bid-board/Ebay route -- but that has more risks (and costs) than I would care to explain.

The "Key" to working with ANY dealer is a "long term" relationship is communication; you need to do that up front, at the beginning of the buying relationship.

IF, you are attempting to build a collection that return a "maximum return on dollar invested," then you need to work with dealers like Mystic, Apfelbaum, etc., they are worth the time and investment.

Explain to them -- UP FRONT: this is what I what I want; this is my budget; I'm looking for a long-term business relationship -- are you interested? You'll be surprised at the Dealers' response. Yes, you may pay a "premium" for their expertise, however, you will end-up with a far better item in your collection and a resource for top-end product. BUT, you must pick-up the phone and talk to them.

Look at the ads in Scott or Linns. If a dealer has been around more than a few years its because he has (for the most part) learned to cater-to and treat customers fairly and honestly – he has built a client base.

And sure, there are some dealers who are "bad apples" – but you'll know that by the first stamp they offer you. He's the one only interested in selling you what he has today. When you do find that bad one or one that in it just to sell you what he has today - just walk away. Caveat Emptor!

If you are looking for used US modern they are given away by a lot of collectors that have duplicates. This is a great reason to join a local stamp club. If you are not lucky enough to have a stamp club in your home town or a reasonable distance look around and you can get stamps from the 1940's through the 70's by the bucket full.
Nick

Take a look at the offerings on www.Stamps2Go.com -- you can find stamps at reasonable prices and the postage costs are capped at $1 for in-country and $2 for out-of-country.