Stamp Dealers Who Smoke

Recently I bought a large number of individual stamps from a popular online site for my France collection at a very good sale price to fill in quite a few holes. The stamps arrive and they are all I expected and then some. However, it was very obvious this came from a smoking environment.
Given it was such a great deal I decided not to return them immediately. Instead I put them in an air tight container with baking soda and after a day or so no odor detected. Should a seller note in their store information the stamps are from a smoking environment? I am sure they are reluctant to do so for obvious reasons.
The stamps were all minimum catalog value and I will not order from him again. What would you do?

I've experienced the same thing but recently I have been buying collections and a couple have arrived with the unmistakeable odor of stale tobacco smoke. Once the stamps are removed, the pages discarded and the stamps enclosed in new mounts, the smell isn't offensive. I'm not sure the tobacco residue has any lingering effects on the stamps other than the smell (maybe someone could enlighten us if they believe there is long term harm). Generally though, I don't see this as a major issue and would not return stamps for this reason.

As a buyer, I would do what you did. My experience has been that some time in a sealed container with activated charcoal or baking soda will remove most odor.

You may be a little hard on the seller though. Back in the day when many people smoked, it was common to have an adult beverage and a favorite tobacco product while stamping. The seller may not be the smoker. It may just have been that he got the stock from a smoker.

I have come across/acquired stamps and covers that smelled like they came from a tobacconist.

With increased sensitivity to smoke and other odors a seller should probably be aware that such odors will offend some buyers.

When I sell/donate/give away a stamp or cover, they always spend some time "in the box" just to be sure. When you handle material long enough you can get used to the smells and not notice it.

Dan

danstamps54,
You're right the seller may not be the offender that is something I need to keep in mind.

I have actually seen some auction lots listed to the effect that a previous owner was a smoker or that the collection came from a smoking environment. So, from that alone, I think that some auction houses take that matter into consideration.

Chimo

Bujutsu

I smoke and stamp and never even gave it a thought. However I don't keep my Albums in my smoking environment. I smoke in my workshop and the stamps are stored in the house where I do not smoke. I do however work on stamps in my workshop.

I am a smoker (pipe/cigar) but I don't smoke in the house and NEVER around any of my collections. I owned a tobacco store and really love the smell of a good fresh tobacco but not so much while it's being smoked and I despise cigarettes and cigarette butts. yuk!