Value In Placeholders??

I'd only want the $35 version if it came in a much larger lot that I only paid a little for :)

I wouldn't buy the faulty one.

One of the things to bear in mind is that really nice and valuable stamps are more liquid than you night think. And furthermore, really nasty stamps are very tough to resell.

You might pay 10% of the value of a nice one! but what if you need to liquidate your collection?

For me, it would depend on the stamp. Before I pop big money (for me $100+) for a stamp, I check prices (Ebay, Bidstart, auctions -- whatever is relevant) to get a feel for the price range. If the stamp is in an area I concentrate on and it is seldom offered for sale or is within the market price range, I would buy the expensive stamp.

If it is something I just want for my collection to fill a space, I would consider the lesser priced stamp "with character" if it displayed acceptably. I would then be able to buy more stamps on my stamp budget. If my interests change, I can always upgrade later.

For me, stamp collecting is a hobby, not an investment. I don't expect my collection to ever realize more than a fraction of what I spent. Besides, if it came to the point where I had to liquidate my collection, I would need the stamps for a fire to keep me warm in my cardboard box underneath the overpass. My collection is of much more value to me than what I could sell it for,

Dan

I will qualify my 'buy @ $35' vote to say that it must be NICE looking, very unperceivable fault, and possibly in a lot with several better quality items. Knowing that I am not 'investing' but collecting having an early 'classic' enhances the intrinsic value.

I would never buy a faulty stamp, just to fill a space. If I had a faulty stamp, I'd leave it in the album until it was replaced, but I would never put good money toward a bad stamp. Then again, I would almost never buy a used stamp as the OP says, so... neither option works for me.