What On-Line Stamp Seller Do You Prefer?

Hi!

I've bought a lot of stamps/albums/stockbooks on ebay, but am at the point where I would like to go directly to online retail stores.

My needs are basically pre 1930 US, and pre 1960 International.

Of course I'm looking for a business with good prices, but service and shipping and of course quality are very important as well.

So my question is, who do you use, and why would you recommend them?

Thank you,
Mobilman44

bill langs, Jim Forte, sometimes that "Dr. Bob",Rijo sometimes has decent stuff...ust my personal thoughts on the matter and there are many more that I can't think of at the moment. I'll chime in later on the issue...oh old paper chaser is a a decent one too.

One might want to do an SCF search for Langs.

I can recommend Bellmore Philatelic's In Home Approval Service. They send you out old collections and you pick & choose the stamps you want at a % of Scott. I like being able to see the stamps first before buying them, and I've found the people at Bellmore to be very helpful in customizing selections so you get to pick through collections in your interest area. Only potential drawback for some may be having to ship the shipment back when finished, which tends to run US$15 per shipment or so. But for me its been a great experience working with them.

I look for the deal, not the seller, then look at the sellers feedback. In feedback I look for consistent complaints from different sellers.

For e.g. ... One jerk can order 10 stamps from a seller and give them a frivolous bad review on all 10 because the shipment was late. This is not a fair kind of review. If you remove these 10 reviews you often see the seller is OK.


-IBFS

DJCMHOH, I'm glad you have had successful experience with Bellmore. I did not. Even though I collect the world 1840-1940, I never received anything besides dealer sales sheets. Did they actually send you pages from albums as their ads in Linn's suggest?

1840 - yes I have been receiving album pages a plenty, as well as dealer cards. I am currently collecting French colonials, and have done quite well with Bellmore for the most part.

I guess it all depends on what you are looking for, in what condition, and how advanced you are in that area. Probably not the best source for advanced collectors, but for those starting out a new area and working towards some of the more medium-range items, and do not mind hinged items for say pre-1960 material (which is the point where the French-language Maury catalog switches to pricing mint at only never hinged) to me it seems to work well.

One thing I have learned though, if a collection comes in housed in Crystal mounts, I tend to avoid them. Those mounts are simply evil creations and trying to look at stamps housed in them can be well nigh impossible.

I think there are some variations to the original question. I have bought and sold through the APS Stamp Store. I've also bought some Mexico stamps from the periodic MEPSI sales that are announced via e-mail & one then visits a web site. Otherwise, I continue to "buy by mail" from a handful of dealers that regularly advertise in Linn's or the AP.