Mystic Stamp Heritage Club?

I just opened the mail and see Mystic sent me an approval set and an offer to get free Heritage Albums. Then every month I will get more stamps and the mounts for said stamps. I realize everyone has their own idea as to if something is worth it, but is anyone else getting this already? What are the average costs every month with each shipment? Considering doing this, just not sure if it is worth it.

Heritage albums are great, but Mystic prices are ridiculous. Think very carefully, and always check ebay prices before buying. I wouldn't do it, but to each their own.

I did this offer when I started dabbling in stamps again around 2000. It's an easy way to build a collection of stamps, but the stamps are all very common (millions of them out there) and as mentioned, overpriced. The album and pages are nice. I wound up cancelling after a couple months and eventually started filling the album again with stamps from ebay.

This might be an ok way for people to get back into the hobby, especially with the free album and pages.

Often said, nothing is free...and here is the perfect example. Mystic's 3 album US American Heirloom set is 39.95 and a good deal in my opinion. I've housed 2 US collections in them for decades. I hold off purchasing the yearly supplements and every 10 years I purchase a new set which fills in the missing years. That allows me 3 binders to add and each completed page is then put in a page protector. None of my pages have yellowed over 30 years. The stay flat binders make adding stamps easier than others. One collections spans 14 albums and another is in 6. I've always been satisfied with the pages and albums...but I don't purchase any stamps from them. As stated above...their way overpriced. For the cost, the albums have worked well for me.
Enjoy the hobby!

Keep in mind that the Heritage album being offered is for commemoratives only. It's the Heirloom album that houses all US stamps

A few years ago a nice Mystic Album was included in an estate lot that I bought at auction. The album had many stamps but the airmail stamps were still on Mystic sales pages waiting to be mounted in the album. I sold the airmails on ebay while they were on the sales pages. Every stamp sold for less than 10% of the Mystic cost. Their prices are HIGH!

I have for a number of years bought Mystic's Heritage collection. No question Mystic is expensive. But for someone just starting out, you get a lot of nice stamps, with mounts, very quickly. It took me a while to discover that one can buy an entire year of commemeratives on ebay. No mounts, of course. So I'm about to end my relation with the heritage club.

I still buy from their catalogue; it's a fast way to fill up derivitives. Not cheap, but not terribly expensive when you include postage. And I like their offers of ten very similar stamps, with instructions on how to tell them apart.

I use Heritage albums. They do have derivitive pages. although not for 2015. They will do a double issue next year.

Don

Thanks all. Does anyone know if they do a similar thing with the Heirloom? I like commemoratives but also enjoys the others too.

As I said above, I have pages for definitives, air mail, postage due, all in Heritage albums. No pages this year for 2015 definitives. That's exceptional' They will be out next year.

Don

I get that Don and thank you. I mean do they do the club where they send it free along with approvals and mounts.

Mystic's stamp clubs are great for people who don't want to bother with shopping around for stamps, albums and mounts. It's a very easy way to build a collection without much effort. Mounts, in particular, can be a hassle to shop for, as you'll need several sizes plus a mount cutter, etc. There's nothing worse than getting a new shipment of stamps only to realize that you don't have the right mounts for them. Mystic's clubs can save a lot of time and headaches.

On the other hand, if you don't mind shopping around for those items separately, you'll save a lot of money. Nearly all of the stamps pictured in the Heritage Album (or at least those issued after circa 1930) can be purchased at about face value or even less. Mystic typically charges anywhere between 2x and 10x face. Mystic is a good company, though, and the only negative thing I have to say about them is that their prices are high.

JRay101,

I have the MYSTIC Heirloom. MYSTIC is offering all of the 2015 stamps to go along with their 2015 supplement. It includes all of the sheets, commemoratives, definatives, etc. I know that many condemn MYSTIC's pricing, but I am not sure they are that far out of line. There are other tactics you may want to consider.

As an example, I purchased all of my 2015 stamps directly from the post office during that year. Can't go wrong there, right? WRONG!! I ended spending far more than I should have because I bought too many sheets thinking that was what would be in the MYSTIC 2015 supplement. This year, I plan to purchase high value stamps only and will buy the rest from the post office only after the supplement is issued. If the post office doesn't have what I need, I will then go to ebay.

Jack Kelley

Jack, did you get the albums from them free with approvals like in their Heritage club?

Thanks to all that answered. I did see that their prices are outrageous.They sent me a MNH set of 1960 commemoratives and want $16 w s&h. I found same on ebay for $4.50. Artfulhinger, thanks for the insight, it made me compare. I have a "Columbian" album that I started with some mint but all hinged. I want to continue that for my nicer stamps, but thinking of doing something with all MNH; that is where the Mystic albums come in. I was hoping they did something similar to their Heritage club with the Heirloom. If only I had a device that I could use to communicate with them directly.....Hmm. Thanks all for your time and patience.

A few kind words about Mystic, from whom I have, to the best of my recollection, bought nothing:

Mystic is charging you for convenience (one-stop shopping, subscription service, whole sets, etc), and for reliability (you will almost certainly get exactly what you are overpaying for), neither of which you will take lightly after you do enough onesy-twosy buying off of ebay.

Yes, you can do your own footwork, increasing your time costs, and decreasing your cash costs.

Wanting to change the time/cash mix in favor of more-time-less-cash is nothing to be ashamed of.

Neither is buying from Mystic.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Thanks ikeyPikey