The Right Way To Collect Stamps

..or one can do a little of both: The last time I attended a live auction I spent about the same amount on money to 'cherry-pick' one single UK Victoria 5-pound orange as I did on about 20 kilogram of stamps-off-paper, literally hundred of thousands sorted by countries. So - which purchase are giving me most pleasure now, one year later? I can't say - I think the enjoyment of simply owning that rare stamp is about equal as the enjoyment of hundreds of hours searching through the kiloware. For me it feels correct as long as I am doing anything 'stampy'. Guess that's just along the lines of Artfulhinger

Seriously, do we have to think that much for a $ 5 purchase ?

In kiloware you have stamps at 3 cents ( even if the catalogue say different ) , in Scott International you have set with value as low as $ 5 for the full set because 1 or 2 stamps worth more than 3 cents, so when you will purchase that full set, the stamps you get in the kiloware will be no use beside to sell the as kiloware.

If I was to restart again, I will collect only series I like and print pages for them, instead of filling albums of stamps I will not even look at . Just as example I'm working on Austria, I have 0 interest on the stamps of that country pass 1907 . Same with Hungary, I like only the 2 first serie ( Josef and Crown )

Gee -I sure don't fit in here . I think in terms of buying stuff that nobody has . Five years ago I made new all times high prices for Egypt stamps . A example would be a $200.00 catalog stamp that some phone bidder in the Near East was bidding at $230.00 and I had to pay higher to get it. Guess I just blew away the catalog price but that's fine with me because in five years another one has not come on the market since{its the early blocks of four of the Sphinx issue. }. Another example would be the early CAPE JUBY stamps that show up in the Big Blues Scott Internationals that 99.9% of collectors don't have ,I got those last month at auction .
NOW--NOW try and bid against me for the SYRIA overprint error , do I care about the catalog price if it comes up --not a chance ,your going to bled money to take it away from me .

after 42 years of collecting stamps I come to the conclusion that my best way is :

Get first references (like specialised books ) on a subject, and then proceed from there. So not only you will collect stamps, but you will have the knowledge on what you collect.

area66: Amen.

Agree area66. The upfront costs might mean you get less stamps at the start, but since most catalogues have long shelf life for the most part, after the initial investment you can focus on stamps, and perhaps even find a rarity hiding unnoticed in a dealer's stock or in a kiloware purchase that will partially or perhaps completely offset the cost of the catalogue.

Knowledge truly is power.

To start you can buy 5 yr old catalogs or use a library and scan important stuff. I agree a catalog is important. Equally important I think is to focus. Don't collect everything until you have really thought it through. Focus on your home country, or Europe or a continent or even more detailed. Then branch out from there if you like.

Exactly what I was trying to say by specialise book. My interest for Hungary bring me to purchase books on stamps of that country and then books for Austrian stamps since they share them in the first years. Getting more specialise book than regular Scott catalogue open so many doors within a same country.

If just any stamp will do, if all stamps are equal, then by all means, the smartest thing to do is buy stamps at the very cheapest per-stamp price you can find. However, it doesn't take too long buying cheap packets and kiloware before they all look the same and every stamp is one you've already got. Sooner or later, if you want to keep building your collection, you're going to have to reach for the $1, or the $5, $10 or $100 stamp. As others have mentioned, there's a certain satisfaction in completing a set or a page or a country (or significant part thereof), etc, and many collectors are willing to pay dearly for it.

It is sad when you collected for many years and build your collection up and some dealer/expert looks at it and tells you "it is worthless common junk " that is what happen to me . I will never forget that !
That is why my collection today is what it is .
Sure you can find a few gems or keepers in a cheap mixture lot but putting them in a collection of common material with thousands of broken sets doesn't increase the value when you sell it .
There is a point in collecting that you reach that buying bulk lots ,mixtures and even country collections that you end up with more duplicates and very little going into your collection . There is so many interesting areas to collect and develop a nice study and something that can be shown with pride . Collecting worldwide puts you into a group that requires you to exceed that 150,000 different before you impress the old timers .

There is no "right way" collect. Given the wide range of collecting focuses, from the generalist to the specialist to the topical collector to the postal history collector, etc., there is no single method or manner that works for everyone.

P.S. I'm up for kiloware of Civil War-era U.S. revenue stamps. Got any sources?

I really don't care what quote dealers, old timers and other people care about my collection. I enjoy it and that is what matters.

[quote
If just any stamp will do, if all stamps are equal, then by all means, the smartest thing to do is buy stamps at the very cheapest per-stamp price you can find. However, it doesn't take too long buying cheap packets and kiloware before they all look the same and every stamp is one you've already got. Sooner or later, if you want to keep building your collection, you're going to have to reach for the $1, or the $5, $10 or $100 stamp. As others have mentioned, there's a certain satisfaction in completing a set or a page or a country (or significant part thereof), etc, and many collectors are willing to pay dearly for it.][/quote]

As I said if it comes to the point where I can't collect us stamps at a decent price I'll start in on another country.

Agreed I don't collect to impress, I collect for my own enjoyment.