Long Time Reader, First Time Poster... Txphl At Your Service

Greetings fellow philatelists,

After 40 years of collecting, I've decided to take the plunge and attempt to become a full-service, full-time stamp dealer. Over the last few years I've been saving up from my programming gigs, and after observing dubious practices at several online sites thought, as many are prone to do 'I can do this better', 'I have better material.', 'I'm not going to be an unethical dealer.' and so on.

I started off (again, as many do) as a generalist, then narrowed it to British Commonwealth and French Colonies, then further narrowed it down to the Classic period. However, I then started to just get whatever caught my eye. I love history and geography, mostly due to my love of stamps. I love languages - same story. Every stamp a story I read somewhere.

I'm in Texas, and will be doing my first show in the next few months, probably Houston. I then plan to go to NOLAPEX.

Having been on the buying side for a long time, one thing I really wanted when searching for a specific item, or just browsing are detailed descriptions, obviously lots of pictures, and references to other catalogs. I realize now that I've started cataloging my own offerings how time consuming that is - and I understand why some volume dealers just churn out listings. I guess I miss the personal touch of going to a stamp shop on a Saturday morning, and just talking shop, browsing, getting mentored, and so on.

Although I have yet to upload my inventory to HipStamp, once I do, I would be very open to your feedback on listings, prices, and so on. What would YOU like to see from an online stamp dealer?

I've read posts on and off over the years, and never in that time considered creating an account. I feel that if I'm going to be 'all-in' I should participate, comment, give feedback, post interesting stuff.

I hope to do a good job and be in this business for years.

*** Edited by Staff - Please Review the rules that you agreed to when you registered. ***Thank you in advance for spending a few minutes of your life reading this.

-stampguy
@txphl