I'm An Ebay Seller; Tell Me: What Kind Of Postage Do You Like US Using?

I for one appreciate stamp dealer covers. They are an art form and a genre of postal history.

Any space related stamps usually catch my attention.
I get auction items from time to time with stamps on them.
If they haven't been really treated rough, I usually cut them off.

One trick to speed up the delivery with older non tagged stamps is to put a piece of the selvage from a modern sheet. It still has the tagging on it and will activate the automatic canceler. I also put it on the far upper right corner of the envelope so if there is scuffing, that is what gets scuffed. I get the dreaded sharpie on flats all the time. I miss the machine roller cancels that they used to use on those. One would think that would be quicker. I see many non-philatelic Priority and Express Mail boxes and envelopes and it has been a very long time since I've seen even a Priority stamp used. Once word got out that a meter was discounted, it was the kiss of death. Pity the artists where their work will only be seen in the Philatelic Catalog. A large number must get destroyed these days.

Does using non tagged really slow down the facing of the mail? (also question since I don't know about the process: when did the US start tagging stamps?) I feel like nobody uses modern day priority (even if they use stamps over meters) because you can't get that stuff at below face. A dealer will hands down always use the cheapest postage method to cut down on costs. Maybe you'll be lucky and encounter a dealer who bought the estate of a modern US collector who went ham on priorities, but even then they'd more than likely sell them as collectibles on ebay rather than use them for purported bozo buyers. I personally do like collecting modern US and so when I'm going through below face sheets I will pick out the best stuff for myself—the bioluminescence sheet, echolocation bats, venus fly traps, and the like will always stay mine!

I'm not sure about modern selvage having taggant. Most issues I've seen restrict the taggant to the stamps themselves. If alignment is poor, a thin strip of taggant might reach across the perforation line to the selvage, but I do not believe that happens frequently.

As for preferred incoming franking, anything not commonly seen in the mailstream is good. Please no flags, love, celebrate, or any similar annual.

I look forward to sellers of philatelic material using discount postage for their mailings, as I may receive a beautifully cancelled stamp(s) I don't have in my collection. It's a good complement to the merchandise they are selling.

For sellers of general household merchandise, it either makes the package look tacky or very important from the buyer's perception.

Who buys large quantities of discounted postage?

Since ebay offers discounted commercial postage rates for sellers, I don't see the advantage of ebay sellers buying discounted postage.

I collect modern used stamps and like to receive newer stamps on my mail. The older stamps are numerous and easy to find and get. In contrast, since few people use snail mail these days, there are less newer used stamps to collect.

The best letter I received I got a few days ago. The seller sent me half a sheet of Scott# 1371/Apollo 8 with tags and all. It made my day.

So, yes. Please put stamps on the packages.

As a seller, I use a mix of postage varieties. I use the ebay "standard envelope" for items when it's an option, so no stamps on those (I concluded it was worth it to get the tracking). When that is not available, I use a current forever stamp, and then discount postage to fill out the rest. I also use a lot of $2 jennies on tracked packages (but I mostly buy those at a discount from someone who still likes to open freshly bought ones).

My buyers seem to like getting current postage more than discount postage, but I've only had a couple of buyers ask me to use a stamp rather than the ebay meter on the inexpensive material that qualifies for the "standard envelope".

I never ever use the meter (and I suppose my ebay tracking numbers suffer as a result) but I do have a hierarchy of the stamps I use. If someone buys a 5$ item they get whatever stamps, but if they get something better, I'll break out the good stuff I actually like, old lunar new year issues, venus fly trap sheet remnants, modern forever stamps. I always keep selvage from sheets (like the top of the sheet that has the name of the issue) to use as a kind of back seal for more pricy envelopes, just to spice stuff up

I started selling old stamps on ebay recently and will see how it goes. By "old" mainly from the period of 1950's. I expect them to move very slowly.

As for stamps I enjoy having received on my mail:

Line engraved and intaglio stamps -- there are many but especially those just with line engraving such as the American Architecture series from the 1980's, in 2002 the USPS issued a beautifully engraved James Madison stamp. Also older engraved stamps from the 1930's and 1940's and any intaglio current stamps (Statue of Freedom series from 2018, "Go For Broke" from 2021, etc) . As has been stated getting current stamps with intaglio used n mail is seldom seen by me.

Would love to get a used Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express stamp that is not roughed up or damaged by the USPS. I think those who have businesses dealing with much package delivery may come across decent used ones but otherwise I seldom or never seen them.