Help With Describing Approvals.

Freely admit I've never really dealt with the Mystics of the world to find stamps, so on my (ever burgeoning but not yet live) website, would like some input from anyone who would care to take the time to maybe edit or offer suggestions on mail orders/approvals. I personally don't have a positive view of Mystic but they've been around a long while so are clearly doing something to stay relevant; and my intent is not to slander or sway a potential/new collector towards or away from anyone or any place, but simply provide neutral advice. Don't think I did a very good job at that hence the request.

So let your knowledge/opinions/experiences spew forth!

(Please keep in mind my site is oriented towards new/novice/potential collectors.)

Currently my verbiage is this:

Mail Order/Approvals - These are companies like Mystic stamp to name one. These companies sell both stamps and stamp collecting supplies in many cases. In terms of approvals, the company will send the prospective buyer a package or set of stamps for the buyer to "approve" and keep and thus remit payment, or simply return the stamps. Once "subscribed" you'll receive periodic approval packages to keep and pay for or return. I (the author of this website) have not dealt with these companies much at all but have not found that most collectors do not find much value in this type of service.

I don't know that I'd consider mail order and approvals the same thing, in fact I don't think I'd even bother with a listing for "mail order" at all, except maybe in a historic sense; your target audience will have found you on the web, and will be reading on the web... so they'll be ordering things that way, too. A a few months ago, there was a young person here (don't know how young, perhaps in their 20s) who didn't know that there was a time when people may have sent a SASE away to companies along with their stamp (or other) orders. I wonder if they survived the discovery that TV was once only seen in black & white.
This may help your definition: https://stamp-co.com/stamp-approvals/

Are approvals still a thing? The last time I received approvals was in the late 60's, early 70's. They kept sending them and I remember it becoming a mess and my Mom getting the MA AG's office involved. It left a bad impression on this young philatelist and I never bothered with it ever again. I think it was Harris.

Scott A. Shaulis
Approvals with Distinction

Is a one person operation doing approvals, US and Worldwide, as an APS and ASDA Dealer member.

His website (Home Page) explains what he does which is an explanation of an approval service.

For full disclosure, I have had philatelic contact and involvement with him since the late 70's. Yet I have never purchased from his company. But did purchase material from a philatelic organization for which he handled sales.

I agree with classic_paper. Now, mail order is not really explained. It is completely different from 'approvals.' Approvals are not truly 'ordered' you only decide after receiving the stamps which to hold and you may decide not to buy any.

The distinction between mail order and approvals notwithstanding, Here you contradict yourself. On the surface your description seems to read well until you offer an opinion on something which you say you yourself haven't had experience with. Just leave your opinion out of the equation.

Mail Order/Approvals - Companies like Mystic Stamp, for example, specialize in selling stamps and stamp collecting supplies. With regards to approvals, these companies send potential buyers a package or set of stamps to review. The buyer can choose to "approve" the stamps and keep them, subsequently making a payment, or they may opt to return the stamps. Subscribers to this service regularly receive approval packages that they can choose to either keep and pay for or return. Personally, as the author of this website, I haven't had extensive dealings with such companies. However, it appears that many collectors do not find significant value in this type of service.

Don

What would ChatGPT write?

I agree with the direction taken by the earlier responses. I too see a subtle difference and have viewed "mail order" like Sears & Roebuck a century+ ago when one ordered items from a list or catalog (or submitted a want list) and were sent what stamps or supplies you requested. The Scott catalog was this way prior to about 1940 - it was a retail price list.

And yes, a mail order house or dealer might also have an "approvals" department to send out targeted mailings of things they hoped to sell. The APS sales circuits are along those lines too - a targeted mailing of topics to examine, purchase a portion of, send onward, etc.

I am somewhat unclear of the context the OP intends to use this other than on a webpage of some sort. Link?

This is a double negative - in effect you're saying people DO find value with this service. I don't think that's your intent?

Ditto those who have said to just omit that opinion. I for one find a lot of value in the APS circuits which are an approval system.

Also agree with those pointing out that mail order is distinct from approval. I think mail order is where you go to somebody's catalog (or website nowadays), order the stamps you want, pay for them and they send them to you in the mail.

Some collectors enjoy the ability to "shop at home" and browse through the selection of stamps at their leisure and find this type of service a convenience. Other collectors see inflated retail prices for the convenience of approvals and sometimes find it hard to unsubscribe from the service, and they prefer mail order purchases of specific items directly from their want lists.

(Just like there is a wide range of online sellers and retail stamp dealers, there is a range in quality and value of approvals dealers. Each one finds a niche, and while we may cringe at the prices some dealers charge, they are apparently successful with a satisfied customer base, so who are we to judge?)

Zebra,
You are quoting my rewrite.
Note that I do not agree with that that line, it was simply a faithful rewrite of the OP paragraph (which was what I understood him to be asking).
Don

Ok, thank you all for the feedback; I asked because I clearly know nothing about mail order, or "approvals" as I indicated. Maybe I should clarify, but I'm simply trying to explain a way a novice collector might accumulate stamps from a reputable source at low cost. The eBays, Hip, live shows etc... are pretty obvious and self-explanatory but having no experience with buying basic stamps/lots through the mail I'd asked for some suggestions as to how to adequately relay that as an option.

Essay, good call and well-received here; will take myself out of the proverbial equation. Should not have done that in the first place.

John Becker, yes; am creating a web site dedicated solely to potential collectors or maybe those who inherit a collection/mess of stamps and don't know what to do with it in the hopes of maybe creating a few new enthusiasts and simply giving some basic ways of getting started and hopefully piquing some interest.

Don, thank you as well! Appreciate it.

Rog, what is the APS circuit?

The whole endeavor is turning in to be quite a bit more work than I'd thought, but what labor of love isn't?

Lets step back for a minute , to understand approvals sent by mail .

First it is a high risk low rewards business for finding new customers . The first respond from the stamp firm will be cheap stamps that they can risk losing . Back when I was a kid ,they mail out a package which they were looking to sell for $2.00 to $3.00 ,their cost was less than 25 cents for the stamps and maybe 10 cents for mail and sales offers which came in the same envelope .

It was after 2 or 3 purchases that they increase the value of to $10.00 or $20.00, that is where you become profitable for them ,before that it was a break even part of their business .

Believe it or not some customers stayed with them for years and purchase hundreds of dollars of both stamps and supplies .

The point I am making is that they are risking very little to hopefully someday you become a monthly paying customer , those first few purchases are just cheap bottom of the barrel stamps .

Andy- anything bought online as a buy-it-now purchase is "mail order." Likewise, anything else bought "sight unseen," e.g. from a Linn's ad or from sellers you already know is also mail order. One could even argue that auctions won on ebay and Hipstamp are also mail-order since the stamps arrive in the mail, but for simplicity you may want to exclude online auctions from the definition.

Linn's used to have maybe a hundred ads in the classifieds by dealers selling stamps on approval. Now there seem to be half a dozen. Harris, Jamestown, Kenmore (?) and others would crank them out and I bought a few as a kid and even a month or so ago I bought from a dealer that
advertised in the APS Journal. I guess ebay and the APS sales along with youth not being interested put the squeeze on "kitchen table" stamp dealers.
Too bad because I'd love to buy good worldwide on approval if the prices were less than half catalog. But I couldn't deal with packet approvals. I don't
have the patience to spread a couple hundred stamps out on the table and sort them at 5 or 10 cents each. I've collected worldwide since 1955. (Yeah, I'm old!)
Dave