Boston 2026 World Expo

AtoZ stamps which pulled out after figuring $30,000, drives 3000 miles from Arizona. DK Enterprises would drive 3000 miles from Washington State but he is not going.

That is 6000 miles round trip and 8 days of driving, 6-7 extra nights lodging and food. Plus, what is a dealer's (anc employees) time worth per day as an expense? It all adds up.

Edited to add:

IRS standard 2026 business mileage rate is set at $0.70 per mile or $4200.00 for a 6000 mile round trip. Real cost is well above 70 cents.

Apparently the GB post office will not have a booth there. The one foreign PO that I want to see........

Hi, is there a friend on here in the stamp community that is going to the Boston show who would be willing to purchase stock books OR Vario pages (multiples of any size) for me? I would be willing to pay you back for your trouble including cost. Regards, Bradley

If you are near WESTPEX this month they, Lighthouse is there. Also there is a dealer who drop ships orders of that material and has for years. Hit me up for contact info on him.

OK cool! Thanks Parcelpostguy! Message sent.

Bobcatt126.

No message via SCF received. I tried to send one to you and your SCF email is turned off thus I could not message you. As such with it turned off, your emails do not go through I believe.


By the way I am awaiting a reply to my email, are you alive and are you in business still? Except last year when doing a huge home remodel he skipped WESTPEX he has attended for years. Now he is not listed for this month's WESTPEX so I emailed my question. I always buy a box load from him most years at WESTPEX.

A&D did drive from CA to NY in 2016 in a van loaded to the gills, plus they flew 4 of us out from CA and another out from CO to work for them (3 extra hotel rooms). Total was a huge, but they sold an even larger amount, so it worked for them.

They also have a much larger stock then most,and are one of the few who would have to drive that far. Most don't have to go as far with as much.

A-Z and Stamp Art are in a similar situation

Just so you don't think I am just blowing smoke ....... That I don't understand the market place and the tough time these dealers are going to have at Boston .
Since your talking about A& D

Here is real world pricing from the largest worldwide dealer at the last two major EXPO's in NYC and Washington . Plus the dealer pricing with the pricing I paid for it next to his pricing offers/his selling price . . It is not me making stuff up ,it is real dollars being paid . Oh--forgot my price includes 20% and a buck or two for shipping .
You really want the sad part ----- I am the high bidder at those prices paid .

Isn't the market stratified?

There is a retail space where prices are higher and there are other channels where prices are lower. In the AP journal, the Doctor has multiple full page ads selling country collections. The prices seem high but there must be enough buyers to sustain the ads. If someone went to the A&D booth, would not they pay the higher price?

Sorry but those are real life market prices

Can you see me at Boston Expo talking to a dealer who just spend $7,000 for a table . . He mark down the price on a beautiful set from $95.00 to $75.00 . Then I offer him $49.00 with no tax included . A 30% decrease from his low price . I know what I am going to hear from him ,it is ***&%$@# .

No buyer did, that is why it remained in the A&D stock until the entire stock was sold back into the market when Jim retired.

The higher price at shows is the show price premium. For fungible stamps, waiting for a lower price makes good financial sense. The vast majority of stamps are fungible. Likewise the vast majority of collectors only can afford the fungible issues. Postal history has the same issue of fungibility, but upon a smaller percentage of items.

Some dealers price their retail stocks at a high percentage of catalog and they don't mind lugging a truckload of redboxes and binders all over the country for years. Others price their stamps at a more reasonable level and prefer the turnover and high cash flow, even if the margins are smaller. Hard to say which method has a bigger net profit at the end of the year.

Considering that the dealer probably paid between $10 and $20 for that $95 set when he bought it in a collection, he is probably thrilled that someone is willing to offer $49 for it and possibly make a 5x profit margin. Of course he would prefer the 7.5x profit margin but that means carrying the stamp around from show to show for months or years before finding the collector that needs the stamp so badly that he is willing to pay 80% of Scott.

Even though a big show like Boston is many times more expensive for a dealer than a one-day or weekend stamp show, the volume of customers entering the door ready to spend money is so much higher that many dealers believe it is worth the extra expense.

I think that the average collector who comes to a show like this tends to be willing to spend more anyway. It's built in to the idea of being there in the first place.