None of them, ever! They are all way overpriced and there are much much better places to spend your money. There are lots of online auctions and they are your best bet. Also see if you have a local brick and mortar auction house. Most often you will get 5 to 20 times the stamps for your money by buying through auctions. Of course Ebay is still there and while it is usually better than the dealers you have listed it doesn't have the kind of great deals it use to.
Mitch is right, do your homework and avoid the dealers you listed. They all over charge, you can do better
The statement that all of those companies are no good is erroneous. You will be able to find bargains, and often better personal service due to their size.
A good example is Mystic which a few years ago offered a subscription to the year sets for Gibraltar. Price was 50% of Scott catalog, plus Mystic provided free pre-cut mounts for each year set, plus free a special binder and album pages for each year. I thought that was a pretty good deal, and my Gibraltar is now 90% complete, and they send me automatically each new year set in January under the same terms. I should be getting 2015 next month.
Yes, they do have higher prices in many of their offerings than many other dealers, but again it is up to you. It doesn't hurt to try them out or look at their web sites to see what they offer.
Another thing about Mystic is the tireless promotion of the lobby lead by Don Sunderman and efforts to bring new blood into the hobby plus, for years, they produced a colorfull magazine style catalog of all standard number US stamps several times a year, free to customers and only $5.00 per issue.
I have to agree - none of them. In fact, when I became a dealer 30 years ago I sampled a couple of these in order to find out what NOT to do and how much NOT to charge. Personally, I suspect that they do a lot of there sales to people who have no catalog to check the value of what they are purchasing and would not know if what they list as a complete set is indeed a complete set.
I buy up lots of glassines from a dealer that often have the names of some of these dealers printed on them. I just pulled one out. It is from Kenmore, and contains 2 CTO sets of DDR, 1749-54 and 2109-12. It is being sold for $5.79. The sets have a 2014 value of $4.55. One day these will probably be up for auction here for 90 cents. True these companies have overhead compared to an approval dealer out of Linn's classified but as a collector I don't want to pay for overhead.
Michael is correct, sometimes you do get good deals, but you have to do your homework. Unless things have changed (its a long time since I subscribed to new issue services for some of my approval customers - back in the day when I sold approvals) I found that new issues once listed in Scott, usually were worth less than I paid for them.
Thats my 2 cents for what it may be worth. You will get better bargains on Stamporama.
I've ordered from iHobb in the past with no complaints - they are a supply dealer like Subway or Potomac, not an high priced approvals dealer like Mystic or Kenmore.
Anyone deal with Herrick? I never have, but they advertise in Linn's and I've been tempted to try some of their mystery lots. I've also read somewhere, someone who buys stamp estate collections finds the collection is of good quality if the original owner was a past customer of Herrick?
Thanks,
Josh
Well, they must be doing something right. They have been in business for longer than most dealers.
Herrick is good to deal with. Their current ad mentions the mystery lots that they used to sell back in the 1970s and 1980s. I subscribed to those. Was a pretty good deal. I don't have the funds to subscribe to their current lots, but I think they would be fun to go through, and probably would garner plenty of material for your collection or to trade/sell.
The sad thing to me is that there are a great many "collectors" out there that clipped one of these guys adverts in Boy's Life or some other mag 40 years ago and did not bother to look any further. I think these are the people who make up these companies base. These people also go to the P.O. every week to buy the latest issues thinking they will be worth something someday. I buy new issues on occasion when something interests me but I am not disillusioned to think they will ever be worth what I paid but usually less. I jsut hate to see people wasting their money as there is a lot more to be got from the hobby than going down that road.
I used to cut out those ads from every company and take my nickle and send them in. The dealers normally gave away 10 or so stamps for the request for approvals. Good thing stamps were cheap in those days as 25 cents a week allowance could get me 25 stamps!
The Boys Life Ads. That is certainly how I started along with the ads in Popular Mechanics. I also purchased one of those bags of 1000 stamps from Woolworths.
Brechinite said;
"I never advise who to buy from or who not to buy from. The only way is to find out for yourself because every collectors' expectations are different."
I was in Hobby Lobby the other evening and saw this one. 18 cents worth of stamps for $3.95. Not even worth it with their 40% off coupon.
wow.... not even ONE commemorative?
was in the Hobby Lobby a week or too ago in or near Richmond, Texas. A big store an quite busy.
Almost nothing philatelic beyond two envelopes of hinges.
I also noticed that there was but one side of one aisle devoted to models that might interest youngsters. I spent half my teen years building and painting small ship models and eventually had over one hundred on a large shelf in my bedroom, mostly of vessels that took part in WW II, almost half scratch built. Plastic Revel ship models took up only a very small proportion of tax side of the one aisle.
I'd never been in that store before so I had my son push me around looking at everything.
Leaving I realized that this busy store sold virtually nothing that was essential to survival, and thus were the economy on the ropes as some political "leaders" imply.
While I'm not against hobby diversions, I think it shows that there that there is sufficient disposable income available. Second, the dearth of hobby products aimed at young boys is a result of the ubiquitous electronic fantasy machines that amuse our yewts.
"was in the Hobby Lobby a week or too ago in or near Richmond, Texas. A big store an quite busy.
Almost nothing philatelic beyond two envelopes of hinges.
I also noticed that there was but one side of one aisle devoted to models that might interest youngsters."
I visited a thrift shop sometime last year, and in a locked and monitored glass case were several lined notebook pages with very common, heavily cancelled, US definitives, about 12 to a page. They were marked $3.00 per page.
I commented to the clerks that the stamps were very over-priced. I gave them some of my background in stamp collecting, and said they would be very lucky to get 25 cents per sheet.
They thanked me over and over, said the pages had been donated and no one knew how to price them. They also said they had sold quite a few pages at $3.00, and mentioned people buying them for their grandchildren. SIGH! Another group of potential stamp collectors lost!
Marilyn :-)
Are those the actual stamps on the front of the Hobby Lobby packet or just an image on the packaging? They do not look over 40 years old to me...
Josh
Since one of the dealerships noted in the first posting was Mystic Stamp Co. I thought I'd post this postal card from 1938.
How many times as a kid were you sent a similar, gentle reminder this card's message contains?
I recall during childhood receiving "inexpensive" stamps on approval from H.E. Harris, not mentioned here and also Littleton Stamp Co.
Bruce
"Are those the actual stamps on the front of the Hobby Lobby packet or just an image on the packaging? They do not look over 40 years old to me..."
It says that there are 12 unique packets of stamps. If one of the other packets has a different picture of stamps, then I'd say there's a good chance that what's on the package is what's inside.
No one has mentiond Dealers that you meet at stamp shows. If you ever get to attend a local, state or national show some of these Dealers bend over backwards to satisfy your needs and most times negociate great prices for what you want. I've had the opportunity to attend an APS National show having a hugh number of dealers in attendence. By the time I was done dealing I needed a wheelbarrel to carry out the stuff I bought. I got a bang for my buck and nothing was overpriced.
Definitely agree with Mr. Bridges. I have found most of the dealers at shows/bourses to be quite helpful and reasonable.
-Steve
Hello everyone I have a question. Of the following companies which is the best stamp company to deal with ? Mystic, Kenmore, Jamestown, Herricks, Wilton or ihobb. Thanks for any input !!!!! Devil Dog
re: Stamp Dealers
None of them, ever! They are all way overpriced and there are much much better places to spend your money. There are lots of online auctions and they are your best bet. Also see if you have a local brick and mortar auction house. Most often you will get 5 to 20 times the stamps for your money by buying through auctions. Of course Ebay is still there and while it is usually better than the dealers you have listed it doesn't have the kind of great deals it use to.
re: Stamp Dealers
Mitch is right, do your homework and avoid the dealers you listed. They all over charge, you can do better
re: Stamp Dealers
The statement that all of those companies are no good is erroneous. You will be able to find bargains, and often better personal service due to their size.
A good example is Mystic which a few years ago offered a subscription to the year sets for Gibraltar. Price was 50% of Scott catalog, plus Mystic provided free pre-cut mounts for each year set, plus free a special binder and album pages for each year. I thought that was a pretty good deal, and my Gibraltar is now 90% complete, and they send me automatically each new year set in January under the same terms. I should be getting 2015 next month.
Yes, they do have higher prices in many of their offerings than many other dealers, but again it is up to you. It doesn't hurt to try them out or look at their web sites to see what they offer.
re: Stamp Dealers
Another thing about Mystic is the tireless promotion of the lobby lead by Don Sunderman and efforts to bring new blood into the hobby plus, for years, they produced a colorfull magazine style catalog of all standard number US stamps several times a year, free to customers and only $5.00 per issue.
re: Stamp Dealers
I have to agree - none of them. In fact, when I became a dealer 30 years ago I sampled a couple of these in order to find out what NOT to do and how much NOT to charge. Personally, I suspect that they do a lot of there sales to people who have no catalog to check the value of what they are purchasing and would not know if what they list as a complete set is indeed a complete set.
I buy up lots of glassines from a dealer that often have the names of some of these dealers printed on them. I just pulled one out. It is from Kenmore, and contains 2 CTO sets of DDR, 1749-54 and 2109-12. It is being sold for $5.79. The sets have a 2014 value of $4.55. One day these will probably be up for auction here for 90 cents. True these companies have overhead compared to an approval dealer out of Linn's classified but as a collector I don't want to pay for overhead.
Michael is correct, sometimes you do get good deals, but you have to do your homework. Unless things have changed (its a long time since I subscribed to new issue services for some of my approval customers - back in the day when I sold approvals) I found that new issues once listed in Scott, usually were worth less than I paid for them.
Thats my 2 cents for what it may be worth. You will get better bargains on Stamporama.
re: Stamp Dealers
I've ordered from iHobb in the past with no complaints - they are a supply dealer like Subway or Potomac, not an high priced approvals dealer like Mystic or Kenmore.
Anyone deal with Herrick? I never have, but they advertise in Linn's and I've been tempted to try some of their mystery lots. I've also read somewhere, someone who buys stamp estate collections finds the collection is of good quality if the original owner was a past customer of Herrick?
Thanks,
Josh
re: Stamp Dealers
Well, they must be doing something right. They have been in business for longer than most dealers.
Herrick is good to deal with. Their current ad mentions the mystery lots that they used to sell back in the 1970s and 1980s. I subscribed to those. Was a pretty good deal. I don't have the funds to subscribe to their current lots, but I think they would be fun to go through, and probably would garner plenty of material for your collection or to trade/sell.
re: Stamp Dealers
The sad thing to me is that there are a great many "collectors" out there that clipped one of these guys adverts in Boy's Life or some other mag 40 years ago and did not bother to look any further. I think these are the people who make up these companies base. These people also go to the P.O. every week to buy the latest issues thinking they will be worth something someday. I buy new issues on occasion when something interests me but I am not disillusioned to think they will ever be worth what I paid but usually less. I jsut hate to see people wasting their money as there is a lot more to be got from the hobby than going down that road.
re: Stamp Dealers
I used to cut out those ads from every company and take my nickle and send them in. The dealers normally gave away 10 or so stamps for the request for approvals. Good thing stamps were cheap in those days as 25 cents a week allowance could get me 25 stamps!
re: Stamp Dealers
The Boys Life Ads. That is certainly how I started along with the ads in Popular Mechanics. I also purchased one of those bags of 1000 stamps from Woolworths.
re: Stamp Dealers
Brechinite said;
"I never advise who to buy from or who not to buy from. The only way is to find out for yourself because every collectors' expectations are different."
re: Stamp Dealers
I was in Hobby Lobby the other evening and saw this one. 18 cents worth of stamps for $3.95. Not even worth it with their 40% off coupon.
re: Stamp Dealers
wow.... not even ONE commemorative?
re: Stamp Dealers
was in the Hobby Lobby a week or too ago in or near Richmond, Texas. A big store an quite busy.
Almost nothing philatelic beyond two envelopes of hinges.
I also noticed that there was but one side of one aisle devoted to models that might interest youngsters. I spent half my teen years building and painting small ship models and eventually had over one hundred on a large shelf in my bedroom, mostly of vessels that took part in WW II, almost half scratch built. Plastic Revel ship models took up only a very small proportion of tax side of the one aisle.
I'd never been in that store before so I had my son push me around looking at everything.
Leaving I realized that this busy store sold virtually nothing that was essential to survival, and thus were the economy on the ropes as some political "leaders" imply.
While I'm not against hobby diversions, I think it shows that there that there is sufficient disposable income available. Second, the dearth of hobby products aimed at young boys is a result of the ubiquitous electronic fantasy machines that amuse our yewts.
re: Stamp Dealers
"was in the Hobby Lobby a week or too ago in or near Richmond, Texas. A big store an quite busy.
Almost nothing philatelic beyond two envelopes of hinges.
I also noticed that there was but one side of one aisle devoted to models that might interest youngsters."
re: Stamp Dealers
I visited a thrift shop sometime last year, and in a locked and monitored glass case were several lined notebook pages with very common, heavily cancelled, US definitives, about 12 to a page. They were marked $3.00 per page.
I commented to the clerks that the stamps were very over-priced. I gave them some of my background in stamp collecting, and said they would be very lucky to get 25 cents per sheet.
They thanked me over and over, said the pages had been donated and no one knew how to price them. They also said they had sold quite a few pages at $3.00, and mentioned people buying them for their grandchildren. SIGH! Another group of potential stamp collectors lost!
Marilyn :-)
re: Stamp Dealers
Are those the actual stamps on the front of the Hobby Lobby packet or just an image on the packaging? They do not look over 40 years old to me...
Josh
re: Stamp Dealers
Since one of the dealerships noted in the first posting was Mystic Stamp Co. I thought I'd post this postal card from 1938.
How many times as a kid were you sent a similar, gentle reminder this card's message contains?
I recall during childhood receiving "inexpensive" stamps on approval from H.E. Harris, not mentioned here and also Littleton Stamp Co.
Bruce
re: Stamp Dealers
"Are those the actual stamps on the front of the Hobby Lobby packet or just an image on the packaging? They do not look over 40 years old to me..."
re: Stamp Dealers
It says that there are 12 unique packets of stamps. If one of the other packets has a different picture of stamps, then I'd say there's a good chance that what's on the package is what's inside.
re: Stamp Dealers
No one has mentiond Dealers that you meet at stamp shows. If you ever get to attend a local, state or national show some of these Dealers bend over backwards to satisfy your needs and most times negociate great prices for what you want. I've had the opportunity to attend an APS National show having a hugh number of dealers in attendence. By the time I was done dealing I needed a wheelbarrel to carry out the stuff I bought. I got a bang for my buck and nothing was overpriced.
re: Stamp Dealers
Definitely agree with Mr. Bridges. I have found most of the dealers at shows/bourses to be quite helpful and reasonable.
-Steve