Best Way To Fill My New Album

I just purchased my first stamp album, the mystic American heirloom 3 volume album, and I'm wondering what's the best way to start filling the pages? Buy in lots off of eBay of random is off paper stamps? Search out the stamps specifically?

Do you have any stamps? Or are you starting up the hobby? There are many sellers on eBay that sell US stamps in lots so this would be a good start to build up your base. After this you can start searching out stamps more specifically to fill in any gaps you might have.

Email sent

Hey there Benay148 I am fairly new to stamp collecting and I have found that ebay is the best way to start for myself. I had managed to win one auction for about 1500 stamps and was able to get some nice filler for my stamp books. However there were many duplicates but still it was nice going through all them and seeing what I won. Once I win a couple more lots, I will start hunting down single stamps, but to me auction on ebay is the way to go.

I here there is a way to trade with others on this site, but you have to have 50 posts in first....

50 posts and be a supporter.

Benay148, checking out the US collections on eBay can be reasonably economical. I started out my second collection that way. There are some real buys there - if you take your time and look for the bargains.

Before you do that though, just ask the folks on SCF if they have any stamps they'd be willing to send you for free. I think you'll be quite surprised at the response you'll get. As a matter of fact, send me your mailing address and I'll get you started with your first one hundred US stamps.

If you stay connected with SCF, you'll discover most of us are into this hobby for the fun of it and not to make money.

Welcome Benay!

For what it's worth, when I begin a new area, I decide what I want to collect – mint, used or a combination. Then I look for auctions of old stamp collections or lots that offer X different stamps. This will give me many of the more common issues with little duplication. Then I fill in the gaps with smaller lots and purchases of individual stamps.

Where stamps differ by perforation, watermarks or other small differences (generally the early issues), don't assume the previous collector made the right call. Check the stamps for yourself. It will give you good experience for what you need to look for when you start filling the gaps. I've also found that older collections sometimes mis-catalog stamps.

There is a huge amount of friendly expertise on this forum. If you have questions, ask! When you get to 50 posts etc. trading or buying here is a good deal as well.
Happy collecting!

Dan

Ebay is the place to start. My experience is when starting a collection of a country or class of stamps, its most economical to purchase a large collection at the right price. I am patient and wait for the bargains. The only problem is if you carry this too far, you end up with a large stock of extra stamps which then need to be resold.

I do have some to sort through, the mystic album comes with 300 us used stamps to start the album, and I thought it was only 50 posts to buy but 50 Posts and a supporter to sell? And ipmiller I'm sending you an email now, thanks everybody

Ipmiller, SCF won't let me email you because I'm such a new member, I'm not sure how else to contact you? Get back to me, thanks
-BP

Although everyone has given you pretty decent advice on collecting older stamps from years ago, no one has yet mentioned the obvious: Make a visit to your local post office! If the postal clerk isn't too busy, he or she can certainly show you the stamps he has available at face value and that would be one of the most cost effective ways to get MINT stamps that can add much to your collection. What you can't get at your post office, you can always get by ordering from the US Postal Service directly at this link:

https://store.usps.com/store/browse...goryProducts

Are you going to collect just used? Here is an auction you might interested in.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Box-of-Appr...em5894d67a22