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I'm going to let you in on one of my best secrets. If you are fortunate
enough to live in or close to a large city, watch your newspaper for information
regarding very old public buildings that are going to be demolished.
I make it a point to be there and offer to buy the contents of the box in the
"corner stone." When these buildings were built, owners often put an
accumulation of collectibles representative of the time of construction in a box
placed in the corner stone. It was placed in one of the blocks near the main
entrance. I've found some beautiful Columbians and other stamps, by themselves
and on letters along with plenty of good postal stationary out of these boxes.
The "price" typically is a donation of a few dollars paid to one of
the laborers doing the demolition work. The contents of the box mean nothing to
them. Now that my secret is out I guess I'll have to compete with others to get
these boxes.
Getting back to buying stamps, I find that many dealer prices for short sets are
very reasonable. "Short sets" are stamp sets missing a few
denominations from being complete, often the higher values. I only buy them if
one or two of the high denominations are missing, which typically are the most
expensive individual stamps. Then I watch for a mail bid sale and bid on the
high values to complete the set. I often win such bids because the only people
bidding on them are collectors like me trying to complete a set. I realize
buying this way takes longer to complete sets, but who's in a hurry? There are
so many stamps that I need that there is always something I can bid on.
Here's another inexpensive tip. Try asking a local company to clip the stamps
off of incoming mail for you, or at least save their entire envelopes for you to
clip at home. You may be lucky and find a great source of all the current stamps
you need nearby.
I correspond quite a bit with collectors in other countries that are usually
anxious to trade for current US stamps. It's also a good way to make new friends
in foreign countries.
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