Approval Sales
Approval sales are popular primarily either for low-priced merchandise or for highly specialized material that is hard to describe in words and must be seen. Approval dealers send stamps out to people who desire them. The customers look over the material, decide when they want, and return the balance along with payment for what they kept. Some approval companies solicit customers in general circulation magazines and even on matchbooks. They usually offer a large number of stamps, sometimes a topical theme, for 10 cents, or 25 cents, or sometimes more. When you sign up for this “loss-leader” you commit yourself to receiving approvals, and you have the moral as well as legal obligation to treat the material as someone else’s property (which it is) until it is paid for or returned. The “loss-leader” is of standard common philatelic material (remember, there are trillions of stamps in the world), but would be highly useful to a beginning or moderately advanced collector. So, too, the appeal of shopping at home makes many collectors lifelong approval customers. Be aware, however, that the dealer markup on low-priced approvals (and low-priced stamps in general) is very high, generally ranging from 300 to 400 percent. This is because labor costs, potage cost, and losses are high for the low-cost approval dealer. His average sale is low. A good maxim of philatelic economics is that you pay nearly as much handling and overhead on a stamp worth $2 as you do on a $200 one. So on the $200 stamp you generally pay closer to the wholesale value of the stamp, that is, the price at which the dealer would be willing to buy the stamp back from you.
Stamp Auctions
Stamp auctions are a very popular way of buying stamps. First begun in the 1880s, auctions have become a way of life for many philatelic purchasers. Dozens of sales are held each month, and each major city as well as many minor ones in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain have one or more auctioneers. Stamp auctions nearly always have printed catalogue in which the stamps are “described.” The description gives the catalogue number of the stamp or stamps in the particular lot, an estimated sales value or Scott catalogue value, along with a grading of the stamp. Bids are solicited y mail, and in fact most lots are sold to mail bidders, attesting to the uncommon degree of trust that has developed between collectors and dealers. Of course, any lot may be returned if it is improperly described or misgraded.
Stamp Shops and Mail Order
Most collectors buy their stamps at dealers’ sops. There a collector can see hundreds of stamps, all priced, and determine the ones he would most like to own. Furthermore, a good stamp dealer can answer a beginner’s questions and help him develop his collection. Mail order, too, is very popular; many dealers issue price lists fro which collectors can order stamps. All reputable stamp dealers will accept for full refund any stamp that the collector ordered which does not satisfy him. (A list of the major stamp magazines, with addresses, can be found in the bibliography; they in turn should help to guide you to dealers.)