The Great Recession has done more to increase the numbers of stamp dealers than any event since the Great Depression. Large numbers of well educated people are out of work. And more people are finding job mobility difficult as the weak housing market has made selling your home and moving to a new job impossible. And middle aged workers are now looking for ways to supplement their income in what they had hoped would be their golden years. Most people look at part time stamp dealer as a wonderful way to add to their income and it can be.
But the reality is that most part time dealers never make much money and the possibility exists for large losses. Perhaps the best way to avoid pitfalls is to start small and to limit your investment to a set amount. No deal is a great deal if it has more stamps than you can sell or is concentrated in stamps in which you are unfamiliar. “Buy what you know” is good advice and begin to do some selling immediately. Most dealers find it far easier to buy than to sell. By beginning to sell as you are building your stock you can be testing your buying strategies as you go along. Despite all the carping on the philatelic chat sites, most new dealers go onto EBay. It really is the retail market for stamps these days. Concentrate on a price point where you are comfortable and at which your handling of items is not prohibitive. But above all test yourself constantly. Markets are like facts-they are stubborn things that reward success and punish failure. If you are not selling well then your prices are too high, your quality too low, or the stamps you are selling are too unpopular(or all of the above). By constantly testing your inventory you know what to buy and how to price. And don’t be afraid to call it a day. From the outside stamp dealing looks easy-like owning a restaurant. But the reality is that most people don’t make a very good go of it and it would be a good idea to figure out if it works for you before you’ve invested a ton of time and money.