eCharta: A new Buying & Selling Marketplace for Stamp Collectors

It's no secret that everyone who starts something new generally believes they have "the greatest idea EVER!"

At the very least, they believe that "something needs to be changed," and have enough conviction to set things in motion.

Sadly, most such ideas fail to live up to expectations. It's something we see in all walks of life... from people convinced "they can sing" who then try out for American Idol... where they sound like a distressed seal sitting in an empty oil drum... to the people who start web sites as "alternatives to eBay."

In stamp collecting circles, it's also no secret that many people-- on both the buying AND selling side of the equation are frustrated with eBay. There are a number of reasons for this which I have written about previously, but won't get into here.

eCharta: an authentic alternative to eBay?

95% of new attempts at creating "a philatelic alternative to eBay" are ill-conceived efforts, typically started by a disgruntled former eBay seller who left the giant auction site to "register their disgust" against high fees. Subsequently, most such projects are started by this individual who gets his (or her) hands on some "canned" e-commerce & auction software and then sets up shop, almost exclusively based on the selling point "NO HIGH EBAY FEES HERE!!!"

Three months later, 17 people have signed up, 372 items have been listed for sale (350 of them belonging to the site owner) and none have been sold. Six months later, our "intrepid fee refugee" feels genuinely surprised (and possibly hurt) that people haven't arrived in droves to take advantage of "FREE LISTINGS!!!" Alas, there's a LOT more to running a successful e-commerce site than merely starting one and plastering the word "FREE" everywhere.

Today's post is about a new collector marketplace that genuinely could become a viable "alternative to eBay."

Started in the fall of 2012, eCharta is a marketplace for paper collectibles, not just stamps. Whereas stamps are a major category, you can also find manuscripts, trading cards, postcards, maps and other things relating to collecting paper. UNlike most "eBay alt" attempts, eCharta has a lot of points going in its favor:

• It's owned and operated by a team of collectors.
• The site was built from the ground up by professional programmers.
• It's visually appealing and showcases items for sale in an attractive manner.
• Free to low fees for sellers.
• Easy listing process when selling.
• Auction OR fixed price.
• Create your own "store" with your own custom categories.
• Fast and responsive support-- the site operators actually WANT user suggestions.
• A "mission statement" above and beyond "we're cheaper than eBay."

Even though the site has only been up and "officially" running to the general public since mid-November, there are already close to 5000 items listed for sale (1750+ of them stamps). Just for grins, I put a few items out for sale... and much to my surprise, some of them have already sold. That's almost unheard of, on new sites like this. The link (above) takes you to my "shop" on the site, which will also give you an impression of site appearance, if your "thing" is stamps!

I'm not one to freely (or frequently) recommend web sites and online marketplaces... in fact, I choose to not recommend most places, but his time I'm making an exception to suggest that you should go check this out, sign up and become part of this growing community.

Many in the philatelic world claim they wish there were "real alternatives" to eBay... yet they expect "other people" to make the changes happen, before they'll participate. But that's not how change happens. Change happens because because people get involved in making change happen. I like the people who started this site, I like their concept, and I like the way they've executed it. 

Be PART of a movement to create a genuine eBay alternative!

(and no, nobody paid me to write this... nor do I get anything if you register on the site... this is based 100% on my own experience over the past three weeks. )

Albums or Stock Books for your Stamp Collection?

I have been sorting stamps, recently.

I always presumed that pretty much all stamp collectors spent a large part of their hobby time engaged in sorting stamps and figuring out which ones to place where and in what album or book, and so forth. It wasn't until fairly recently that someone pointed out to me that many a philatelist doesn't "sort" stamps because they only acquire new material "one stamp at a time, exactly the one they need."

I have personally never collected "like that," so it served as a reminder that there are probably as many ways to collect stamps as there are stamp collectors-- and none of these ways are more "right" or "wrong" than any others.

But I digress.

A page from my Denmark specialized collection-- while there is still room!

The way I have always collected stamps-- and gotten the greatest enjoyment from the hobby, I might add-- is through the "treasure hunt method." I buy boxes and bags of random stamps, accumulations, box lots, kiloware, old collections, wads of album pages, duplicate books, even entire estates... and sort through everything in search of the items I want to add to my collections.

Later, I'll trade or sell off the stamps I don't want... but that's a whole different story, for a different day.

For about the 20th time in my stamp collecting history (which now spans some 45 years), I have been contemplating the question of "Albums vs. Stock Books."

As a specialist collector-- of postmarks, varieties, printings and so forth-- I am increasingly abandoning albums as the way to keep my collections. Albums worked fine for me when I was just collecting "one of each number" of the stamps issued by the country I was focusing on. After all, collecting "France" generally means collecting one of each stamp-- which is a very "finite" goal. There are only "X number" of spaces to fill in the album... and that doesn't really change, except by adding new pages for new issues, at the back end of the album.

The issue with this very "fixed" nature of traditional stamp albums arises when you start specializing-- and the number of stamps you might need to display in an "organized" fashion, in one area (or time period) of your album, isn't pre-determined. Sometimes you may need space for 73 stamps, sometimes for four. In this case, I am talking about the kind of album where you do your own layout on blank pages.

The problem I have repeatedly run into is creating a nice layout for a given page... and then having to repeatedly "insert" new finds where they logically/chronologically "belong," till I reach the point where the album page is either completely full... or looks like a haphazard pile of junk. Worse yet, I end up starting a new album page-- and for years I'll be looking at a page with ONE stamp on it.

A page from my France collection in a pre-printed album-- with stamps outside the spaces

Of course, I have the option of removing stamps from the overfilled page to the new page. On immediate glance, easy enough-- but since I put stamps in my albums with black Showgard style mounts, it actually becomes a pain in the rear. What's more, I'm left having to deal with all my pencil notations next to each stamp-- which I put there for identification purposes. Not to mention the fact that the whole process is extremely time consuming.

Hence, I have been gradually switching to stock books with black pages and clear strips, simply because the whole "moving stamps around" is SO much easier than dealing with an album. And the stamps still look really nice, in the book-- at least to my eye. And since I am not an exhibitor, I don't feel compelled to stick with an exhibition type format.

Stockbooks are definitely the way to go, for me, especially for the specialized collections.

My first major "moving project" involved getting my specialized collection of the Swedish "ringtyp" issue from album pages to stock books. It took a lot of time and effort, but was well worthwhile doing. As most of the varieties and plate flaws on this early issue are not well documented, I really had relatively little idea of the size and scope the collection might grow to. With stock books, I can easily move things around, as new material might demand it.

A page from my Swedish "ringtyp" collection, now housed in stockbooks

Do I still use albums? Absolutely! Most of my more "general" collections are still in albums, even though I expect some of them will move to stock books, over the years. In the future, a likely candidate seems to be my France collection (housed in a pre-printed album I've had since my teen years), which is suffering from "creeping elegance" as I have been adding SON cancels on the older issues, as well as precancels (quite common on French stamps) and a few blocks of four, as they show up.

More currently, I am considering moving my Denmark specialized from self-made album pages to stockbooks. I feel a little hesitant, because I have literally thousands of hours "invested" in creating those albums-- not to mention the many $$$'s I spent on supplies. However, some of the pages have gotten very "untidy" looking-- while others (recently added) are sadly sparse.

Maybe it's just part of the "journey" for long-time stamp collectors that we're always "tweaking" the way we keep our collections organized. And maybe that's part of what keeps us interested in our collections-- even after all these years-- the fact that there is always "something that needs to be done."

How do YOU keep your stamp collections? Are you happy with the way it's working? Do you often reorganize your collection to fit in new material?

Variety Focus: Denmark's 4RBS classic with "Pemberton Double Strikes"

Although widely considered to be "number 2" in many parts of the world, Denmark's 4RBS brown has always been regarded as "Denmark's first stamp" by collectors in Denmark. It was issued to cover prepayment of the ordinary letter rate within Denmark.

Denmark 4 RBS Brown with "Pemberton Double Strikes"

In the Danish AFA catalogue, the 4RBS is listed as no. 1, and was issued on April 1, 1852, a month before the 2 RBS blue-- which is recognized as no. 2 in Denmark, but no. 1 in some parts of the world. It's a bit confusing-- but I personally believe the Danish approach is the most appropriate one, since these two stamps were definitely not issued as "a set," so treating them as if they "belong together" is incorrect.

The 4 RBS stamp is widely collected by specialists, and offers up a wealth of printings, colors and plate flaws. Even though it is a "number one" stamp from the 1850's, it remains reasonably affordable, with a catalogue value in the range of US$40.00 and up depending on the printing and color.

Over 15 million copies were originally printed-- across different printings-- so quite a few are still around. Collectible quality copies (maybe with 3 margins, or some tiny flaw) can generally be had for about US$10.00, although premium quality 4-margin copies sell for considerably more.

Detail of left and right frame lines

One of the major varieties on this stamp is known as the "Pemberton Double Strike" stamp, named after the philatelist who first identified it, many years ago.

The stamp is found only on plate I, position 19, and has a very visible splitting of the frame line at right, as well as a double frame line at left, and lots of "double strikes" in the wreath at bottom right.

This is not a Scott listed variety, although other large catalogues list it. The Danish AFA Specialized catalogue lists it, and most serious collectors in Denmark are familiar with it. The current catalogue value in the Danish AFA Specialized catalogue is 3000,- Danish kr. (about US $520.00).

The photo at left shows the double frame line at left (over the word "KONGELIGT") as well as the thickening/doubling of the right frame line, starting at the upper right corner.

Although this is a fairly scarce variety, copies can be found almost anywhere-- my own example came from an APS Sales Division circuit book-- which goes to show that it's always a good idea to take a closer look at stamps-- even those that are quite familiar to you!

Writing... for non-stamp collectors

Regular readers of these pages will know that I am not only passionate about philately... I am also passionate about "spreading the word" about stamp collection to people not currently involved with the hobby. I strongly believe that one of the ways we'll keep the stamp collecting hobby going for many years to come is to reach out to those who don't currently collect... simply relying on "former" collectors and parents passing collections to their children is not enough.

Part of what I do for a living is write-- although I haven't written much about stamps, aside from this blog. Recently, I've gotten more interested in the idea of writing "general" stamp articles in an attempt to reach the NON-philatelic press.

The first (hopefully of many!) article was recently finished and has now been posted to a web site I sometimes use to "test publish" new articles. It's a "sand box" of sorts, where I can post articles, invite people to go read them, then fine tune them and get feedback, while having them out there in "public view." If the response is positive-- after revisions have been done-- maybe the article will be "publication worthy."

As of this writing, a couple of editors I work with (on material that has NOTHING to do with stamps) have expressed some preliminary interest.

This first article in somewhat broad strokes covers how stamps came about, followed by a little bit of the history and evolution of stamp collecting, from the 1850's to the present day. It's fairly "light and fluffy," but there's only so much you can say in an "article length" piece. Of course, this is not written for the existing stamp collector, but for the casual reader marginally familiar with the idea that "people collect stamps," or possibly someone who collected stamps as a child and might feel inspired to pull out their old collection from the back of the closet.

Stamp Collecting: The Rise & Fall... and Rebirth of the World's Greatest Hobby

Naturally, any comments and feedback on the article are invited and welcomed. This is just ONE approach-- my hope is to write a whole group of "introductory" articles about different aspects of (introductory) philately-- and with a bit of luck get one or two published in non-philatelic magazines.

Mysteries in Stamp Buying

Like most stamp collectors these days, I get many of the new stamps for my collection from an assortment of online sources. After almost 20 years of using the web as a resource, there are things that continue to mystify and confound me.

Top of my list of mysteries is sellers who try to sell stamps without a photo. Just how is that supposed to work? If I can't see the stamp-- especially if it's a stamp you're expecting me to pay more than US $5.00-- why would I want to buy it?

I hear millions of rationalization about how much time it takes to scan things, followed by other rationalizations that I "can return anything I don't like." Whereas that is fair enough, it still misses the point for me. I don't want to deal with the hassle and time wasting of returning things.

VF? Perhaps, but these are NOT "the same" stamp.

Of course, I collect postally used stamps. And (I believe) the faulty assumption that underlies for sale listings without images is that collectors "don't care" what the stamp looks like.

Wrong!

Not only do I want to see what the postmark looks like before I buy, I want to be able to see your "definition" of what Very Fine might be.

Indeed, the photo at right may show two copies of "the same" VF stamp from Denmark-- but they are definitely NOT "the same," are they? Not only is the postmark quality vastly different, the stamps are different colors, meaning they came from different printings of the stamp. Without a photo, how would I know what I was buying?

Fortunately, I do have a choice, in terms of who I buy from-- and I buy from those who have scans of their stamps. Delcampe has been an excellent site for buying for me, because pretty much everything is photographed. BidStart is a good source, as well, as can be eBay, although with the latter one must be careful as many stamps are offered by non-collectors who are not aware of the importance of a good quality photo. Finally, there is private dealers Poppe Stamps-- who, as a seller, is an illustration of how it IS possible to have all your stamps scanned, regardless of price-- they have over 1.5 million items to look at!

Another mystery in my buying experience is the ambiguity of "condition."

No faults? No way! Toned perfs, round corner, corner crease...

I can appreciate that-- at least in the USA-- terms like "Very Fine" and "Fine" ultimately are only referring to centering. Thus, the Danish stamp pictured at left is-- technically speaking-- "VF."

But that's not really the "mystery." The mystery is how well-respected major dealers can list such a stamp with a picture and the description "nice stamp, no faults" when you can clearly tell from the scan that there are  toned perfs on at least three sides and a rounded corner and a corner crease at upper left. On what planet is that a stamp with "no faults?"

Is the seller just hoping to "get lucky" that someone will actually pay 50% of catalogue value for a damaged stamp... or is this genuine ignorance of what makes up stamp condition?

A "smaller" mystery is the strange sellers of "random stamps." What do I mean by that? Well, these are the people-- often on smaller auction or fixed price sites-- who will offer little lots that might contain five stamps from a country, two of them mint, three of them used; three in good condition, two spacefillers; none of them even from the same set. Almost as if the seller went through a collection and randomly pulled out stamps and offered a lot of "stamps."

Who BUYS stamps like that? It may be convenient for you-- as a seller-- but it's a meaningless offer to 95% of the collectors looking at what you have for sale.

A somewhat related mystery is "complete sets."

I realize it's kind of nifty to finish out a set in your collection. But notice something about that last sentence? The words "finish out." I don't think I've ever bought a "complete set" of stamps except when it was a new issue from the post office.

The reality of most collections is that collectors typically already have six spaces in a set of ten filled-- perhaps from packets, or trading or sales circuits. "Complete sets" are a hard sell...

... and if you think about it, have you ever noticed how most of the major catalogues actually list "complete sets" at a discount from the price of the individual stamps, added together? A lot of people will argue that the higher price for singles is a "service charge" for breaking the set... but I just don't believe that to be true. I believe the TRUTH is that sets are priced lower because there's less demand for them.

Thankfully, we have choices, when it comes to buying online... and many more choices than we used to have.

Still, when I think back on the earlier days of buying stamps for my collection, I never bought stamps I couldn't see-- except for "mystery box lots" from auctions. I never once responded to any of those endless "price lists" in Linn's Stamp News or other publications... that were just typed lists of catalogue numbers and prices. All my stamps came from shows, circuit books, stamp club or dealers-- where I could examine the stamps before buying.

Remember, you always have a CHOICE when buying stamps. And the hard-earned money you spend on your collection is like "voting" for the sellers who are doing a good job!

Classic Stamps from Denmark: Ending September 16th

The weather seems to have "broken," here in the US Pacific Northwest. About 10 days ago, we could feel the "warm stillness" of summer give way to the "cool breeziness" of autumn. We are also at the point where the days are getting notably shorter.

XF 7ø provisional with plate flaw in base stamp

For me, these changes also indicate that "stamp season" is about to begin!

As an outdoor enthusiast, I have always been a somewhat "seasonal" collector. This is probably a habit I formed in childhood, where we considered stamp collecting to be a "wintertime thing." Anyway, as the weather gets less pleasant and the days shorten, I usually move towards indoor activities... like working on my stamp collections.

Last week, I finally finished sorting a nice collection of Denmark, bought at auction in Sweden, this past winter (interesting reminder of how truly international our hobby is!). Whereas I found some interesting stamps for my own collection, there were also many really nice items left over-- and so, I decided it was a good time to put them into my first set of eBay stamp auctions of the new "season!"

Here's the direct link ▼:

Classic Denmark at auction: September 9th-16th, 2012

The current auctions include 64 lots very nice older Denmark, with catalogue values to US $300.00+.

A small selection of the current Danish stamps at auction

The large photo at left (click on the image for a larger version!) shows just a few of the items included in this sale. A few more are shown throughout this post.

Individual items include 24 different skilling period stamps, highlighted by an 1864 16sk Arms Type with a major variety and beautiful cancel; also including four different version of the 4 RBS brown, Denmark's first stamp. Then there are some nice "Bicolours," and better stamps like the 5kr Post Office and 1kr brown "Old" Airmail. There are also some nice plate flaws and varieties sprinkled in, along with some lower value stamps chosen simply because they are in super nice quality.

My "philosophy" for running eBay auctions is quite simple, and has been the same since I started on eBay in 1998:

All my auctions begin at US $0.99 and no reserve, regardless of value. If I was looking to"auction" stamps at "retail" prices, I'd just have a retail store. In the current auction series, many stamps have values at-- or above-- US $100.00.

20 øre Arms type with small corner numerals

All lots have large clear scans, allowing collectors-- and especially specialists-- to see exactly what they are bidding on.

All lots have full descriptions. In my world, "see scan" has never constituted a "description." So I actually examine every stamp and write what I see. And I am not afraid to write about faults. I want bidders to actually GET what they think they are bidding on.

Auctions all end at a "sensible" time, both for bidders in Europe, as well as in the US. In addition, I list items to end one minute apart, so those who still enjoy "live last-minute bidding" can participate in many individual auctions. I actively reject eBay's efforts to turn their site into a "shop" venue, rather than an "auction" venue... auction bidding is FUN, if you ask me!

Combined shipping at a reduced rate is always available. Because I prefer to list a substantial number of stamps from the same area, at the same time, combined shipping actually makes sense. I find it so ironic when sellers offer "combined shipping" and then list 100 stamps from 63 different countries... of which I only collect two. Honestly... what's the point?

If it turns out you don't like the stamp or I missed a fault in the description, you can always send it back for a refund. I'm basically in the "happy collectors" business.

So, please take a few moments to go have a look! You never know, I may have something that exactly fits an empty spot in your album... and you may be able to pick up something at a bargain price, as well. I have a number of dealers who always check out my auctions because the possibility exists that you could get a $100 stamp for $3. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen!

Keep in mind: Auctions end Sunday, September 16th at 22:00 Central European (Denmark) time; at 4:00pm US Eastern; 1:00pm US Pacific time.

Thank you for your interest, and good luck with your bids!

As always, I appreciate you helping spread the word about these, using the twitter, Facebook and Google+ buttons, below!

Denmark 40 øre Stamp: Sometimes a Little Means a Lot!

I add stamps to my collections from many different venues-- ranging from exchanges to stamp shows to large international philatelic auctions.

Recently, I purchased some stamps from the APS StampStore... and got a nice little (unexpected) "bonus," in the process. It reminded me how-- as a specialist collector-- it's often something quite small that makes a big difference.

Denmark AFA 105 & 105a; Scott 116 & 117

In 1918, Denmark issued a number of definitive stamps in the long-running series featuring King Christian X facing to the right. The 40 øre value was actually issued in two distinct versions: The lilac and black (at left) is generally regarded as the "main" stamp, while the distinctly different blue-lilac and black is regarded by most as a "color variety." The US-based Scott catalogue assigns separate numbers, while most others list the first stamp with its own number and the blue-lilac with an "a" designation. The blue-lilac is somewhat harder to find.

I am always looking for "really nice" copies of Danish stamps-- my collections are centered around having "excellent quality" stamps in all my album spaces. That's not everyone's strategy, of course, but it happens to be my personal preference.

So when I found a lot with 4 different Christian X stamps, I was quite happy to purchase the lot of four, in order to get the really nice example of the 40 øre blue-lilac, pictured at right. Very well centered, with a fairly "crisp" cancel and good perfs, it is the kind of quality I look for. Although there are a couple of tiny cancel smudges, it will do nicely till I find a better example.

In Denmark-- and beyond-- the "bi-coloured" King Christian X definitives have become a very popular specialist area. For the most part, the stamps are reasonably valued (the exception being the 27 øre and 10kr stamps) and fairly readily available.

The issue also offers the specialist a great many plate flaws to look for. Part of what makes this series interesting is the two-color printing process: The outer frame was printed during one pass through the presses; the center on a second pass. Since the same center (portrait) plates were used for different values (different frames), it's possible to find the same portrait plate flaws on different stamps. Naturally, the different value frame plates all developed distinct plate flaws of their own. And because it's a two-step printing process, you can also find some notable colour-shifts.

I was about to put the stamp into my album when I noticed something slightly "odd."

Take a look at the bottom right corner. It is slightly rounded, and there seems to be a small "line" across it. Listed as AFA number 105av, this is one of the recognized "major" plate flaws on this stamp.

Although it's no great rarity-- the error occurs on four stamps in each sheet of 100-- it still meant that my $5.00 stamp was now a listed AFA variety with a catalogue value of 400,- Danish kroner-- about US $70.00!

For me, a large part of the appeal of being a "specialist" lies in the fun of the "treasure hunt" and finding the unexpected. I also like the fact that it allows me to "continue collecting" now that I have reached a point where I am only missing a very few and very expensive stamps in terms of "main catalogue numbers." Increasing the size of my collection simply through my (limited!) ability to spend thousands of dollars on the next stamp doesn't hold much appeal.

Hence, I started to specialize.

All you really need is a keen eye and the knowledge (which I get from a number of different articles and specialist literature) to know what to look for. And sometimes you may even find "something new" from simply looking carefully at what seems like a very "normal" stamp!

And now for something completely different... FREE stamps!

When you're a long-time stamp collector, it's almost inevitable that there occasionally are stamps "left over." Some are valuable and can be sold on places like eBay; some have little worth or are defective... personally, I prefer to give those to artists who create interesting scrapbook art or stationery people can enjoy; that way awareness of "old stamps" is spread beyond the existing stamp collector community.

One of my current free listings: US Scott 185
Catalogue value $17.50 (click on image)

Finally, there are some some stamps that are just "somewhere in the middle." Maybe they are in sound condition and list for a couple of dollars in catalogue value, or perhaps they have a catalogue value of $7 but a minor defect or uninteresting cancel. What to do, with these stamps?

For over ten years, I've just been putting them aside in glassines marked "better," saving them for some day where I might have a suitable answer.

A couple of years ago, a friend of mine sent me a link to a then new website called "Listia" and said "this is pretty cool." Now, I'm not the kind of person who finds something "new" and immediately starts to tell everyone who's willing to listen that it's "the greatest thing EVER," until I've actually determined that it really IS something worthwhile that other people will enjoy. Hence, I learned about this web site two years ago, but I have chosen not to write about it till now... I just have an "issue" about not recommending things that are ill-conceived and turn out to be a waste of time.

So what exactly IS this "Listia?" Well, it's an auction site somewhat in the style of eBay, except it's about giving away things for FREE. Yes, I said "free," and that includes free stamps.

Now, most of us have been taught that there is "no such thing as a free lunch," and when something is supposedly free, there's usually "a catch."

In this case-- and this is based on having actually used the site for a while, not just "promises in a site description"-- the "catches" are fairly minor. For one (which is pretty unavoidable if you're using the Internet!) you have to register and create an account. Second, where as this genuinely IS a site about "free stuff," it basically operates as an "Exchange and Barter" venue, in the sense that you participate in auctions using the site's "currency," or "credits."

Another free stamp: Scott US E6 used, CV $10.00 (click on image)

Aside from the initial credits you earn simply for signing up, you get more credits by offering things in auctions and having others bid on your free item with their credits.

Here's how it might work: You register on the site. Maybe you list 10 different stamps you wouldn't mind parting with-- exchanging, basically. There are NO fees to do so. Site users can then "bid" on your stamps with "credits."  After a week, your auctions end, and perhaps you have earned 5000 credits (just an example). Then you can turn around and use your credits to bid on stamps you want.

To my way of thinking, this is much better than exchanging stamps 1-on-1 where you are dependent on the other person actually having the material you want... instead, you can just save up your credits and use them to bid for any number of other people's stamps that might interest you.

For those who don't have the patience to list items, you can buy credits to use to place your bids-- but it's totally not necessary, in order to use the site. It can be honestly said that the site can be used completely FREE-- no cash or money needed to be an active participant.

Some might ask why the bother with a "credit" system. The credit system is necessary in order to maintain an active community and a ongoing stream of these listings for free items. After all, if everything was just free-- with NO requirements or strings attached-- a bunch of people would descend on the site like vultures and make a full-time habit of just grabbing everything and returning nothing to the site. Which would also mean that the site would have long since gone away, as the supply of free stuff would dry up thanks to greedy "freebie seekers."

Another free stamp: US Scott 399 used, CV $10.00 (click on image)

Now, I should add that this is not specifically a "stamp" site, nor even a "collectibles" site. Like an eBay, it's pretty much an "everything" site. For example, I have listed old stamps, coins and bank notes which has earned me "credits" I am planning to use to "buy" DVD movies. You can also find clothing, home furnishings, electronics and more.

The reason I am writing about this today is that I am hoping to be part of a move to make the "stamps" category a larger and more vibrant part of the Listia community... Why? Because it really does offer the potential to develop into a viable online "stamp exchange" forum. I have been watching Listia for a couple of years, and feel confident that it is not a "flash in the pan" that's going to go away as quickly as it came. In other words, it's "established" enough to be something I feel comfortable talking about.

There are a number of reasons I am recommending this site to the stamp collector community.

For one, it's free. And we all like free. In these days of rising seller fees on many sites, there are fewer and fewer options for collectors to trade their low-to-medium value stamps without having to hand over the majority of the value to someone else in fees.

Second, a free site takes us "back to basics." Many people got involved in "swapping stamps" because it was a FUN way to add to a collection. This site offers a nice platform for an online stamp "swap meet."

Third, it's free, part 2. As collectors, we seem to have increasingly moved towards a "money based" system for building our collections. More and more collectors just BUY stamps, rather than belonging to a shrinking number of stamp clubs and trading. What if we had a place to trade, that was based on popularity, demand and supply... rather than "dollars and cents?"

A free US Stamp: Scott no. 234, CV $9.50 (click on image)

Fourth... it's FUN! It's still possible to experience the thrill of the hunt and finding something you really need for your collection... and it's still possible to experience the thrill (as the person having something up for auction) of a bunch of people getting into "heated competition" to get a stamp they really want... and yet no money changes hands!

Fifth, it's a good venue for those who don't have a lot of money-- because you can still trade online, but it doesn't have to involve money.

With that said, I'd like to invite readers of this blog to go to the Listia site and become members. It doesn't cost anything. List a few stamps you wouldn't mind parting with and see what happens. That also doesn't cost anything-- and stamps are very popular with existing members. Become part of the community, and help build the stamps area as a trading community for stamp collectors around the world! You can visit my profile page and check out that I really have been a member for several years. Have a look at my current listings for stamps, which really and truly are free... just sign up and bid. A number of current items are pictured throughout this blog post.

Bottom line: I'm just suggesting this as part of an effort to put the fun back in stamp collecting. The only thing I stand to "gain" getting more people involved in something that could become a potentially neat stamp trading site. Give it a go!

Last word: I know there are a few skeptics out there who are thinking: "How can the site even exist if it doesn't make money?" Good question. As I said, they DO sell "credits," the internal "currency" of the web community. They also bank on the difference between the "open market rate" of credits as items trade between "buyers" and "sellers" vs. the somewhat higher cash rate for credits charged for items offered the Listia "Rewards Store."