Over the years I have bought out many stamp stores and stamp show dealers. I have bought everything, right to the walls. Mostly I am appalled at the lack of reference books dealers use to support their businesses. You won't believe this, but I have purchased numbers of dealers' stocks who haven't even had a full set of Scott catalogs on hand!
I remember one store that I bought in Texas that filled two rooms of mostly low end stamps. This dealer had put his kids through college through his efforts in the store, yet upon finishing my evaluation, I saw that for reference there was only a part set of old Scotts and an old Michel Germany on the shelf. I shook my head. How could anyone run a stamp business this way? This is a business that almost requires the dealer to become well educated in a myriad of disciplines, including stamp production, history, languages, currencies and mail rates. There is never enough time to learn them all well, but that's what references are for. This particular dealer had specialized in U.S. and German stamps. I did not expect to see a thousand books covering these areas, even though he could have had that many and more. I thought, "Surely there must be some basic philatelic education for running a stamp business!"
On every flight that I take, and I take a lot, and in every hotel room that I stay, I take along a philatelic reference to read. I enjoy reading the research specialists have done, even if I don't remember much detail. The generalities that I have remembered have definitely made me money.
Let me give you two examples of the value of philatelic education and how it has helped me make a few dollars over the last year. One thing that I remembered was that the Great Britain Penny Reds on cover, with other than the usual Maltese Cross Cancel, should be looked at carefully. That purchase from a dealer's stock for a normal $2 to $10 cover turned out to make me $1200. The other useful thing that I faintly remembered was that Australia George head one penny reds, with manuscript cancel, might be important. It went to my pocket to the tune of $500! All this from casual reading.
Do you want to make some money in stamps? Read. Do you want to be a pick-off artist and get the goodies, for cheap prices, that busy or lazy dealers overlook? Read. Do you want to lead your customers, rather than be ignored by them? Educate yourself and share what you know.
You've seen them. They are usually quiet. They sit at a dealer's table and sift through everything, or at least everything within their specialty. What are they looking for? Dozens of things: the cancel in the first month, the rare shade, perf 10 instead of perf 12, a die variety, a rare rate or destination, etc. Don't ask these artists; they are professionals at what they do, and they won't tell you their secrets. They took the time to read the books. They are the pros, and if you knew what they know, you would get in line ahead of them, wouldn't you?
So do it. Start your philatelic education today. It really will help you financially tomorrow. I can't think of a single area in stamps that doesn't have more and less rare specimens. The way to separate the goodies from the common is by starting with a reference book.
Start with looking at a Scott or Gibbons (British Commonwealth) or Michel (Germany and related) or Yvert (France and related) or some of the other international references. As much detail as you see there, remember: that information is derived from even more specialized references.
You all have a Scott Specialized Catalog of U.S. Stamps, don't you? Let's talk about this catalog. Even this "specialized" reference is a compilation of information from many other sources. Did you know that one of the dealers who lists literature has for sale the following: 1847 issues - 7 books, and a reference each on the 1851-7 one cent and 3 cent, that are each almost as thick as the entire U.S. "Specialized"? What can this mean to you? The bottom line to book owners is cash in their pockets, or rarities in their stocks.
No one needs to memorize all of the varieties. Just recognize that one may be staring back at you, and know where to go to confirm it. Wouldn't you like to buy a stamp as a US#9, and sell it as a US#5 (difference in catalog value: $28, 875)? It does happen, you know; in fact, that's exactly what happened at Pacific 97, the prestigious international stamp show held in San Francisco.
So what do you need to get started? Let's do some comparisons. I've heard of philatelic libraries with 30,000+ references (usually not including auction catalogs), and I've seen dealers with none! What do you need? It all depends on what you are going to do in stamps.
For example, I am a generalist (with a little knowledge about a lot of things). Along the way I have also acquired strong knowledge about several areas. What this has provided me with is a framework for future development. My library is probably a little above the middle for a generalist, at about 150 feet of books. You will not need anything like that in order to get started, but you do need to develop a core library to help you become an expert, or at least very knowledgeable in a concentrated area. You can expand on these core principles later to cover other areas.
What field do you choose? That is up to you. We are in the USA, so you could choose the highly competitive Washington-Franklins to learn. These stamps generally trade at low markups because of the very active competition. So why not get a little exotic? Try starting your philatelic education by looking into telegraphs, or express stamps, or essays. Focussing on specific areas like these will provide you with what you seek in your philatelic education: that particular "feel" about items that the specialists instinctively know. You will gain knowledge about papers and varieties and many other facts that will put you into the group of the very few expert dealers that are out there.
The reason you might begin your philatelic education with "exotics" is both for your knowledge and for your pocketbook. As a dealer, you will make your living on "averages": so much markup, on so much volume, equals your gross income. You can increase that income by learning more about your stamps. You can improve your averages by having more winners. You can be ahead of the competition by reading a few books.
To find out what philatelic literature is available, you can send for price lists or catalogs from:
Auctions are a good source, too. Try:
- Phil Basner
- Leonard Hartman
- Harmers
- James Lee
- James Bendon (England)
- Vera Trinder (England)
- Huys-Berlingin (Liechtenstein)
- EL Auctions (California)
- Firby
Often, in larger sales, there will be a literature section. These dealers and auction firms can be found in ads in this (?) paper, through the ASDA and NSDA membership lists, or through the APS or PTS lists.
Get started with your philatelic education today. You will never regret it.
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