Investing in stamps – some thoughts
I just spent a whooping 3,000€ to buy myself new laptop. I agree its serious sum to put into something that will be usable for just 3-5 years. For some reason I cannot imagine myself spending anything similar to stamps though they are pretty guaranteed to keep their value better than any kind of consumer electronics.
These days pretty much everything seems to be up about money (or lack of it)... 1985 Finland - A centenary of banknote printing. This gigantic postally used booklet sheet is nearly 27 cm long, and likely the second largest sized philatelic item I have in my albums.
Few nights back I was surfing on various stamp related sites, and stumbled upon Would You borrow to buy stamps topic on StampCommunity boards. I have to confess that my response to the question would be negative. I would definitely not borrow any money to buy stamps. Hell’, I’m usually feeling slightly bothered even when spending some random pocket money to acquire new stuff (after all, I could always use the money to something else that could be more beneficial).
I acknowledge that my behavior on this matter is more or less irrational. I believe, I could make somewhat decent money with stamps if I wanted. Yet, something inside me raises big red “don’t step into the dark side!” warning signs immediately, when I even start thinking stamps as investment.
1992 Finland. Healthy Brains... What is happiness made of? In my humble opinion, this Finnish stamp sums up things pretty well.
I think the answer within lies in the function. A laptop is something I use both for profession and fun; it’s a must have tool.
Stamps on the other hand … For me they are just and only for fun. I collect them with no function or monetary expectations attached. I do acknowledge that stamps can have some value, but personally I’m not much into that. I collect to keep and enjoy, and once it’s time to sell I’m hopefully no longer around. Naturally, I do hope that my heirs and assigns will get even some of it what I’ve paid to assemble.
My approach works for me. Others can and do feel differently, and I honor that. Each of us should do what pleases us in this hobby.
Nevertheless… I definitely would love to spend 3,000€ to mishmash box full of mixed worldwide stuff. But a family vacation to Prague, Budabest or Scottish highlands would be equally nice too…. What would you do if You had three grand in your use? Maybe the next time I go around computer shopping, I settle for “crappiest model” and put the money into something more fun… Feel free to write your suggestions to comment box below.
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so that is a BIG Rs 1.65 Lacs that you spent on your laptop!!! Wow!!! I had got mine 3 years back for less than half that amount. Whether I would spend that much on stamps or not? NO. NOT AT ONE TIME. and I agree with you on the reason being the functionality. I would rather do a vacation abroad (Bangkok, Pataya) with my family
:)
I wouldn’t borrow to buy stamps too but yes have and will keep on spending that lil bit every now and then to add to the numbers, to have fun sorting out, putting them up in stock books……NOT as an investment.
Given the chance, I think all of us collectors / accumulators / hoarders would have loved to use the sum on a huge box or boxes of stamps. However in all practicality and looking at the options on what else could be done with the same amount, most of us would opt out…. However I do know of fellow collectors who would do otherwise.
Final Thought….HAVE FUN and HAPPY COLLECTING!!!!
Stamp collecting does not need to be expensive. Actually valuable stamps are a nuisance. Who wants a tiny piece of paper worth more than a new car that looses half its value if you accidentally bend it?
An old collection off eBay keeps me busy for a year and only costs about 30€. And if there are surprises they are going to be on the upside, not the downside.
So true
I just invested in six used White Ace binders with dustcovers for $60 and a single used stamp for $20 and thought I was overdoing it at the time. I’ve since adjusted my mindset after the splurge and am happy with my purchase, knowing that the items will give me many hours of projects and entertainment. There is nothing else I want or “need” for my collection, for now.
Like you, I’d rather spend 3,000 Euros/$5,000 US (I don’t even know where to find the Euro symbol on my keyboard) on sharing joy with others (entertaining or traveling). Retirement planning is also a biggie for me. My hubby and I will have to replace the roof on our home (to protect the stamps) or replace our old cars (to go hunting for stamps) before we kick the bucket.
RFLMAO,,….LOL! Valuable stamps are a nuisance? Send them to me ASAP!!! Learn the market people,…spend what you feel comfortable with,…there will always be some return value,…har, har, har! But really7 If those stamps are bugging you,…and they are of value,…I’ll buy them,….cuz they are not a nuisance to me,….
Well… i noticed that my budget for buying stamps has increased rapidly these days .. some times i buy stamps with lay away plans ! first when i have it i feel very happy ..then afterwords i regret what i did , because it will put me in a very narrow position financaly … then when i start sorting them out , i feel so happy and exiceted again !!!! … i think i need some treatment here , i don’t know this situation will take me to which path …. any suggestions ?!!
Blyme Keijo…!!! € 3.000?…With that I could buy a new saxophone Selmer Mark IV !!!..Jesus! + nice stamps from the penny fair and a few lighthouse stock books!!! and still go away the week end to the south of France!
Next time, ask for money advise (happy to spend together)Je,Je,je…Salute!
Keijo, I don´t consider my self an advanced collector, I wouldn´t spend that amout of money in stamps, as I have a lot of low valuable stamps to acquire first. I don´t see stamps as an investiment, as I don´t intend to sell my stamps. Why should I sell an expensive stamp I spent, besides money, time to search, analize and compare to other options, to sell in advance? Maybe in the future I can change my mind, but at the moment, “I´m in the ride just for fun”, LOL.
Regards
Rafael, from Brazil
@Marvin… True. Stamps always have value of some sorts. But the more valuable the object, the more concerns it can cause to it’s holder.
@Nagwa… Sounds like a semi-serious case of stamp addiction
But if it’s truly causing financial issues, then it’s definitely something you’ve got to deal sooner or later… Personally I set aside each year a specific bugdet (more precisely 300 Euros this year) for stamps & accessories. Once that money is gone, I stop shopping for rest of year (and it can be so hard 
)
@Fred…Do You want to know the “salty part”? If I lived in UK, the same laptop (same manufacturer, same specification) would have cost me only about £1800… Finland is seriously one of the most expensive places in world to live!
@Rafael…Doing it just for fun is definitely the proper attitude!
Keijo, your laptop illustrates beautifully the different prices of products around the world. For the Canadian equivalent of 3000 Euros, I could probably purchase 4 good laptops here.
Rafael, your post reminds me of a discussion in Linn’s a couple of months ago. If you had $1000 to spend on stamps, would you use it to buy one or two more valuable stamps that you need for your collection, or to buy 1000-2000 less valuable stamps that you also need? It all comes down to why you’re collecting. As you said, you’re in it for the fun, as I think most of us are, and as a result we’d go for volume. But eventually, the holes in the collection get fewer and fewer, and more expensive to fill. My Canadian collection, for example is missing only 15 stamps; the least expensive one would cost about $200 to purchase, while the most expensive would be almost impossible to obtain, as only two copies are known, and the owner of one has reportedly turned down an offer of $1,000,000 for his copy. So, where does one go next? Picking a different area of specialization?
That’s one possibility…
Or you could start working to enhance the quality of collection. It’s an endless task, and definitely doable with limited budget, trades/exchanges etc.
Personally I like to approach this in Star Trek fashion: “To boldly go, where no man has gone before”… Instead of looking what’s in the catalog, I try to pick up the “unrecorded stuff” as well. It definitely keeps the hobby fresh & interesting for me.
Kevin, at the present moment, if I had $ 1,000 to spend in stamps, for sure I would by several cheapest items than one very expensive. My Brazilian collection is over 50% complete, so I have much more to go on before the “gems”. In your case, as you´re really advanced in Canadian collection, the best guess is to do what Keijo suggested: look for the unusual, the little differences that make this hobby fun. We don´t have so much expensive stamps in Brazilian philatelia, but there are at least 10 itens over $5,000. For me, I don´t intend to have those, maybe (in a long, long future) a poor exemplar just to avoid a blank space in the album. For my ww collection, there are so many cheap stamps I guess I will never need these gems. Of course I´d like some important stamps, but I would not spend money with them, maybe in an exchange…
Regards
Rafael
stamps is not a hobby, it is a life style…! it is hard to change habits… and hence its a difficult decision not to buy a stamp which you can afford and one which you like… obviously, if you sum up all your expenditures on stamps, it might be huge, but some people (like me) collect stamps for the fun of it….
Not everything can be attached monetory value…
however, my plan is that once i retire from my services in india, i will probably take my stamps to a country where there is a scope to sell and sell it off at good prices, recover everything….which i have spent… i will probably not leave behind them to a stranger..never
I collect stamps in a couple different ways. I have my personal stamp collection of mint US stamps housed in Davo hingeless albums and then I have this huge hoard of worldwide stamps that is somewhat unorganised and out of control. I often buy large quantities of stamps and put them into my hoard after i’ve removed some for my collection. I don’t feel guilty spending money on stamps because i see them as a supplement to my retirement. Money spent on stamps now is like putting a little in the bank for the future. The question that remains to be answered is what the return on my investment will be. If you factor in the enjoyment I get, I’m coming out ahead either way.
Very interesting and timely discussion for me. I have been on again/off again with stamp collecting since I first started at age 11. I’m now 50 and my interest in stamps as a hobby is renewed. I’ve saved some stamps since my last foray which was 9 years ago. So I have some accessories and some philatelice material to play with.
I remember when I first tried to unload my U.S. Plate Block collection and some of my worldwide stamps to a dealer (this was before eBay). I was crushed at the low dollar amount the dealer paid me and actually regretted having sold them. It was at that point that I realized I would probably never think of stamps as an investment again.
I’m all for simplifying in my life as much as possible, so now, as best I can, I collect on a shoestring and go for maximum fun in all I do with the hobby.
There are so many things I want/need to get back into the hobby. I would like a complete set of fairly recent Scott catalogs, padded binders with slipcases and some decent 90-lb paper to print out album pages. I also collect Israel tabs and have started down the road with White Ace binders and pages (and mounts), and that all gets to be quite expensive. So my solution is to do a little at a time. I like the idea suggested by Keijo of keeping an annual spending limit and sticking with it.
If you are a serious collector, and know what the value of a particular stamp is today, and what it can go for in the nearest future, you’ll stake any amount on it as much as you stake on shares. It’s all of having knowledge in what you are buying, and what you like to own.
@Edet… Even at it’s best, it’s playing with probabilities. Like with shares, there’s no such thing as guaranteed profit; otherwise we’d be seeing lots of dealers/collectors rolling in easy money
I agreed with Edet post (If you are a serious collector, and know what the value of a particular stamp is today, and what it can go for in the nearest future, you’ll stake any amount on it as much as you stake on shares. It’s all of having knowledge in what your are buying, and what you like to own.)
I think buying Mint stamps and M/S with the face value prices can keep your money value as it is. But when you look at what is the value of mint stamps issued for example two years or more ago, you will find out face value has increased 10% if not 50%, which i think is very good return.
I buy Mint stamps with face value only, so I make sure I will get my money back if I need it with some extra value. Plus i enjoy my hobby . I spend i bout 2000.Euro year for that.
@Harth…
I agree that modern mint stamps are likely the safest way to “invest”, as even in worst cases you can (hopefully) use them for postage
But whether they make good or bad investment…I’d say it depends a lot on country and topic; and how you plan and manage to realize the initial investment into cash. But I don’t believe there’s any”easy money” available in these either.
Stamps are for the fun of owning a small part of history in your hands. Not to make any money on them. I too sold a small part of my collection for little cash and I regret it to this day. But I have made up for it since great hobby spend pennies to thousands and have the same amount of fun. No hobby is like that in the world.
Stamps may be the greatest hobby to us, but let’s keep it in perspective and not forget the rest of humanity. I read in some novel years ago about a poor soul who was showing off a few common coins in his hand. He described in a simple yet profound way how he had obtained each coin. That collection was very valuable to him and to all with whom he shared his story.