A lot of folks ask me where I get my old stamps that I use on letters occasionally, and where they can get them. My greatest source is my grandfather's old stamp collection, which he has passed along to me and my mother. However, I'd also said to check out eBay for old stamp lots that could occasionally be found for less than face value or right at face value. Those are hard to come by, though, and you never quite know what you're going to get. Most of the full-sheet stamps on eBay are sold for the collector's market, so you're not likely to get those at face value. But now I've found a FANTASTIC new source that I must share with you all. (Said fantastic source has given his permission for me to share this info.)
On
the Stamps post at Letters and Journals, I read about
Errol Murphy (
emurphy at cot.net emurphy3101 at gmail.com). He sells mixed lots of older stamps in great condition for mailing, and sells them in $20 increments. You pay face value plus shipping, and the shipping for the order I just placed was a whopping 42 cents for letter rate postage. (Sorry, folks, you'll have to pay 44 cents now, since the rates go up on Monday.) But here's the best part: you can request a theme!! Olympics, nature, animals, politicians - I gather he's got quite a collection. I wasn't sure about buying from someone without a website, just out of the blue, but Jackie at
Letters & Journals seems like a reliable gal, and she said she'd been buying from Errol for 2 years. So I contacted Errol on Monday about a stamp order, he took me at my word that my check to him was in the mail (it was), and must have sent the batch immediately, because I got them on Thursday. I haven't photographed them yet, but wanted to blog about it right away because I am just as pleased as punch with the batch of stamps he sent. NOW, when folks ask me where I get all my groovy old stamps, I will point them right to Errol. To quote what he said when I asked if I could promote his services on my blog: "I'm so glad you like the stamps. I do this as a hobby and enjoy it when I can provide stamps at a reasonable price to appreciative collectors and stamp users."
As a side note: even the stamps that he used on his envelope to add up to the 42-cents postage were very cool!
[UPDATE: as of May 19, 2014, you can find Errol's most current contact info on his website at murphs-stamps.com.]
