Stamps!

[Gayle]

I've wondered this for many years, but how can collecting used stamps benefit a charity?

I mean, it's not as though you can reuse them and the paper on the envelope is probably more valuable for recycling - so how does it work?

A friend of mine collects used stamps (and the first time I heard of someone doing it was over 30 years ago on Blue Peter) but I've never understood it.

 

[Lilly]

I don't know and I wouldn't mind finding out. Hopefully someone will tell us.

 

[lancsdave]

I think they are sold on in collecting packs for stamp collectors.

 

[WillowTheWhisp]

The English ones are sold abroad to collectors just as we can buy packs of foreign ones here.

 

[blazey]

I always thought stamps where more valuable to collectors if they hadn't been used.

 

[kathleen_firth]

all stamps are collected even the normal ones with just the queens head on though

 

[Gayle]

The English ones are sold abroad to collectors just as we can buy packs of foreign ones here.

Surely there can't be that much demand for them abroad? And why don't they just get someone to post them a letter, probably cheaper?

 

[WillowTheWhisp]

Maybe they don't know anyone who can post them a letter.

 

[blazey]

Maybe they don't know anyone who can post them a letter.

Thats what forums are for

 

[WillowTheWhisp]

I had no idea AccyWeb could be so accessible.

 

[blazey]

I had no idea AccyWeb could be so accessible.

I didnt say 'this forum', I said 'forums'. There are loads of ways of finding people from other countries and requesting things. I use an american forum for art and an italian graffiti artist sent me stickers for free. I'm pretty sure people could easily do the same with stamps, and there are bound to be trading forums

 

[WillowTheWhisp]

Probably but these sort of things are often bought by kiddies with their pocket money. It isn't wise for them to give their home address to stangers for one thing and for another they just see something and they buy it. They wouldn't know what to ask for on a website even if they knew where to find a website because they wouldn't know what there was without seeing it. Sometimes the packs are just mixed 'foreign' stamps and include samples from various countries.

 

[lancsdave]

The cost of sending a letter with one stamp would probably be more than people pay for a packet of mixed stamps.

 

[blazey]

Probably but these sort of things are often bought by kiddies with their pocket money. It isn't wise for them to give their home address to stangers for one thing and for another they just see something and they buy it. They wouldn't know what to ask for on a website even if they knew where to find a website because they wouldn't know what there was without seeing it. Sometimes the packs are just mixed 'foreign' stamps and include samples from various countries.

I thought the majority of stamp collectors where of an older audience.

 

[Gayle]

I just find it hard to believe that there is that much demand for them!

 

[lancsdave]

I just typed stamps in the ebay search box, it returns about 22,000 items

 

[blazey]

I just find it hard to believe that there is that much demand for them!

Yeh, if you look at the forums for stamp collecting aswell they're all pretty desperate for particular stamps and they do trade and sell them to eachother. Its huge internationally, wouldn't mind actually doing it myself

 

[Gayle]

But surely not for regular second class stamps????

 

[blazey]

But surely not for regular second class stamps????

Most collect stamps by country it seems, so i guess they may want the regular ones, though I'm guessing they prefer the ones with the special designs on, for example there were some harry potter stamps released.

 

[WillowTheWhisp]

It must be worthwhile or the charities wouldn't bother doing it.