There should be some anxiety on the part of a new collector that he or she is getting tamps of sufficient quality for the price that is paid. This is not to say that collectors should buy only stamps in exceptional quality; rather, a stamp in nearly any quality s desirable, providing it is accurately graded and priced at what it is really worth. Quality is the single determinant in stamp prices, and you must be sure that you are getting what you pay for.
This sounds nice, but how can it be done/ first of all, anyone seriously considering committing a portion of his resources to philatelic items should critically examine the dealers he is planning to do business with. A collector should only do business with one firm if, after trying several, he concludes that this one firm is reliable and has competitive prices. Few people would send their children to a private school because it is convenient, and few choose a doctor based on price.
Most communities in the United States have stamp clubs. Their meeting times and places can be found in the Sunday philatelic columns of the general circulation newspapers of your town. And you should go! You should also join a national philatelic society or subscribe to a national philatelic magazine (lists of these are given starting on page 227).
Once you go to a club meeting, don’t be passive. Ask questions. “Dealer X—is he reliable?” “How about Dealer Y?” while keeping in mind that probably no dealer in the world has pleased all his customers (and indeed, some people are virtually unpleasable), one can gain a sense of the prevailing informed philatelic sentiment toward the local stamp shops.
Next, shop the shops. Prices can vary a great deal in stamps. Sometimes in a town with quite a few dealers, pricing and item around can save you as much as 20 percent for identical quality. This is because most dealers find themselves a niche for which they are known—be it United States mint singles, British Commonwealth, Canada, or any of a host of other specialties and subspecialties. If the dealer buys a collection that is not in his niche, chances are his prices will be somewhat lower for this material as his call for it is not as great as for his specialty.
When you shop stamp dealers, make sure you shop quality. Look at how the dealer grades his stamps. Some dealers call Very Fine what another dealer calls Fine. Unfortunately, there is no standardized grading system in philately, so each dealer is free to grade his stamps as he wishes. Some are conservative graders and some are liberal graders. Ultimately, however, the final grader of each philatelic item is the prospective purchaser. It doesn’t matter what the merchant calls it, it has to meet the standards of the buyer. This is why some dealers’ Fine grades sell for more than other dealers’ Very Fine grades. But you should try to deal with conservative graders, for it is with them that most serious and knowledgeable collectors do their business.
Check the prices you pay, too. There are hundreds of stamp dealers in this country who publish price lists and auction catalogues (with prices realized). A wise collector will see to it that he gets some of these publications so that he knows what a given item is selling for in other areas. Remember, too, that most philatelic business is done by mail, so don’t be adverse to considering this method of purchasing. Reputable mail dealers guarantee everything they sell.
Does your dealer belong to the American Stamp Dealers Association? The ASDA is a group of well over 1,000 stamp dealers, who have banded together in an effort to promote high standards of stamp dealing. This is a high-minded and noble effort, but it was done mostly for reasons of self-interest. Collectors who are bilked by stamp dealers (and this happens in stamps as it does in all businesses) are less likely to continue in the hobby than collectors who have satisfactory relations with their philatelic suppliers. The ASDA promotes stamp collecting and polices the ethical conduct of its members. It is difficult to gain admission to the ASDA, and any member can be dropped as a result of a reasonable complaint from a collector. Any collector may make a complaint against a dealer, and the dealer is required to respond to the ASDA in writing. If the case has a valid basis, it is remanded to the ASDA counsel or to the Ethics Committee. The dealer can be required to make restitution, and he may be suspended or expelled. This is a remedy that collectors can resort to without the burden of legal aid. You should also be advised, however, that there are a small number of impeccably reputable dealers who do not hold ASDA membership, so lack of ASDA membership should not in itself disqualify a dealer from your consideration. A list of ASDA members can be obtained from the ASDA general office (the address is given in the list of philatelic organizations at the end of this book).
The American Philatelic Society (APS) is an organization with nearly 100 years of history. It has over 50,000 members, is devoted to the promotion of philately, and besides printing an excellent monthly magazine, one of its many services revolves around protecting collectors. Membership in the APS is highly recommended. Many stamp dealers in this country grant immediate credit to a limited amount to APS members. This is quite useful when ordering stamps by mail. The Society of Philatelic Americans (SPA) though smaller than the APS, provides many of the same services.
The smallest crease, the tiniest thin, a minute repair, or a regumming job, however expert, all greatly affect the value of a stamp. And unfortunately, even knowledgeable philatelists sometimes miss problems like these. In the United States there are three major certifying boards: the Philatelic Foundation (PFC), the American Philatelic Expertization Service (APES), and the Society of Philatelic Americans Expert Service (SPA). Stamps can be sent to these groups, and for a usually modest fee, they will examine them and return them with a certificate. The certificate lists whether or not the stamp is genuine, and if it is, whether it has any faults.
Most stamps are not sold with certificates, but this in no way impugns the stamps’ genuineness. Rather, the certification process is a time-consuming one, often taking three months or more, and most dealers cannot afford to tie up inventory for that long. However, no reputable dealer will refuse to allow you the right to send off for a certificate on any stamp bought form him, with the right to return the stamp if it does not meet the level at which it was sold. The generally accepted rule is that certification costs are paid by the purchaser if the stamp is certified as the quality in which it was sold, and by the seller if the stamp is certified not as described and must be returned. Be advised that the certificate does not grade the stamp (e.g., Very Fine, Fine, etc.); rather, it will ascertain genuineness, enumerate faults, and, for a mint stamp, tell whether or not it has original gum, but not whether it has ever been hinged.
A short plea for the stamp dealer is in order here. The minutiae involved in grading and describing philatelic material is so complex that, on occasion, even the most reputable philatelic houses make mistakes. Should this happen to you and should you order or bid on and receive a misdescribed stamp, approach the dealer unantagonistically so that he can void the sale. There is nothing more tragic than a collector who views every misdescribed stamp as a personal affront, and who sees himself as the last bastion of philatelic ethics and moral righteousness in an otherwise sordid world.