When many of us think of the post office, the first thing that often comes to mind is the mailing of packages. It is important to remember that the post office is actually much more. The post office is a great place to find stamps to add to a beginning stamp collection.

One of the most commonly asked questions about buying stamps from the post office is, “What type of stamps are available?” One of the many reasons why purchasing stamps from a local post office is a good idea is because the stamps are all new. Although used stamps in good condition comprise the majority of many collections, some collectors and even stamp dealers prefer new stamps.

The selection that your local post office has is likely limited, but you may still have a wide range of stamps to choose from. Many post offices have display cases set up to showcase the stamps that they have available for sale. These display cases are commonly filled with limited edition stamps. Nowadays, though, the United States Postal Service is only a click away! You can shop for stamps online at USPS.com. Not all stamps issued by the postal service are available for sale, but recent ones and very popular ones are. The primary difference between buying online and buying from your local post office is that online, you cannot purchase just a single stamp. You must buy a sheet, a coil, or a booklet. You can also purchase note cards and stationary for some issues.

One of the reasons why new stamp collectors are urged to use the United States Postal Service when looking for new stamps for their collections is because of the prices. You will pay the standard retail price for all stamps. This isn’t always the case when you buy stamps from stamp dealers and online auction websites. Checking the selection of stamps available for sale through the United States Postal Service is ideal for those with themed stamp collections. Common stamps that you may find available for sale are those that focus on popular movie or television characters, stamps that focus on the holidays, floral stamps, wildlife stamps, and stamps that support non-profit organizations or other good causes, such as breast cancer research.

Although buying stamps to add to a stamp collection from the United States Postal Service is a great approach to take, all stamp collectors will want to remember that it is not their only option. For older, rare, or hard to find limited edition stamps, professional stamp dealers are the often the best option. To find local or online stamp dealers, turn to the Internet to get started.

Are you a parent? If you are, do your children have a hobby, namely one that does not involve video games? If not, you may want to help them try their hand at stamp collecting. Stamp collecting is a hobby that has been enjoyed by individuals of all ages for a long time now. This activity is one that your children may find interesting, exciting, and well worth their time.

One of the many benefits to stamp collecting at a young age is goal setting. If you and your children actively pursue stamp collecting as a hobby, it is likely to turn into a hobby that they will enjoy for years to come. Generally speaking, the younger you get started, the better it will be. When your children enjoy stamp collecting as a hobby, they will likely want to see their stamp collection grow, especially if that collection can be profitable for them one day.

It is easy to begin a stamp collection with children. Begin by noticing the different stamps that come on the mail delivered to your house. You may want to teach your children how to remove these stamps from the envelopes properly. Yes, you can simply cut the stamp out with a portion of the envelope attached, but there is a further step that stamp collectors take if they want only the stamp, not the paper backing. Your children may find this process scientific and intriguing. To get started, cut around the stamp. Next, place the cutout in a bowl of warm water for about ten minutes. During this time, the stamp should pull away from the envelop backing. Carefully remove the stamp, as you do not want it to rip, lay on a flat surface and let dry. Since curling is a possibility, be sure to flatten all stamps, by weighting them down once dried.

It may also be a wise idea to purchase a few stamp collecting supplies for your child. These stamp collecting supplies can help to increase their interest in this amazing hobby. Basic stamp collecting supplies, especially those perfect for children and teenagers, include magnifying glasses, stamp collecting albums, and stamp tongs. You can spend some “quality time” together online researching stamp subjects and learn about the stamp’s subject. Because the subjects used on stamps cover such a wide range of topics, it is easy to find a topic that your children are particularly interested in. From simple beginnings, a stamp collection can lead to many worthwhile learning experiences.

Coin collecting is an activity that is enjoyed many people of all ages. The history of coin collecting dates back to when coins were first issued. Coin collecting was commonly referred to in the past as the “Hobby of Kings,” due in part to the expense of coin collecting. Many of the individuals able to collect coins were royalty, literally. As for more modern coin collecting, it really became popular in the early 1900s in the United States. Although coin collecting was enjoyed well before this point in time, its popularity increased drastically when it was clear coin collecting could be profitable.

Coin collecting is a popular activity because it is one that anyone can enjoy, including children. In fact, coin collecting is a hobby that many parents and professionals in the field of education encourage children to enjoy. In this sense, coin collecting can not only be profitable, but it can be educational as well. For many coin collectors, especially children, the startup costs are low or are non-existent.

There are five main types of collectors. These individuals include investors, hoarders, hobbyists, dealers, and inheritors. Those who collect coins for a hobby do so for personal fulfillment, not necessarily profits. Those who are considered inheritors often inherit coin collections from hobbyists. As for investors, they are in it for the money. Hoarders usually examine their coin collections for value, but many tend to just collect as many types of coins as possible.

Few or no supplies are needed to begin coin collecting, especially for children or hobbyists. With that in mind, there are many benefits to using professional coin collecting supplies. The good news is that many supplies, including coin folders, coin albums, coin holders, and magnifying glasses, are affordably priced.

The wide range of options that coin collectors have, when looking to expand their coin collections, is another reason for its popularity. Many hobbyists stay on the lookout for rare, limited edition, or older coins that they or those that they know may receive on a daily basis. Other coin collectors, especially those looking for rare or other valuable coins, often turn to professional coin dealers or the Internet.

Coin collectors have freedom to collect whatever they want. While coin collectors interested in making profits (commonly referred to as investors) tend to stick to rare, outdated, limited edition coins, and other coins of value, there are no requirements to do so. Hobbyists, as well as children, tend to collect any coins that catch their interest, either in date, value, condition, or size. No specialty requirements are necessary; however, it may add to the excitement of coin collecting.

Stamp collecting is the collection of postage stamps from around the globe. Technically, it is called a philatelic collection. And if you think it’s a hobby just for kids and weird ones, you’ll be surprised at how many people have been indulging in this hobby for years. There are many organizations with large memberships who study these postal artifacts with care and respect.

Stamps have a certain amount of history and culture attached to them, and that makes them fascinating to collect. You are brought face to face with different cultures and different time periods. Browsing though a stamp album is pretty much like browsing through history itself. While many hobbies require very expensive equipment, stamp collecting requires relatively inexpensive and readily available equipment to begin. You’ll be surprised at how easy it is to set up your collection.

So you’ve started your own stamp collection, huh? You’ve invested in tools and albums and are ready and raring to start your stamp collecting career. The only bummer is that you don’t know where to get your stamps. For starting collectors, here are a few sources of collecting stamps to help you build up your stash of postal wonders.

• Mail - Yes, the oldest and cheapest means of getting stamps is from the mail that is delivered to your mailbox. And while the amount of mail you are receiving may be affected by the advent of the Internet and email, mailboxes are still a great way to get stamps. However, you will have to take great care in handling such stamps because you need to learn how to properly soak and mount these stamps for your collection.Your friends and neighbors are also a good source of stamps. You can tell them of your hobby, and more often than not, they’ll be happy to watch their mail for interesting stamps for you. You may have to instruct them to give you the envelope as it is so that you can properly process the stamps. Or you may have them cut out the stamp from the envelope, while, of course, leaving a lot of leeway around the stamp.
• Trading with Other Collectors - During your stamp collecting career, you will definitely end up with duplicates of the same stamps. Well, if you have two or more of the same issue, why not find another stamp enthusiast and swap stamps? Trading stamps is one of the most exciting activities in stamp collecting. It’s a great way to meet fellow enthusiasts and a great way to land your hands - I mean stamp tongs (never handle your stamps without them!) on a unique stamp.But before you consider trading a stamp, you have to examine what you think are duplicates to see if they truly are alike. Some stamps may look alike, but may actually be different. Try looking at the perforation count using a perforation gauge, or at watermarks and fine detail. And to top that, look at every detail, including color variations, wear, tear, and damage. This will help you assess whether the stamp you are considering trading is really a duplicate, and if it is in a condition that anyone else would want it. You may also trade some of the unique ones in your collection for unique ones that you like better. But that is a trickier and more complicated story.
• Buying from Other Collectors - Find other collectors who sell stamps either individually or in bulk. Many collectors have duplicate stamps, just like you. You may be able to get good deals on these stamps, especially if they are not rare. In the case of rare stamps, you will find that they will cost more. If you are starting out in your hobby, you may want to focus on the easier ones to procure before going after the bigger fish. Some will sell bulk orders of assorted stamps. This is a great way to beef up your collection, especially if you are just beginning. You can find other collectors to trade with or buy from at local stamp clubs or on the Internet.
• Stamp Dealers - Stamp dealers may have begun as collectors, but at some point decided to be in the business of buying and selling stamps rather than acquiring for their own collection. You can locate stamp dealers through the Yellow Pages of large metropolitan areas, through stamp publications, or on the Internet. You can contact stamp dealers through the mail, in person (primarily if you live in a large metropolitan area), or on the Internet via email on their websites.
• Postal Entities - You can purchase stamps directly from the government agency that issued the stamps. Often you will be limited to recent issues, but more and more issuing countries are making stamps available through Internet purchase. For United States Postal Service postal materials, visit USPS.com.
• Classified Ads, Garage Sales, Internet Auctions - Watch for the sale of collections or accumulations by family members who have inherited stamps and don’t really know what to do with them. Sometimes people just want to get rid of them, but do recognize that they have some value and want them to be in the hands of folks who will do something with them. Sometimes you can get a really good bargain, but you must be aware that you’ll have a lot of work to do to make any sense of some accumulations or to recognize items of special value. Sometimes, also, the seller may have taken a look at catalog values and is pricing too high. Be prepared to work with him to arrive at a reasonable price that is fair to both of you. Also, before buying a huge collection or accumulation just because the price is right, be realistic about the amount of work that might be involved in careful analysis of the contents.

There are many ways to acquire stamps. The trick here is to be consistent in your collecting efforts. Try not to pass up opportunities to get new stamps for your collection, but be reasonable. Consider storage and processing time. If you are willing to put in consistent time and effort into your collection, do the necessary study and research, and store your stamps and albums properly, you will be building an investment from which you, or your children, may benefit in the future.

If you’ve ever read an article about eBay, you will have seen the kinds of incomes people make - it isn’t unusual to hear of people making thousands of dollars per month on eBay.

Next time you’re on eBay, take a look at how many PowerSellers there are — you’ll find quite a few. Now consider that every single one of one of them must be making at least $1,000 per month, as that’s eBay’s requirement for becoming a PowerSeller. Silver PowerSellers make at least $3,000 each month, while Gold PowerSellers make more than $10,000, and the Platinum level is $25,000. The top ranking is Titanium PowerSeller, and to qualify you must make at least $150,000 in sales every month!

The fact that these people exist gives you come idea of the income possibilities here. Most of them never set out to even set up a business on eBay - they simply started selling a few things, and then kept going. There are plenty of people whose full-time job is selling things on eBay, and some of them have been doing it for years now. Can you imagine that? Once they’ve bought the stock, everything else is pretty much pure profit for these people - they don’t need to pay for any business premises, staff, or anything else. There are multi-million dollar businesses making less in actual profit than eBay PowerSellers do.

Even if you don’t want to quit your job and really go for it, you can still use eBay to make a significant second income. You can pack up orders during the week and take them down to the post office for delivery each Saturday. There are few other things you could be doing with your spare time that have anywhere near that kind of earning potential.

What’s more, eBay doesn’t care who you are, where you live, or what you look like. Some PowerSellers are very old, or very young. Some live out in the middle of nowhere where selling on eBay is one of the few second-job alternatives. eBay tears down the barriers to earning that the real world constantly puts up. There’s no job interview and no commuting involved - if you can post things, you can do it.

Put it this way: if you know where to get something reasonably cheaply that you could sell, then you can sell it on eBay - and since you can always get discounts for bulk at wholesale, that’s not exactly difficult. Buy a job lot of something in-demand cheaply, sell it on eBay, and you’re making money already, with very low set-up costs.

If you want to dip your toe in the water before you commit to actually buying anything, then you can just sell things that you’ve got lying around in the house. Search through that cupboard of stuff you never use, and you’ll probably find you’ve got a few hundred dollars’ worth of stuff lying around in there! This is the power of eBay: there is always someone who wants what you’re selling, whatever it might be, and since they’ve come looking for you, you don’t even need to do anything to get them to buy it.

For stamp collectors, eBay presents the opportunity for you to sell your extra stamps and purchase those you need to fill in the empty spaces in your album. You do need to be able to photograph your stamps or scan them. Browse through the stamps category to find items similar to those you have, to see how others present their offers and how they are priced. Remember to give honest, accurate descriptions. In pricing, remember to consider eBay and PayPal transaction fees, and the cost of envelopes or shipping materials.

Postage stamps are among the most collected items in the world. However, they are also considered as the most faked, regummed and counterfeited items. The following are basic tips and advice to help you recognize which are fake and which are not.

Gum or re-gummed, that is the question

What does it mean when a stamp is said to have been “regummed”? A regummed stamp is a stamp that no longer contains gum in its one hundred percent original content. A gum is said to have been original when the gum is produced from the United States postal authority or any other official postal authority. When an individual has applied his own gum blend to the stamp’s back, the stamp is considered as “regummed.”

Why is regumming done?

Regumming is done to stamps to make them appear better, therefore further increasing the stamp’s value. Fraud occurs when a collector buys a stamp described as having original gum, but it is really a re-gummed one.

How to know which is which?

The easiest and convenient way to detect which gum is original and which is counterfeit is by simply comparing an original gum to a regummed one. Try to take note of the following: A regummed stamp has a textured and dull appearance with inconsistencies in the thickness of the gum or when it is reflected in the light. Also, there are stamps that have been regummed that appear to have a surface that is glossy. If a stamp has a watermark, the watermark can be seen easily on a stamp that has been regummed. A stamp that was originally gummed has a watermark that can be seen only when the stamp is dipped in a tray using fluid for watermark, or when held up to a very strong light. Try to notice if the watermark seems to have been impressed in the gum. If so, start to be suspicious.

Another tip is that a stamp that has been regummed will most likely curl if it is placed down with its face in the palm of your hand. A stamp that has been originally gummed will not do that. Another sign that a stamp has been regummed is if the perforation feels sharp. Usually, an originally gummed stamp will feel soft. Unfortunately, a good regummer still has a way to fake it. What he usually does to try to file down the tips of the perf in order to make them soft. The only way to effectively differentiate this is by looking through them under a strong magnifying glass.

Another clue to know a regum from an original is to check to see if the gum extends well into the holes of the perforation. This situation never occurs in an original because the perforation is done after applying the gum. However, a regummer still has a way to fake it by filing out the perforated holes in order to eliminate any excess gum. But most likely, he’ll almost always miss a spot!

Stamps that are reperforated

Believe it or not, these types of stamps are more prevalent than most collectors think. This basically means that a perforation has been done privately by an individual and not officially by the United States Postal Service. Why do individuals do it? It is done to increase the stamp’s value. Stamps that were perforated officially have holes that are shaped in oval form and are cut less cleanly than perforations done privately. When seen closely, perforations that are originally done have little paper tufts that extend to the holes.

All in all, stamp collecting is a challenging and an adventurous hobby. It requires diligence, patience, perseverance and a lot of passion. You need to know what to look for and how.

It is important that you understand the “grade” and “condition” of your stamps.

There are catalogs available that provide an outline of a stamp’s relationship between its grade and value. Basically, the grading and condition of a stamp is the same for all stamp collectors in any part of the world. So how does a stamp get to make that all-elusive grade?

What is a “grade”?

A grade involves centering, gum and cancels. It basically describes the design of the stamp and just how well the design is located right in the middle and in between the stamp’s perforations. You must consider both the horizontal and the vertical position on the stamp paper. The grade of the stamps is given out similar to how a grade will be given out in an exam in schools, such as “excellent” or “poor.”

The grades

A stamp that has been given a grade of superb basically means that it is perfect and possesses the qualities that are the finest.

A grade that says extremely fine basically means that the stamp is almost close to perfection. It also means that the design is centered well. The margins are even around the stamp. Cancels present in such a stamp are hardly perceptible and are generally neat. The condition of the stamp is bright, it possesses a rich color and is clean. Although most stamps made early on are seldom, if ever, seen in such a condition.

Stamps that are given the grade of very fine are centered well and the margins are appropriate, though not even. Just as the previous grade, the stamps possess no undesirable faults. It is this grade that is usually used in many stamp catalogs. A stamp that has been given a grade of fine or very fine has a design that is a little off the center. The general condition of the stamp is that it has no faults.

A stamp that has been given the grade of average or good means that its design is not centered. There are no tears or spots that are thin, btamps that are given such a grade are less desirable for your collection.

A stamp that has been given the grade of poor means that the design is not centered and the found perforations extend into the stamp’s design. The cancellation marks are also heavy, thick, blurred and smeared. Stamps with such a grade are generally not suited to be collected.

What are the conditions of the stamp?

A stamp’s condition is the basic description of its obvious characteristics, such as the stamp paper used, the ink, or the gum. A stamp that has been given the condition of positive generally means that the stamp is clear, and has a crisp impression of its printing. It also has colors that are rich and fresh. However, faults may be considered when there is any part that has been damaged, altered or modified. The color of the stamp may also be stained. In such cases, any attempt to clean it up may result in the color being changed permanently. The stamp may also be considered as having faults if the paper has some holes, or maybe torn, or has creases or stains.

Stamp collecting is a hobby that dates back to the 1840s when the first stamp known as “Penny Black” was issued by Great Britain. British postmaster general Sir Rowland Hill came up with the concept of using a stamp that would be paid by the letter sender as early as 1837, but the long debates stretched the issuance of the first stamped letter three years after that proposal.

The first issued stamp, which had a photo of Queen Victoria, became known as Penny Black because it used black ink and it required a penny for one stamp. The United States, which later adopted the practice of sending letters with a stamp, issued its first stamp in 1847 with the image of Benjamin Franklin.

And almost immediately, the hobby (or vocation) of collecting stamps was born. People who collect stamps are called philatelists and the collecting and study of stamps is philately. Stamp collecting may look like a simple hobby, but listen to philatelists talk to one another about stamps, and you might get lost along the way.

While the word ambulant may commonly refer to medicine or ambulances, philatelists view an ambulant as a roving post office. And do you know that stamp makers protect stamps from counterfeiting by placing a burelage or a design on top of the stamp?

When philatelists say grill, they are not talking about dinner but a parallel line pattern pushed into stamps to prevent the reuse of stamps. And when you hear the words killer or killer cancel, do not call a policeman just yet because they are just referring to the cancellation of a particular design of stamp.

Canceled mail that does not reveal the identity of the canceling post office can be referred to as a mute cancel. While a specimen naturally refers to an object placed and studied in a microscope, the word specimen in philatelist lingo means a postage stamp overprinted specimen and issued by the postal authority as an example of a new issue.

When you are just starting your stamp collecting hobby you will probably be inundated with words like adhesive which refers to that sticky substance under a stamp thats enable you to stick it easily to an envelope. Stamps with cancellation marks means stamps that have been marked to show previous usage.

When choosing your stamp collection, you can start with collecting commemorative stamps or stamps issued to commemorate a particular person, event or for a significant reason. In 1893, the United States issued its first commemorative stamps to mark the discovery made by Christopher Columbus.

And when you are asked by a philatelist if you got your stamps from a covered envelope, it may just mean that the envelope has been mailed. A denomination, on the other hand, does not refer to a religious group but to how much the stamp is worth in terms of postage.

Stamp collectors refer to a stamp placed on an envelope canceled the very first day it was sold as a first day cover. Business people may be more familiar with the term revenue stamps, which refers to stamps that are not for postage of a letter but for the payment of taxes.

These are only a few of the terms a collector must become familiar with.

Many people may not be aware of it, but eBay.com is fast becoming one of the best ways to buy, sell and trade stamps. Philatelists have discovered that eBay is a great way to expand and improve their stamp collection.

Surfing through the website, one will be able to find stamps of various kinds. There are singles, used or unused, historical, themed, freaks and oddities, whole sheets and collections or lots from the United States, Australia, Canada and other British Commonwealth territories, the United Kingdom, Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, non-country Topical and Specialty and Worldwide issue stamps.

Realizing this excellent venue to promote philately and enhance exchanges and transactions, organizations such as the American Philatelic Society, American Stamp Dealers Association (ASDA), and stamp and coin collectors’ clubs became affiliated with the eBay stamp collections pages. There are links to Industry Publications, chats and discussion forums, events, and scanning image authentication tools for prospective philatelist eBay users.

However, people using eBay for their stamp collection need to follow the Code of Conduct that is based on Philatelic Code of Ethics, the Standing Resolutions of the American Philatelic Society, and specific conditions of sale that are used in typical trade and transaction practice by the organized philatelic community. eBay developed this with the American Philatelic Society aid in improving safe transactions in the Stamps category of eBay. Traders are encouraged to follow the code of conduct when they sell stamps on eBay. If they disobey, eBay could impose disciplinary action or even suspend or take away their selling privileges.

By following the guidelines, the stamp seller agrees not to transact fakes or stamps in unacceptable condition, unless they clearly declare the stamps as fakes or reproductions or altered. They also agree not to take part in advertisement and transaction of stamps by wrong practices like false or misleading claims and inaccurate information. They also agree not to transact stamps from questionable sources or owners, to refund the payment for stamps that an approved expert has found to be different from the stamp originally advertised and offered by the seller, and to follow all laws related to philatelic concerns.

Another main tool in the eBay stamp collection category is Quick I.D., an online authentication tool for stamps. Traditionally, stamps are identified through the formal certification process done by the American Philatelic Expertizing Service (APEX). However, this service is expensive. If a person is thinking of buying stamps on the web, or wants to research stamps in his own collection, he can use Quick I.D.

Yes, you read that correctly: thirteen years. eBay was created in September of 1995 by a man named Pierre Omidyar, who was living in San Jose. He wanted his site - then called ‘AuctionWeb’ - to be an online marketplace, and wrote the first code for it in one weekend. It was one of the first websites of its kind in the world. The name ‘eBay’ comes from the domain Omidyar used for his site. His company’s name was Echo Bay, and the ‘eBay AuctionWeb’ was originally just one part of Echo Bay’s website at ebay.com. The first thing ever sold on the site was Omidyar’s broken laser pointer, which he got $14 for.

The site quickly became massively popular, as sellers came to list all sorts of odd things and buyers actually bought them. Relying on trust seemed to work remarkably well, and meant that the site could almost be left alone to run itself. The site had been designed from the start to collect a small fee on each sale, and it was this money that Omidyar used to pay for AuctionWeb’s expansion. The fees quickly added up to more than his current salary, and so he decided to quit his job and work on the site full-time. It was at this point, in 1996, that he added the feedback facilities, to let buyers and sellers rate each other and make buying and selling safer.

In 1997, Omidyar changed AuctionWeb’s - and his company’s - name to ‘eBay’, which is what people had been calling the site for a long time. He began to spend a lot of money on advertising, and had the eBay logo designed. It was in this year that the one-millionth item was sold (it was a toy version of Big Bird from Sesame Street).

Then, in 1998 - the peak of the dotcom boom - eBay became big business, and the investment in Internet businesses at the time allowed it to bring in senior managers and business strategists, who took in public on the stock market. It started to encourage people to sell more than just collectibles, and quickly became a massive site where you could sell anything, large or small. Unlike other sites, though, eBay survived the end of the boom, and is still going strong today.

1999 saw eBay go worldwide, launching sites in the UK, Australia and Germany. eBay bought half.com, an Amazon-like online retailer, in the year 2000 - the same year it introduced Buy it Now - and bought PayPal, an online payment service, in 2002.

Pierre Omidyar has earned more than an estimated $3 billion from eBay, (and according to Wikipedia, as of the end of November 2007, Omidyar’s 314 million eBay shares were worth around $14.8 billion) and still serves as Chairman of the Board. Oddly enough, he keeps a personal weblog at http://pierre.typepad.com. There are now literally millions of items bought and sold every day on eBay, all over the world. For every $100 spent online worldwide, it is estimated that $14 is spent on eBay - that’s a lot of laser pointers.