priced to sell or priced to get rid of?

The thing about  buying stamps from an online marketplace is, in my humble view,  you get what you pay for.  You can buy a nice set  described as Mint Never Hinged   or whatever terms are used to describe such stamps,  at  really low prices,   up to 5% of Scott CV for example.    More often 10% to 20%  

Again, and in my humble view, that is collectors  getting rid of their stamps.  Hey nothing wrong in that, free market rules apply.  

But what is the quality?  Mint Never Hinged it says but do you see the reverse of the stamp or stamps.  Do you get the stamp or stamps in black mounts or if a set of say six do they arrive all touching in a 102 card - so common with US sellers....  and then the stamps are sometime stuck together, sometimes not of course.  

Me, we,  at cddstamps don't do that, we  look after stamps, we don't take a risk with quality.  All cddstamps mint stamps are packed in black mounts from the time they are listed and packed into inventory.   That is also us precting our investment as well.

But it means our prices are not rock bottom, not give away, not us getting rid of stuff, not us just dumping to get rid of, not us with a don't care for the stamps anymore type mindset.  You think I am being unkind.   Ok maybe.  

Recent example. We saw a Jamaica stamp for sale  Stupid low price described as Mint Never Hinged,  with only an image of the face but described as Very Fine.   So we  bought it.    Just for fun really  and  hey it it was ok condition  looking at the face and maybe it could go back in the cddstamps store easily at double after all our costs.  But when it arrived,  you know the rest don't you.   It had wrinkled gum,  a nice bend showing on the reverse,  generally  very poor condition when you actually saw the stamp.  We returned it politely.  Still waiting for a refund but  hey such is life, not holding our breath. we lose 20 bucks, no worry in the scheme of things.  Good expewrience, provoing what we have seen and heard many times 

So what do we want you to know from this little scenerio.  Don't just but cheap,  well ok you can I guess but not if you really want quality first time round. There are many factors to consider,  quality images, complete descriptions of true condition, shipping costs as well.  credibility of the seller and by that I mean  membership of professional and respected pjhilatelic bodies.

Priced to sell, or priced to get rid of?    What about priced based on sensible assessment of quality and maybe a catalogue guide and the honesty, integrity and reputation of the dealer.  Yes dealer, not some fly by night seller getting rid of their, or relatives,  old stamp album 😉   

Enjoy your philately and Merry Christmas     ... Michael  cddstamps   where we hope 94,000  positive feedbacks counts for something  and 50,000+ listings gives you a pretty good choice  from which to add nicely to your collection.

For the Birds on stamps collector    https://www.hipstamp.com/store/cddstamps?keywords=monaco%201323

Dante - a new collecting thematic

 Have you ever wanted to start a new thematic collection.  just for the fun of it ,    and wondered and wondered and wondered   what it might be? I  found it.  Dante.  stunning issue from Monaco.  This is just one stamp from a set of 5 issued to celebrate the 700 anniversary of the birth of Dante.  Stunning,    may you will agree.     Enjoy whatever you collect.

new cddstamps website domain

 Hello,   yes been away from writing for a while    too much happening.  One thing ...I lost my domain.....   don't ask.  Not a  nice story.  So  cddstamps website is now  cddstamps.online      spending and taking some time to update and restore and refresh and  correct a few links and page content but rest assured cddstamps is alive and well.

Merry Christmas and all the best for 2026  from all of us at cddstamps.   You can find us in our store at https://www.hipstamp.com/store/cddstamps where we have over 50,000 listings with over 93,000 postiove feedbacks  or at the new web domain of cddstamps.online

 

IPDA Branded Sale Event on Hipstamp - October 10th through October 12th

Please visit our store  cddstamps  as we are participating in this event with a 30% discount on all Australia, Canada and Great Britain stamps. This really is a great opportunity to fill some gaps or add some better quality stamps to your collection.

https://www.hipstamp.com/store/cddstamps

cddstamps  on Hipstamp  

commemorative definitive decimal stamps

 

PS  if you are in Canada, don’t worry,  get your order in and we will hold it until the Postal Strike is over.

Korea Aircraft on stamps

Hello and welcome to my aircraft on stamps series, 

These two are from the 1952 and 1953 issues- three stamps in each issue.  Same design but with the 1953 issue showing the new currency values.

  

First, the currency change, because I think it is very interesting from a philatelic point of view. After all, as I have said many times, philately is not only about the stamp but what is on the stamp and what it is telling  us.

In Korea in 1953 there was a currency reform, February 1953 actually, to help manage post-war inflation when the won was replaced by the hwan and there was a devaluation from 100 won to 1 hwan  This rather significant change reflected how severely inflation had eroded the won’s value   during and after the Korean war.  So from a philatelic point of view, rather interesting.  This 4200 won stamp was reduced to a value of the new currency system – a 100 fold reduction.

Some stamps were reissued with new denominations, while others were overprinted to reflect the hwan values. These transitional issues are particularly interesting for collectors, as they capture a moment of economic upheaval and adaptation. You might find stamps from 1953 with both won and hwan markings, especially if they were printed before the reform but released afterward.

An interesting period to collect but before you tell me, hey, the Korean currency is the won  today,  yes, that is correct.  There was another currency reform in 1962 and the currency became the won again. All this from aircraft on stamps, two similar stamps.

And the aircraft, a DC3 of course  but you knew that.

I hope you are having a brilliant weekend.

Michael  cddstamps.com …. Please visit my online store  https://www.hipstamp.com/store/cddstamps    where I have some interesting aviation related covers and stamps.

A deal or not a deal

 I have been tempted to write so often on this subject but I never seem to get around to it.

Tonight I was clearing some miscellaneous stamps that for some reason, and I cannot remember why or how, well they were just on the desk in amongst so many others.  So I started listing them.   Sensible prices,    hoping they find a good home.  No profit for me   Just thought it would be nice to make them available and perhaps get a new customer along the way.

This set SG 1054-1057, Scott 831-834 from the GB 1978 Architecture issue. Nothing special. Perhaps if a collector likes architecture or these buildings as a thematic they might add nicely to their collection.  I hope so. I listed at 30c USD  and  with my usual shipping  at $2.95  Just covering Listing and Paypal fees, and packing and envelope and postage costs.

So I  thought after I Iisted them, what are other sellers listing this issue at?  I really shouldn’t have looked.  😊 Well, had I not looked I wouldn’t be writing this would I  😊 

My price is  a tad cheaper than some but mostly in a fair ball park. But one seller,  20c   with 10% discount to 18c.  No reverse scan and lovely white image brightening enhancement of the stamps. Sort of a danger Will Robinson to me.  So I looked at the shipping cost as if I was in Australia. $4, plus,  25c for each and every other listing purchased. Maybe postage is more expensive for the seller?    You decide of course.

Many customers look through a stores listings  and add a few other stamps they like the look of.   I know I do it. In this case, say 4 more listings and  you just added another $1 to your order cost.

Deal or not a deal.  I don’t think so. Moral of the story, do pay attention to the shipping cost, especially in these cheaper listings. Things can quickly make the cheaper listing a more expensive purchase. And please, don’t be fooled by these brighter than bright images. The stamps were never printed on that bright white paper. 😊

cddstamps 89,000 plus positive feedbacks. And, an accredited IPDA and PTS dealer.

Have a great philatelic day    Michael cddstamps 

Three little pieces of News

Hello, here is the most amazing piece of trivia you will ever read...............   well I say that with a smile...  :-)    somehow a year, well nearly a year, has flown by since I last wrote here.  How did that happen?  Yes been busy writing the Aircraft on Stamps blog and just doing philatelic things I guess, but just never got motivated to write here.  Or perhaps I never had anything to say.  I like to write philately stuff here about collecting, and buying and selling, just general stamp stuff, so to speak, to help collectors mostly.

Anyway, four things came to mind so here I am again.  First, we are off to the UK in 5 days so any orders from the online store will be mailed from London  Really fast delivery I hope.    We have nearly 44,000 listings in the store now and over 85,000 positive feedbacks so  you really can  buy with confidence from cddstamps.

Second we have a new business card.   I think our credibility  stands out from this as we are accredited with the Philatelic Traders Society and the Internet Philatelic Dealers Association,  both says we are  recognised by our peers.

Third I estimate that now over 25,000 of our listings have front and reverse scans.  and every new listing has  front and reverse scans. We do this because we think it is the right thing to do, so you can see what you are buying.  Buy with confidence, right!

And fourth, we are have been selected by Feedspot as one of the Top 80 Stamp Collecting Blogs  so  something to see to also get more great blogs sites.   Check this out https://bloggers.feedspot.com/stamp_collecting_blogs/.   We are 57, we used to be higher but because I have not been writing we dropped down the rankings.  Hopefully we can remedy that. :-) 

Ok that is it for now,   will start to write more.  Ideas welcomed of course.

Enjoy your stamp collecting. We look forward to seeing you in the online store   

cddstamps    commemorative definitive decimal stamps      

Michael cddstamps.com and at    https://www.hipstamp.com/store/cddstamps