Southwest Stamps

Hi all. Still here. Just been very (VERY) busy with my Ebay auctions and don't have much new to report. I have gotten some very nice new consignments of material lately. If you're not familiar with my Ebay auctions, I hold these three days a week - Wednesday (lower priced U.S. material and a selected foreign area), Saturday (foreign) and Sunday (better U.S.). This usually works out to about 260-280 lots per week. Here is the link to my auction listings:

https://www.ebay.com/str/southweststamps/Other/_i.html?LH_Auction=1&store_cat=1

This week I have some nice Austria / Germany and Russia being sold tomorrow and some good French area going up tomorrow. On Wednesday, along with the U.S., this week's area is Canada. So, if any of these are your collecting areas, you may want to have a peek at what I am offering for bids.

Southwest Stamps | eBay Stores In my eBay store I offer High Quality and Rare Mint and Used U.S. and Foreign stamps that few other sellers offer. Do you have a question or collection for sale? Call me at 515-963-8099.

This has been a most interesting week. First, I was invited and honored by Linn's to participate in their "Most Influential Companies of Philately" edition. Now, I never envisioned Southwest Stamps as being influential in any way but agreed to participate. I am truly honored to be mentioned in the same edition as some true giants of our hobby world.

The Great Purge has begun. When I first started out with the "stamp business revitalization project" my intent was to just buy collections, break them down and redistribute the stamps to other collectors. Somehow I got off that path and got into buying high quality and expensive stamps. While there's nothing wrong with doing that, and it's a lot of fun to participate in that arena, it was never my intent. And, unfortunately buying that sort of material has impacted my ability to buy the collections I want to buy. Soooooo, I have decided to sell off much of the material you see listed in my Ebay / Hipstamp stores and get back to what I originally wanted to do. I have, somehow over the years, accumulated a lot of very nice material which I will, now, be forwarding to a couple of the major auction houses for sale. If you see anything in my store of interest, I can probably make you a good deal before I ship it out. Just get in touch. But, not here. Send me a private message from my website (southweststamps.com) and we can discuss it.

They say be careful what you wish for...
Well, I have to heed my own words. I have been advertising in the APS magazine for about a year now and I advertise to take material on consignment for sale in my ebay auctions. Well, I am almost at the point where I am selling more consignor material in my auctions than my own. I honestly did not expect such a response.

27 years and many, many thousands of stamps sold but I finally made it. I don't think there are too many stamp dealers who can boast to this one.

Am very happy to report that I have received a marvelous holding of quality US material on consignment for my Ebay auctions. This one will take me a long time for disperse as I am not like other auction companies that sell collections and holdings in large lots. I break down everything to its smallest component (where economically feasible) and offer it thus. I do my utmost to get the best possible bottom line for the seller. For me, it's fun handling an accumulation like this. If you have some nice material for sale, don't hesitate to contact me.

And, a nice selection from Canada and Newfoundland selling on Wednesday.

CANADA #158 Mint - 1929 $1 Bluenose ($225) | eBay Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for CANADA #158 Mint - 1929 $1 Bluenose ($225) at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

Nice selections from Austria and Germany on tap for this Saturday's auction.

GERMANY #B58a-d Mint - 1933 Nothilfe Strip from Sheet ($360) | eBay Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for GERMANY -d Mint - 1933 Nothilfe Strip from Sheet ($360) at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

New listings going up today include selections from Israel, Italy and Japan.

https://www.ebay.com/str/southweststamps

Got a call from a seller who wanted me to manage the disposition of his worldwide collection. I agreed to meet him and see what he had. The picture explains it all. I have no idea what is in all of these albums but it will certainly be fun to go through and see if I can find a few nuggets. All will eventually be sold through my ebay auctions.

Looking for a new and challenging area to collect? Or looking to expand your current collection?. I have listed a very nice group of higher quality (not necessarily expensive) U.S. cut squares. These will sell next Wednesday. If this sparks your interest, have a look at my new listings.

U.S. #U211 Unused SUPERB FC - 90c Carmine ($80) | eBay Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for U.S. Unused SUPERB FC - 90c Carmine ($80) at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

Every Saturday I try to post some new and interesting material (in case you didn't know, I hold weekly Ebay auctions on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday). This week, ending Saturday, I have posted some nice material from the Scandinavian countries, Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium and Belgian Congo. Yes, it is small-country Saturday. If you collect these areas, have a look at the lots available to bid on.

BELGIAN CONGO #3 Mint - 1886 25c Blue ($60) | eBay Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for BELGIAN CONGO #3 Mint - 1886 25c Blue ($60) at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

I have heard so much about the imminent decline of philately. But, I ran across this page in a recent edition of Linn's. Loads of auctions currently being held. So, I wonder - where is all of this material going if the stamp world is on the decline? I also recently read that the Siegel auction house sold over $20M worth of stamps last year. Someone's gotta be buying this stuff. And, I was watching some of their sales and the prices are not exactly on the decline. Same goes for many of the auction houses I watch and/or participate in.

Then, there's my own auctions - meager as they are compared with the large auction houses. I have not noticed any sharp decline in the prices I have been getting. So, with this is mind, I would have to say, from my perspective, the condition of the stamp world as a whole is quite healthy.

I have a new admiration for auction houses. After doing what I have been doing on eBay for over 25 years I can really appreciate what the auction houses do to acquire material for their sales. Between soliciting consignments and / or buying material, it’s not easy getting good or suitable material for each sale. I hold my auctions 3 days a week and to continually present decent material is no easy chore. In fact I have known several auctioneers who closed up shop as they were tired of the chase. I still enjoy it as I like to find those diamonds lurking in the collections I buy. When that starts to become a chore, that’s when I’ll call it quits.

Hi, all. I am not in the habit of posting things of a personal nature but in this instance I feel it necessary. Yesterday, my daughter frantically called me in the morning and told me that her house was on fire. So, we rushed out to see if we could help and by the time we got there (they live an hour away from us), this was all that was left of their house. They lost everything - furniture, clothes, keepsakes, photos, food, and anything else you can thing of. We have set up a GoFundMe page to help them start to rebuild their lives. If you would like to help, here is the line to that page. Any and all donations are welcomed. Thanks. Gary

https://www.gofundme.com/f/m7ns5-family-of-5-loses-everything-in-devastating-fire?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link_all&utm_campaign=p_cp%20share-sheet&fbclid=IwAR3Zhq6h5Bab2Dw7OPWR-VrRxkmJ-jwf3q8baok9Ybnil62nMWHnW5XCN3w

I am happy to be the recipient of a large consignment of U.S. and Foreign material for my Ebay auctions. The seller arrived in town and I met with him at our local library where I went through what he had for sale. He had an SUV and the trunk area was filled to the gills with albums, stock books and the like. I was pleasantly surprised to see a LOT of good material present. It wasn't all the 5c and 10c - type items that I often see. This is the second big consignment of nice material I have received this year. I have received many smaller consignments of nicer material as well. Sellers tell me that they like my ads which is how they came to contact me in the first place. After chatting with me, they are convinced that they want me to handle the selling of their collection. If you are considering selling and have some nice material, don't overlook my services. You may be surprised at how well I can do for you.

I have posted quite a few new items in my store. I am also quite surprised (and pleased) to see how quickly some of these sell. I recently listed an almost complete set of the 1909 Bluish Papers and they were sold in a matter of days. If you're looking for some nice material, feel free to have a look around my Ebay store. I also accept offers on many of the items listed there so don't be shy.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/394210939466

Can't explain why, but I have a strange affinity for Souvenir Sheets. As such, I have created a new category in the Ebay store for Souvenir Sheets. I don't have many listed now but that will change in the coming months as I start to list more and more from a large lot I recently purchased. Feel free to have a look at the new listings.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_dkr=1&iconV2Request=true&_ssn=gsquared7&store_name=southweststamps&_dmd=1&_oac=1&LH_BIN=1&store_cat=36765730016

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Lots of new material going into my store. I have a stack of recent purchases waiting for processing - just have to find the time to upload them.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/334154302046

U.S. #C6 Mint NH Plate Block - 1923 24c DeHavilland | eBay Scott :1923 24c DeHavilland. Centering & Condition:Mint. Fine and SCARCE Plate Block. Or just about anything else?. Faults / Imperfections:Typical staple holes in bottom margin.

Hi, All. I trust this message finds you well. I have been seriously busy preparing upcoming sales and shipping material from closed ones. That's my excuse as to why I haven't posted here in a while. Not to mention the fact that I really don't have anything newsworthy to report. My routine has been fairly consistent from month to month. Sales on three days; prep and shipping on 3 days; maybe squeeze in a day for the family. Even COVID did not slow me down (even though I did get it and it slowed me down fro a few days).

Lately, I just got done making some serious purchases from a few of the major auction houses. So, I am up to my elbows in material. Now the other half of the cycle ramps up - selling. Some nice stuff is posted in my Ebay auctions. Go have a look. The rotation of countries offered changes from week to week. So, you never know what I will be posting on any given Saturday (my foreign stamp posting day).

The USPS is certainly trying to dissuade us from shipping packages. If you have shipped anything lately that weighs more than a couple of ounces, you know that we, the paying public, is being gouged beyond words. Some of my foreign buyers say that our postal rates are cheap compared to theirs. Why have the postal rates jumped 1,000 percent over the past few years? I don't work for the USPS nor know the inner workings of same but it seems to me that they are suffering from a serious management problem. I would love to see the first class rate go back to the 10c or 13c first-ounce rate it was back in the 70's. Is that being unrealistic? Probably.

A welcome, new addition to my inventory. I have always wanted to buy one these and one came along at a reasonable price so I jumped on it.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/363661456181?hash=item54abe97335%3Ag%3A4RQAAOSw9eZhvon1&LH_BIN=1

U.S. #360 RARE Mint w/ Cert - 1909 4c Org Brown on Bluish Paper | eBay Scott #360:1909 4c Org Brown on Bluish Paper. Centering & Condition:Mint. Very Fine and among the best centered examples. Or just about anything else?. Reverse (Gum Side):Original gum. Lightly Hinged.

Hi all. I know. I haven't posted here in a while and you're wondering what I'm up to. Well, my world is not all as exciting as that :) . I don't do shows so I can't report on that. I am not a prolific writer so you won't find me rambling on about this or that. But, I manage to keep myself very busy "attending" online auctions and putting together my own auctions and, then, doing all the auxiliary stuff that goes along with that such as shipping and a lot of bookkeeping - especially since I handle consignments. These past few weeks have been overloaded with auctions. I guess all the auction companies want to get that last sale in before the year end. So, for a dealer (and collector alike) it is a great opportunity to stock up and/or reel in some of those items you've wanted but that just don't come up too often. There had to have been at least $15-$20 million worth of material come up for sale the past few weeks. Hard to believe that the market can absorb that much inventory. But, it seems that most of it finds homes.

OK. I couldn't wait. Here is my new ad that will appear in the next Linn's monthly. If you're interested or want more information, feel free to drop me a line. Gary

Hi all. I will trying something new, shortly. This new venture will make its appearance in my ad in the next Linn's monthly. After that ad drops I will spill the proverbial beans here. Keep your eye open for that ad. If you get Linn's and see the ad I would be curious to know what you think of this new venture. I will explain more at that time.

Hi all. I hope everyone is well. Now that my coffers are full of stamps again, I am back to being very busy. I bought the lion's share of the Langs stock of 1869 Essays and it will take me, probably, years to disperse them. There's quite a nice selection and the quality is generally excellent. Even if you don't collect essays, these are a nice way to add a little spice to your collection. Just put them in your album next to the 1869 issued stamps for a nice display! With the range of colors these come in it would make for a very nice display. Here's an example of what these look like if you are not familiar with:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/334132608528?hash=item4dcbdafe10:g:8BUAAOSw-U1hLs4m

U.S. #115-E2c Mint - 1869 5c Washington | eBay Scott #115-E2c:1869 5c Washington Essay. Centering & Condition:Mint. Fresh group of (7) Essays in different colors. Or just about anything else?.

Well, the Post Office has done it again. Another postal rate increase. I sure would like to see the rates go DOWN for a change. I hate raising my charges for postage as it always comes back on ME as if I had anything to do with it. You would be surprised at how many buyers complain to ME about the postage charges. Folks, it's not my fault! I try to hold the line as best I can. But when the USPS jacks its rates, there is not much I can do except follow suit. And, for this, I do apologize.

Am glad to report that I scored some really nice collections in (2) recent auctions I participated in. One collection had a lot of better / scarce material; so much so that I sent over (50) stamps from the collection for certificates. Now, the coffers are full with stamps again and I am on the other side of wave in selling mode. Check out my weekly Ebay auctions to view the material as I post it.

https://www.ebay.com/str/southweststamps/Other/_i.html?_storecat=1&_dmd=1&_sop=1&rt=nc

And, just like that (( snapping fingers )) things change in this business. Today I received (3) auction catalogs with mounds of collections. Hopefully, I will be able to buy enough to keep me busy for the next few months.

Hi all. Things have been pretty dreary lately from my perspective as far as buying is concerned. As many of you know, I buy most of material, in collection form, from the major auctions houses. And, there are only a couple of houses who offer collections on a semi-regular basis. One holds auctions strictly containing collection and they hold these every 3 months or so. Another holds auctions which contains mostly better material and a few collection lots but these seems to sell at astronomical prices. And, since I cannot be there to view these lots, it makes it tough to bid against others who have viewed the lots. I often bid "blind" based on the few pictures of the collections they provide. And, I know enough about each of the auction houses and how they describe their lots and how they value them. But, it's really tough to bid multiples of their estimate without seeing them. It's a tough game, sometimes, and I have to source some new places to buy material.