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With only one day to go until it ended, I succumbed to the temptation of another stamp auction. This one had lots of early Canadian stamps that would go so well in my collection, and help me fill up all those empty pages at the beginning of the book.
It sounded great. However these was some reluctance on my part. The shipping cost was rather high. It was about seven US dollars, plus 50 cents for the next stamp, and 50 cents for every subsequent stamp. I know most of these people send it with postage they got at a reduced price, so I thought this was a bit out of line.
The temptation proved to be too great and I plunged in on the night before it ended. I reasoned that I had better win a bunch of stamps to make it worth the shipping costs. So I dropped a bunch of bid on the stamps I thought I could afford. I also put down some higher maximum bids to discourage poachers.
This morning, just after I got to work, my phone dinged that I had been outbid on one of the items. This continued throughout the day. By the time I got back home, my bidding had been whittled down to three items. It was then I felt a bit of a conundrum. The three stamps didn’t even amount to 50 cents. However, I would have to pay 8 dollars in shipping. I either had to up my bids on some of the items, or just accept it.
Well, before long, I was outbid on the remaining three items and I was free of this auction. I wanted the stamps, but I wasn’t able to get them. I have to say I was relieved.
A Boy and His Stamps 
I am still wary of online (generational thing I suppose) and especially of ebay and I have never purchased anything outside Ireland and Britain.
And I am wary of online auctions. I tend to prefer the ebay option of “buy it now” as it is hassle free.
But your experience is typical.
As a general rule if I buy more than one item from the same dealer and the second item shows additional postage, then I do not add it to the cart. I just follow thru on a single item.
I think you will learn from experience.
As my mail from around the world is stuck on 178 countries, I might have to bite the bullet and buy from USA, Germany, Australia. A big step for me.
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I understand your collection, but what kind of mail are you collecting from all over the world? Are you collecting letters to yourself, or letters to third parties? I have students from all over the world….
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Anthony, it is postcards or “commercial mail”.
Postcards are usually from holiday destinations. I reckon I have about 120 countries. Most have been sent directly to me by family, friends or thru Facebook. The rest I have bought at Fairs and thru ebay etc.
“Commercial Mail” is a catch-all phrase that stamp collectors use. It means everything that is NOT philatelic. (eg First Day Covers”.
So commercial mail may be a simple addressed letter (without the contents) which has a cancelled stamp and has genuinely passed thru the mail.
Sometimes they have been sent directly to me but in most cases picked up at Fairs or ebay.
Occasionally it is mail addressed to an individual in (say) London from (say) Sierra Leone or to (say) New York City from (say) Honduras.
Typically the recipient is a major institution eg the BBC in London or an insurance firm, international bank, bookseller or university.
Maybe five or six recent examples from different nations in Africa were all sent to Vienna in Austria to a charity which seems to supply vehicles to churches for mission fields.
I am currently stuck on 178. There are two or three that I can probably get on ebay or if I go ebay USA Germany etc.
The 21 that I am still looking for are
Georgia
Azerbaijan
Kazakstan
Palau
Samoa
Suriname
Dominica
Yemen
Laos
Timor Leste (East Timor)
PDR (North Korea)
Tadjikistan
Turkmenistan
Kyrzygstan
Comoros
Angola
Guinea Bissau
Sao Tome & Principe
Liberia
Eritrea
South Sudan
As you can see many are small, impoverished, war zones or “closed” societies. All of these “wants” are for post-independence mail. Any help would be much appreciated.
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could you send your mailing address to my email–I know you sent it before (as well as those excellent cycling stamps) but I seemed to have mislaid it.
I might possibly be able to help you in your quest–though it is far from certain, I will do my best and tell you after I have managed it.
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I don’t seem to have your email.
You can let me have it at johnjgmooneyATyahoo.com.
I appreciate this.
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I can’t make any guarantee, but I will twist a few arms.
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