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National Hobby Month

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January is National Hobby month.

Isn’t it telling that we now have to have a national month of awareness to remember to treat ourselves to time spent on activities we love?  If only there were a way to remind you to spend time with it regularly.  Like a good little puppy bringing its ball to you, your hobby could wait patiently for your attention.

Purchase only those stamps you keep

Actually, this is similar to the way our Stamps on Approval Service works.  Approximately once per month, a new selection of collectible stamps arrives in your mailbox.  The stamps are chosen by our expert staff and are carefully selected according to your specific areas of interest.  When you have the time to do so, you can look through the stamps to see if you approve of any being added to your stamp collection.  Purchase only those stamps you keep.  Return the rest to us.  We’ll make sure they get into the hands of another collector whose interests they might better fit.

As your interests grow and change, we adapt to fit your specific needs.  As a business, of course it makes sense for us to do the best job possible at sending you only those stamps of which we believe you will approve.  We get many letters and email messages from collectors just like you who excitedly wait for their next selection of postage stamps to arrive in the mail.  We do our very best to keep your hobby fun and exciting.

If you have not tried our stamps on approval service, do yourself a favor and try it today!  Let us help you build a better stamp collection.  It’s like making an appointment with your stamp collection when it fits your busy schedule.  We love stamp collecting.  Our job is making it more lovable to you.

Images from the Smithsonian National Postal Museum

Thankful for Our Approval Customers

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After a long weekend to reflect, we at Jamestown Stamp Company agree that we are most thankful for our Stamp Approvals Customers.  With hundreds of years of combined experience, our staff is committed to helping each collector build a better stamp collection.  It’s what we do; and we’ve loved doing it since 1939.

“stamp approvals customers[…]get us out of bed each morning”

While we appreciate each and every one of our valued customers, it is the stamp approvals customers who get us out of bed each morning.  We also value each other.  It’s impossible not to build solid relationships working alongside one another for so many years.  3 feet of snow and buried in the driveway?  We catch a ride with a co-worker.  Why?  There are stamp collections to be built!

We take each customer’s requests as if they were our own.  In a way, it’s almost as if we were collecting stamps right with you.  Each of your requests starts a search for the most appropriate selections of stamps we can find that fit your needs.  And each time you approve of one of our selections, we seek out more stamps that are of a similar theme, time period, or series.  It’s an exciting job.  We strive to get better at it every day.

“Stamp Collecting is a journey with many paths…”

As your needs and interests change, we adapt to fit your preferences.  It is an exciting transition period in your hobby.  It’s just as exciting of a time for us as it is for you.  Stamp Collecting is a journey with many paths leading to years of enjoyment.  Though we may serve as guides, we also become your traveling companion, learning yet a new facet of an amazing hobby.  For that, we are very thankful to you!

77 Years of Stamp Collectors’ Approval

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One of the questions most frequently asked by new business colleagues, new employees, and new customers alike is, “Why does Jamestown Stamp Company place so much focus on its approval service?”  It’s an understandable question.  The arrival of the Internet changed the way we purchase many items.  Things we used to buy from mail-order catalogs and over the phone are now just a few clicks away for most people.  While times have indeed changed, the relationship between the stamp dealer and the stamp collector has not.

merely selling stamps is not our passion

At Jamestown Stamp Company, we understand that the stamps on approval service may seem a bit foreign to new collectors.  We do our best to offer as many items as we can via our Web site and mailings to introduce collectors to both the hobby and the approval service.  As one of America’s oldest and most established stamp dealers, we see a HUGE number and variety of collectible postage stamps.  Not only would it be near impossible to list online every item that passes through our doors.  But merely selling stamps is not our passion.  Nor is it our focus.  We strive to serve to our customers exactly what they want for their stamp collections.

stamp approvals customers get the first look

Almost every other business is a first come first serve type business.  The stamp approvals service works differently.  When we acquire new stamps, our experts immediately seek those collectible  stamps that will appeal to their approvals customers.  When we acquire sufficient numbers of any one item or stamp set, we do list them online.  But only after our stamp approvals customers get the first look.  Serving our customers is what we do.  It’s our job and our passion.  The Stamp Collector’s Approval is what want most.  And we wouldn’t want it any other way.

What are Stamps on Approval?

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In his 1957 book, Standard Handbook of Stamp Collecting, Richard Cabeen describes the purchasing of stamps on approval as “one of the most important methods used in buying and selling stamps”.  In fact, Cabeen discusses stamps on approval first over all other methods of acquiring collectible stamps.  So, what are stamps “on approval” and why are they so important?

Most collectors do not live close to a stamp dealer.  Nor do they have access to huge numbers of U.S. and Worldwide stamps.  Even if they do live close to a stamp dealer, who can find time with today’s hectic pace of life?  Enter Approvals.  Stamp approvals bring the stamp dealer stock directly to your door.  The dealer mails you a quantity of stamps for you to view and hopefully approve.  You keep and purchase those stamps you like, or of which you approve, and mail the rest back to the dealer.

You can see why approvals are so important for seasoned stamp collectors.  But they are also great for those just beginning  the stamp collecting hobby since they can very quickly and easily view a number of collectible stamps they’d never otherwise see.

– James the Web guy

See Also:  77 Years of of Stamp Collectors’ Approval