USPS - How to get rid of all these stamps?
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I suppose you could donate them to a charitable organization. Try this one: "The Gray Matters Foundation is best known for the brightly colored gifts and cards that we send to encourage brain tumor survivors, their friends and loved ones. We have prepared our Wish List for some of the products and supplies we use to create our fun and meaningful gifts."
They list postage stamps on their website as a needed donation.
[www.graymattersfoundation.com]
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/02/2016 03:10PM by JASFLALMT.
They list postage stamps on their website as a needed donation.
[www.graymattersfoundation.com]
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/02/2016 03:10PM by JASFLALMT.
Donate them to a service group, or local charity, of your choice. A local business that still has charge accounts, for them to mail out their statements. An older neighbor/friend/relative that still uses regular mail, or any friend/neighbor/relative. We still use maybe a dozen stamps each year, more if we send out Christmas cards.
There are sites to sell unused gift cards, maybe stamps too? I'm not sure if there are legal issues to selling stamps, but maybe eBay.
Edited to add: I love JAS suggestion of the Gray Matters Foundation! And how about an elementary school classroom so the kids can learn the soon to be forgotten send a letter to Grandma.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/02/2016 03:17PM by eveb.
There are sites to sell unused gift cards, maybe stamps too? I'm not sure if there are legal issues to selling stamps, but maybe eBay.
Edited to add: I love JAS suggestion of the Gray Matters Foundation! And how about an elementary school classroom so the kids can learn the soon to be forgotten send a letter to Grandma.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/02/2016 03:17PM by eveb.
The older neighbor/friend/relative is also an excellent idea. There are a lot of older people who are on a fixed income, and some are too proud to let on if they are in any sort of financial hardship. I imagine that many of them are. My mom was one of them. She had bought a house back in 2005 and when the housing market crashed, her home was worth far less than what the mortgage was. There were many other debts and problems we found out about after she died. We had no idea how bad it was and would have gladly helped, but she was too stubborn and proud to let us know she was in trouble.
Find out if there is a house of worship that needs stamps? A shelter or food pantry that needs them for mailing fund raising items? Send something wonderful to a friend/family member overseas! You would be astonished what it coast to mail packages even just to Europe!. Sell them on Ebay? (Is it legal to resell stamps?)
Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel
Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel
Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
Gifts, Freecycle, card inserts
"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton
Stamp collectors and stamp dealers place higher value on certain stamps due to position (plate blocks on sheets for instance) and certain panes in booklets. I am not talking about rare stamps. I collected stamps when I was younger and there were always ads in philatelic newspapers offering "discount postage" - the leftover stamps when the dealers removed the ones they wanted from current issues. Discounts ranged from 3% to 25% depending upon the denominations being sold. i just Googled "discount postage" and found that there are still stamp dealers offering discount postage. Here is one: [www.hgitner.com] and I assume that they would buy at an even steeper discount. There are also people currently selling US postage stamps at a discount on ebay. Just go to Ebay and search for discount postage. Since you have all high value current stamps, you could probably get 90% of face value and use some of your other stamps to offer free postage.
Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008
i have many hundreds of stamps, also, that i never use and the suggestions here are good ones. i'm now buying 1 stamp as proof rather than multiples that i just keep accumulating.
Send me a PM if you want to sell some. We always need stamps during the holidays for our holiday cards!
Doing what I can to enhance the life of my family! I LOVE what I do 
ShopSouthTexas, aren't you doing any of the hazmat shops?
Just save them. Whenever you travel to somewhere new, send a friend or family members a surprise postcard!
I do lots of free after rebate stuff that requires stamps too, so that'll help.
I do lots of free after rebate stuff that requires stamps too, so that'll help.
Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!
Donate half to your neighbor and half to your local animal shelter. If you have a spare bag of dog or cat food, take that along with you.
Other than giving them away to family, friends, and charitable organizations, I buy used books at thrift stores, library book sales, and church rummage sales. My average price per book is about 25 cents. I then turn around and sell these books on half.com for more than I purchased. Sometimes it's a lot more, but usually only a dollar more than I paid. The customer has to pay for shipping as well. when I take the book to the post office, instead of buying postage, I use the stamps.
For example, I bought a book for 25 cents, I sell it for a dollar and also get 2.64 in shipping cost. I wrap up the book, take it to the post office and use the stamps. So, my profit is the 75 cents and the 2.64. It is not a lot of money, but it is how I use up my extra stamps. I also ship these books when doing regular box and DIM box shops, making 2.64 profit from the shipping as well.
For example, I bought a book for 25 cents, I sell it for a dollar and also get 2.64 in shipping cost. I wrap up the book, take it to the post office and use the stamps. So, my profit is the 75 cents and the 2.64. It is not a lot of money, but it is how I use up my extra stamps. I also ship these books when doing regular box and DIM box shops, making 2.64 profit from the shipping as well.
Nope - never have attempted one before. I haven't even checked them out. Are they super simple?
Doing what I can to enhance the life of my family! I LOVE what I do
If you're looking to get paid a little bit on them, you can sell them on eBay. I buy stamps on their allllllll the time. I usually buy about $100 worth for about $70-$75. Going rates seem to be 75-80% of the value. I understand the awesomeness of donations and feeling good too, but if you're looking for an idea to up your income, eBay it up 
PS, if you ship another package, just weigh it down with something and throw the stamps in. You can send them a nice plaque from the dollar tree that's heavy and says thank you! Once you do the shop, just input their tracking. I do sell stuff on eBay a lot and when I sell something that lines up with a shop... off it goes priority mail. If it doesn't weigh quite enough, I add in extra goodies. I usually get kind notes back.
PS, if you ship another package, just weigh it down with something and throw the stamps in. You can send them a nice plaque from the dollar tree that's heavy and says thank you! Once you do the shop, just input their tracking. I do sell stuff on eBay a lot and when I sell something that lines up with a shop... off it goes priority mail. If it doesn't weigh quite enough, I add in extra goodies. I usually get kind notes back.MegglesKat
I meant if you do sell your stamps on eBay, use another shipping shop to ship out the stamps! haha. I pick up the regular shops a lot and use it to help with eBay shipping. Of course, I also craft little hemp crafts too and sell them really low priced. I love to macrame and crochet.
MegglesKat
Funny I was just thinking about this last night. I am thinking my daughter should be getting married in the next couple of years so I will give them to her for thank you notes. We do still mail some things here and there too so I will have them handy for that too.
Liz
Liz
oooh you make a good point! For my cousins baby shower, I actually gifted her with 100 stamped envelopes for sending out her thank you cards. It was an odd gift, but she LOVED IT! Said it saved her so much money and stress. I even had her some address labels printed up for free and adhered them to the envelopes.
MegglesKat
@clinen11 wrote:
oooh you make a good point! For my cousins baby shower, I actually gifted her with 100 stamped envelopes for sending out her thank you cards. It was an odd gift, but she LOVED IT! Said it saved her so much money and stress. I even had her some address labels printed up for free and adhered them to the envelopes.
In our house the definition of a gift is: something you'd like to have but wouldn't/couldn't/shouldn't buy yourself. Even if it's a toaster, or Panda Express gift card (my sons fav), or 2 loaves of bread (my dtr n laws fav brand wasn't available in WI) or stamped envelopes and return address labels. That was a great gift, clinen11!
@clinen11 wrote:
If you're looking to get paid a little bit on them, you can sell them on eBay. I buy stamps on their allllllll the time. I usually buy about $100 worth for about $70-$75. Going rates seem to be 75-80% of the value.
Just curious. Where do you think that these sellers get their stamps?
I think that they are stamp dealers or stamp collectors. They keep the stamps that they need, and then sell the rest. On old sheets of 100 stamps, the plate block consisted of 4 (or at most 10) stamps. The plate block was desirable. The rest were not.Today, there are similar "more valuable than totally common" stamps on sheets and booklets.
@SoCalMama wrote:
@clinen11 wrote:
If you're looking to get paid a little bit on them, you can sell them on eBay. I buy stamps on their allllllll the time. I usually buy about $100 worth for about $70-$75. Going rates seem to be 75-80% of the value.
Just curious. Where do you think that these sellers get their stamps?
Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008
All of us should have at least a few stamps sitting around for when we need to send something by snail mail. The last couple of hazmat shops I did I specifically asked for the Harry Potter stamps. Hopefully the hazmat shops will return to my city this go round as there were none last time. My kids are going to love getting Harry Potter stamps for the next holiday. Check the post office to see if any of the current offerings of stamps would be a wonderful gift for a friend when the need is there (holidays, bday etc.) So next time pick up a book of flower stamps for your gardening friends/relatives or a book of the famous entertainer or inventor that one of your friends love. A gift that is thoughtful and practical at the same time.
@SoCalMama wrote:
@clinen11 wrote:
If you're looking to get paid a little bit on them, you can sell them on eBay. I buy stamps on their allllllll the time. I usually buy about $100 worth for about $70-$75. Going rates seem to be 75-80% of the value.
Just curious. Where do you think that these sellers get their stamps?
The ones I bought were estate sale stamps. Lots of things from 1970s thru 1980s. They were in stamp collector sleeves. They're still legal tender and all. Not all sellers are estate sales, but some are. Many folks buy rolls up or take rolls from companies closing, or they are like us and are mystery shoppers with too much of a stash on their hands!
MegglesKat
Do you mean you get stamps from certain shops? What kind of shops are they? How do I find them? I'm just getting back into the field.
The title of this thread tells you what kind of shops these are. The name of the client is in the title. That having been revealed, we can not disclose the name of the MSC. Keep signing up for MSCs and you will find the correct one.
@Justalicia wrote:
Do you mean you get stamps from certain shops? What kind of shops are they? How do I find them? I'm just getting back into the field.
Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008
I've decided to start collecting wedding themed stamps and will give them to my two future daughter-in-laws for invitations and thank you notes. I'll also use them for Christmas cards. That will be a huge savings.
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The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..
Mark Twain
The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..
Mark Twain
Never needed to purchase stamps dealing a USPS shop.
A Dad shopping the Ark-LA-Tex and beyond.
@ShoppingDad wrote:
Never needed to purchase stamps dealing a USPS shop.
Then you haven't done the couple of scenarios that offer this as an option or require it. I am buying the wedding stamps full steam ahead now in anticipation of next year's wedding. I am going to take a break here and start buying the Christmas ones for my holiday mail and then go back to the wedding ones. This is a great savings for me as MOB who is assisting with a lot of the planning/paying.
Liz
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