Circuits
at StampShow
 For the first time that anyone can remember,
the Sales Division will be taking sales books to our annual
StampShow, which is being held in Hartford, Connecticut, this
year. Attached to the APS booth at the show will be a table
where APS members — from new
applicants to long-time members — may browse through and
buy from sales books. We plan to have a wide assortment of circuit
categories available at the show in thirty to forty bundled circuits.
Each show circuit will have up to twenty books in it and will
have a specific category focus.
Upon arrival at the table, show your APS membership
card or a copy of The American Philatelist with your
membership number printed on it, along with a photo ID. Specify
your collecting interest and have a seat. As you browse the sales
books, place a bookmark to indicate your interest in a particular
item. When you are finished browsing through all of the books
in the bundled circuit, you may remove items you want to buy
and record your purchases on a separate sheet of paper. Also,
we will supply you with a rubber stamp to use for marking the
spaces from which you remove items, along with a marker to enter
your APS number in each space. We will then give you a report
sheet for recording the total purchases from each sales book.
Return the circuit to the person at the Sales Division table
and give them the report sheet and payment for the purchases.
Connecticut sales tax will be charged (we cannot accept tax-exempt
purchases) and we accept cash, checks, or credit cards (Visa
or Mastercard). This is a great opportunity to see what the circuits
are all about and to obtain items that are inexpensive but often
hard to find. If this is well received, we plan to offer the
sales books again at a future StampShow. Your feedback at the
show will be most helpful in planning future offerings.
Show Special
There also will be a special sale of blank sales books
at StampShow in Hartford. For every ten blank sales books purchased,
you will receive an additional five books of the same type FREE.
Stop by the APS booth, say hello to our Sales Division representative,
buy some blank books, and browse through the circuit books.
Business
Reply Card for Circuits
In this issue, we have supplied a reply card for you to
use when applying for circuits or for adding to your want list
in the Sales Division. Refer to the back mailing cover for a
list of the categories we offer, complete it and drop it in the
mailbox. The postage is on us!
Free ‘Busy Person’ Circuit — U.S.
Booklets
For the month of July and until August 7, members in the
United States may request a free Busy Person circuit of U.S.
booklets and booklet panes. This is a category that we do not
have for the regular multiple-name circuits and presently we
have good supply. Send us a note or e-mail, including your mailing
address, daytime phone number, e-mail address and APS number,
to receive one of these circuits, which will include a variety
of material from the twentieth century, mostly mint.
Making Sales
Books for E-Circuits
We have started sending the new E-Circuits to members
in other countries and at U.S. military addresses. With the requested
categories in mind, we select sales books that will show the
description, catalogue number, and net price of each item when
photographed. When members have the sales books in their hands,
they can inspect each item, front and back. The E-Circuits, as
is the case for the StampStore items, present the stamps to the
potential buyer in the form of a photograph or scan, and The
purchases are based on what can be seen in the picture. The price,
catalogue number, and faults or other descriptions must be visible
when we take the picture.
Sellers should consider mounting all
of their books to comply with this suggestion, since presentation
(the arrangement of the items and the legibility of the entries)
is a major component in the psychology of buying. Sloppy mounting
and excessive overlapping will result in low or no sales. Having
all pieces of information showing when a buyer opens the page
usually results in some sales. The buyer does not need to move
stamps to see prices or catalogue numbers to make the buying
decision. Stamp condition and pricing are other major factors
in the buying decision.
Summer Saturday Openings
The Sales Division will be open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
on the following Saturdays over the summer: July 12, July 26,
August 9, and August 23.
How I Got into Stamp Collecting
Roger Rhoads has his say on this subject: “As with
many collectors, I started with worldwide when I was a kid and
then shifted to U.S. Put the collection aside when I discovered
girls. Started again many years later when my mother said, ‘Get
the rest of your stuff out of the house.’ I then remembered
how much fun I had as a kid and got started again. I soon realized
that simply filling the blanks in my album wasn’t fun anymore,
and the price for filling each hole was going up with each purchase.
I then cast about for something more interesting and settled
on U.S. postal cards. After a few years, same old dilemma. Each
purchase to fill a hole got more and more expensive. Then I decided
to specialize in the first postal card (UX1 and 3) and all the
different cancels and usages. I’ve been there ever since,
doing research, writing articles and exhibiting single framers.
Next year will be my first multi-frame toe-in-the-water. I laughingly
note that I started out knowing a little about a lot. Later I
came to know more and more about less until today I know just
about everything about nothing!”
What’s your story?
We’d like to share it with our
readers.
‘5 For 10’ Categories
(Needs)
Please note the change from an average
value per book to a minimum
value to qualify for the coupons. We need U.S. items, except
U.S. First Day Covers, U.S. Mint post-1950, U.S. Used post-1950,
and U.S. Plate Blocks post-1950. You can earn coupons for free
blank books and mounts for every 10 completed books containing
material from a set list of categories. (Each
group of 10 or more qualifying books must be received at the
same time and at least $50 per book. The coupons are issued when
the qualifying books are reviewed soon after arriving.) Each book must be designed
to fit one of the categories, exclusively. Details are sent with
blank sales book orders. You also may visit www.stamps.org and
click Sales Division and How to Sell. [Note: Single-country books
usually have better sales.] Below are categories that are in
very short supply at this time:
- U.S. Blocks of Four
- U.S. Coils
- U.S. Fancy Cancels
- Australian States
- British North America
- Chile
- Colombia
- India
- Korea
- San Marino
- Spain
- Yugoslavia
Postage on Packages
With the increases in postage, circuit members should consider
using postage stamps for forwarding circuits to the next members.
It is a real present to receive used, higher-denomination stamps
on packages, particularly when covers are the contents of the
circuits. And, the recipients appreciate it.
As always, you should
ask the postal clerk for at least a $0 meter-stamp to indicate
that the package was mailed through a clerk. |
