The American Philatelic Society’s Circuit Sales program helps nearly 2,500 APS members buy stamps, covers and other philatelic items from mini stamp stores (or sales books) submitted by almost 600 sellers.

The program has around 23,000 sales books that are circulated, either passing from member to member, sent to APS chapters and clubs, or sent directly to APS members.

Sellers buy blank sales books from the APS and fill them with material. Completed books are sent to the APS sales division, which logs them in and starts circulating them. Circuit books usually circulate between members and clubs for 18 months, which means that there are many eyes on your material.

Buyers like circuit books because they arrive right to their door – and buyers can inspect the stamp themelves before deciding to purchase it. Sellers like circuit books because APS does all of the work – and has safety measures in place to protect their material. APS also guarantees the purchase, allowing ample time for expertizing. If you are having an item expertized from a circuit book, please contact us so the book can be held until the results are back.

Start buying and selling through the APS circuit program today. Find out more at https://stamps.org/services/buy-and-sell. Current buyers and sellers can check on their circuits and/or sales books at www.stamps.org, in their MYAPS account. 

Merging circuits being considered 

Some of our circuit categories are in short supply (meaning we need more sellers of these materials). The sales division is considering merging circuit categories to give buyers a better buying experience. 

Here are a few of the categories that might be merged: Single Latin American countries other than Brazil and Mexico (those would be kept as single country circuits); the single country books would be integrated into Central America, South America and Latin America. 

Other categories would be Trieste-Italian Colonies, U.S. Airmails and U.S. Officials-U.S. Back of the Book, Bahamas, Bermuda and Jamaica-British America, British Middle East-British Asia, Liberia and Ethiopia-General Africa, Iran and Lebanon-Middle East, Spanish Colonies-Spain and Ryukyu-Japan. 

We would like input from members currently receiving these circuits or former circuit members before we implement these changes. Send your comments to either wjdixon@stamps.org or choffman@stamps.org. 

StampStore’s Business on HipStamp is Booming

StampStore’s sales via HipStamp are better than ever. One of our sellers, Henrik (APS Seller #638656) recently wrote, “Today I realized what a great move that was joining HipStamp. My sales have improved considerably and I like the whole works.” It’s a great time to start selling online with the APS – we still do all of the work, but your material is in front of more eyes than ever before. Get started at https://stamps.org/services/buy-and-sell.

Did you know? APS members who sell on HipStamp now have APS member badges on their pages. This identifies you as a trusted APS member seller.

Don’t see your badge? Contact Carol at choffman@stamps.org for help.

HipStamp’s Concierge Services

As a special member benefit, the APS has partnered with HipStamp to offer all of our members HipStamp’s Concierge Services from May 8 to May 12 to help you add specific stamps to your collection at reduced prices from their site. The Concierge team provides personalized assistance, negotiating prices down and checking for potential cashback on any ($100+) fixed-price listings you find on the HipStamp site. If there are any existing listings you’re interested in purchasing at a better price, or if there are any stamps you’ve been hoping to add to your collection but haven’t been able to locate, take advantage of this offer by sending an email to concierge@hipecommerce.com.