Philatelic Investment - Buying Stamps

Buying Stamps

There are a number of places where a prospective investor can buy stamps:

• The internet.
• Auctions.
• Stamp dealers.
• A few specialised stamp investment firms.
• From a collector in a private sale.

Stamps purchased for investment are usually old classic stamps in fine condition, such as British Victorian stamps or American stamps from before 1900. These may be thought of as the equivalent of buying a blue chip share. Although future prices may vary, as long as there is a hobby of stamp collecting there is likely to be good demand for these stamps.

Stamps typically included in an investment portfolio will be rare and priced in the thousands of dollars or pounds but they will probably not be the greatest rarities as those unique items are typically sold at public auctions and may reach prices approaching or exceeding $1 million US.

Some collectors and investors also try to anticipate future trends and buy low now, this however, is difficult to get right and may take a long time to pay off. Investors may try to identify a developing country with an expanding middle class who may have the time and money to pursue a hobby like stamp collecting as the developing domestic demand may help to force prices up. Recent examples have been India and China.

Some firms are developing collective or mutual funds where money from many investors is pooled and each investor owns shares or units in the fund. The fund then invests the money in stamps.