We have had almost perfect weather in our area since early March. We have had warm but not hot weather with a good mix of sunny days and enough rain to keep everything green. My vegetable garden is already producing green beans, squash and tomatoes and the pepper plants are also just starting to produce. I have always liked to grow vegetables even though I seriously lack a green thumb.

We have been watching stamp auctions worldwide which offer material from the countries we stock. Auction sales of better individual stamps and collections continue to be strong. Most auctions now sell more lots on the internet than via live and mail bids. This shift in bidding methods has increased overall bidding on auction lots. Attractive lots receive competitive bids. “Average” stamps have declined in prices though. This process affirms that stamp collecting is still live and well worldwide and better are selling at higher prices.

We used to receive most of our orders via mail with phone calls and emails coming in a distant second and third. Now 85% of our sales come directly from our web site. We still maintain printed price lists but the time between lists keeps getting longer as we focus our offers on our web site listings. We still accept want lists and mail orders but they make up a smaller percentage of our business – changing times!

For this month we have updated our Saar listings which included adding almost 200 new items. Also we have acquired several large collections and will added multiple items to our lists this month. We will be adding many new items throughout this month so keep checking our listings for items you need.

Our Treasure Boxes

We continue to offer these boxes – almost every customer who has tried one box has ordered another. We have quite a supply of treasure box material – excess stock, areas we don’t normally stock, and just plain stamps we don’t have time to examine. We always insure that there are stamps of value included in the boxes but otherwise don’t check anything. There of course will be a lot German and Austrian related stamps and covers in the lots but there can be almost anything philatelic. These lots are designed for collectors who like to search through lots of philatelic items. Each $175 lot is different from the others and each will fill a medium priority box.

We have been selling a lot of our treasure boxes because the large volume of stamps and covers gives collectors a lot of pleasure searching through the pile. We have plenty of boxes on hand and ready to mail!

Our Online Specials

We offer specials on our web site regularly. For some reason we sell fewer of these than we expected to sell. It seems that our web site customers just don’t notice the special listings. We think this is happening because we frequently get orders for items in the regular listings which are also offered in the specials section at a lower price.

We also list items in the special sections which don’t quite fit into our regular categories – e.g. mini-collections and unusual varieties.

R Schneider Stamps
PO BOX 978
Iowa Park TX 76367

Office (618) 975 2099
FAX: (940) 213 3596

Email: RSchneiderstamps@gmail.com

Website:

RSchneiderstamps.com