Welcome! Hope you're enjoying the website. While a lot of it will change only a little from month to month, I hope to be able to keep this page current and let you know just what's going on. Enjoy!
July 21, 2008 - Paperless invoicing is now the standard. If you want to receive paper approval reporting forms, statements or credit notes you have to pay for them. Each printed form is now TV 0.13, and postage for mailing statements and credit notes is postage+25% in trave value. Everything from approval statements to reminders should be zipping back and forth by e-mail. There are several reasons for this change, from the postage costs to send this stuff back and forth, to the difficulty some customers have filling out the approval reporting forms, to communication problems when you rely solely on the mail. See the webdox page for details.
UPDATE November 2, 2008 - The Loonie has been all over the place in the last year, from a peak of $1.10 U.S. to a trough of $0.80 U.S., all in the space of a few months. As of this writing, it is at $0.83 U.S., but trending up partly due to the U.S. financial crisis. The falling price of oil drives down the Canadian dollar with it. The Canadian dollar is pretty constant against European currencies and is down against most world currencies.
Pricing stamps is a bit difficult in the meantime. I use the U.S. Scott's catalogue and I don't change my prices immediately when the Canadian dollar changes (I keep the same price in Canadian dollar based trade credit). However, for mint stamps particularly, prices are very sensitive to currency fluctuations. A 20% swing like we have seen in the last few weeks also is reflected in a few months in the new issue catalogue price. Scott's prices are generally fixed at the value of the currency when the stamp is issued, and changes only year to year after that.
As such, take mint offer prices as a rough guide, not a hard and fast rule. I don't really have to change what I offer for used, but what I offer for mint, particularly mint postage, fluctuates from week to week against the catalogue. I always have to keep the current exchange rate in mind. At present, Japan, United States, Switzerland and Hong Kong are all slightly higher, while Canada, Euro countries, Great Britain, Australia and the Scandinavian countries are all down. I don't expect this to change any time soon.
UPDATE! November 2, 2008 - I am just starting the G countries, being at the stage of getting the countries sorted out. I currently have 8 boxes of mixed G countries which I have to narrow down to 1 box with all the other boxes being single country boxes. Germany, Great Britain and Grenada are already single countries.
Germany collectors are the prime beneficiaries right now as I start sorting that country first. I hope to get to G.B. in about 4 months.
UPDATE! November 2, 2008 - Check out the box lot list. The list is current dominated by MNH Soviet-era commemoratives in the "R" boxes, generally 25 to 30 cents each. Price varies with my cost. The cheaper boxes are going fast.
January 25, 2004 - In order to publicize more of my box lots and better items, I have opened an Ebay store. It is just getting started, but over 20 better stamps and three box lots are listed. Also listed are mixture and grab bags. While most of them are being offered through this site, Ebay offers things like buyer protection and easier Paypal use. Please check it out - I can even send the better singles & sets on approval, although box lots don't have return privileges.
February 11, 2007 - If you check out the demand list, you will find a lot less detail as demand for all worldwide issues and all topical issues is at a peak. I have good customers for just about anything you send. There are still items that are in very heavy demand, but there is solid demand for just about everything.
October 24, 2004 - As several customers have noticed, trade credit offers are still in the dumps. I still have so much stock that to get to it in the normal course of business to get it into retail stock would take years, if not decades! As such, for financial considerations, I have to clear a lot of material out every month to raise cash and keep the amount of inventory I have under control.
The problem recently has been the prices I am getting for material. For "R-Z" countries, I am averaging 60% of my acquisition cost on lots I have sold. For "K-Q" countries, I average less that 20% of my acquisition cost. I offset that slightly by breaking down lots, but that is time consuming and only increases returns marginally. As such, many customers have been offering countries like Great Britain and Germany to me recently, and instead of me offering 10.00 in trade credit, they get an offer of something like 1.00.
The problem with offering more, of course, is that it isn't sustainable - I average a margin of about 40%, so your trade credit of 10.00, on average, gets you $6.00 worth of stamps. However, when I go to sell some of that material I take in trade, and I add it to the other material I have taken in trade, I wind up getting about $1.00 for it. As you can see, I can't lose $5.00 on every 10.00 trade indefinitely.
Things are better if I can break down material for retail, but that is time consuming. On average, your stamps for which I offered 10.00 in trade credit is priced to sell at about 16.50 retail. Whether I sell it at that price is definitely not certain, but if I sell it all for cash at a 20% discount, I pocket about $13.30. Not a bad investment for $6.00 worth of stamps, and the assumption my business was based on. Alas, because my business has shifted heavily from retail to wholesale recently, that just isn't the case.
However, I have come up with a solution! Since the amount of trade credit I offer depends on what I figure I can get at auction, I can cut me out as the middleman and just take a commission instead! Essentially, I put your stamps on Ebay and give you in trade credit the Canadian dollar equivalent of the successful bid. You could put things on Ebay yourself of course, but you may not have a scanner for pictures, a feedback rating of nearly 600, a lot of repeat customers, Paypal facilities for accepting payment, and customers with lots of trade credit to get rid of.
Here's how it works:
- If you don't like the trade credit I offer (or even if you do), you can ask me to "auction for trade"
- Your cost is $0.30 U.S. (about 0.50 in trade credit) for a basic listing. You can add "bells and whistles" like gallery pictures, longer auctions (up to 7 days is free), bolding, and other features at whatever Ebay charges.
- The minimum bid will be my offer of trade credit, so its a "no lose" proposition".
- Once the auction closes, you are credited with the amount of the winning bid, converted to Canadian dollars at the prevailing rate, in trade credit. For example, if an item sells for $75 U.S. ($100 Cdn.) you are credited with 100.00 in trade credit minus the listing fees.
- I collect the money from the high bidder, arrange for shipping, collect the amount for postage, etc. If the high bidder backs out, you are debited the amount and the lot is re-offered at no extra charge. Apart from converting from cash to credit, there is no other commission to be paid.
There are two major reasons why I'm doing this. One, I could use the cash flow. Two, I want everyone to be aware what their material will bring at auction!
In addition, I am also offering a "consign for trade" service. More simply, you can name your own trade credit, and you get credit when I sell your material, or take it into my stock (generally when there is a break in the reductions). The point is that I don't carry it in my inventory, where it might take me years to sell or sort it. Try it out if you are dissatisfied with an offer for trade credit and, if your patient, you will get what you wanted eventually. In the meantime, it will be offered on Ebay, on my website, and at my stamp shows.
April 28, 2008 - Postage rates have been set for 2008. For first-class mail up to 30g, it's still $0.52 in Canada, but it is up to $0.96 to the U.S., and $1.60 anywhere else. Remember, you are charged this amount if you have unused trade credit and you don't send further stamps for credit.
July 21, 2008 - Trading Talk has gone paperless, so it will only be available through this website in Adobe format. I used to tie the website updates to Trading Talk publications, but now both will be more flexible. This will allow better timing for the quarterly reports and other time sensitive information, like the box lots list on both the website and in Trading Talk.
UPDATE - November 2, 2008 - Finances are still stable, although I'm always looking for improvement. I am constantly writing down material, but even $1,000 write downs aren't having a tremendous impact overall.
SPECIAL ORDERS - Are running very quickly. I'm targetting 2-3 months, and most orders, except for the difficult ones, are being filled in that time frame. The difficult ones are customers with very limited collecting interests that are very much in demand - it's tough to find that material. Mint topicals, used stamps and better Russia are getting particularly difficult to find.
CASH PAYMENTS - Since most of the money going into the business is going out to my bankers (god luv em) who can't wait (nobody's perfect), customers waiting for cash payments have to wait until I get a surplus from selling off boxes of stamps. Right now, cash customers are being filled fairly quickly. Stamp orders are being filled more slowly due to lack of material. Topicals and Russia have become incredibly scarce lately, and very competitive at auction. Russia lots regularly go for triple what I figure was a resonable bid. Topical lots come up only every few weeks if I'm lucky.
CREDIT OFFERED - Russia is being reduced 40% (at least) for the foreseeable future, and countries from S to Z and A to E should expect reductions on and off over the next several months.
So, what can you do about your trade credit?
Get more trade credit - CONSIGNMENT SERVICE - If you mount and price your stamps, you can get much better credit for them. These can go into my inventory straight away, even if they're not in high demand categories. For example, if you take $10.00 CV in MNH Russia that I don't have and send it for credit, you will get an offer of $0.90 (30% of CV, - 70%). However, if you mount those same stamps on a blue sheet at 60% Scott's (the maximum), you will get a whopping $4.20 in credit for the same stamps, which is $1.20 better than you would get even if I were offering full credit for them.
Get more out of your trade credit - EBAY AUCTIONS - Some lots are going very cheap on Ebay, so why not pick them up at a bargain and use your trade credit? For example, I charge top dollar for U.S. mint at retail, but recently I offered a large lot (over $700 face U.S.) for a little less than face value.. In addition, the material from box lots and broken down box lots is never coming to you on approval. There are bargains aplenty.
Or, combine the two with AUCTION FOR TRADE! This allows me to get immediate cash for your stamps and the best possible trade credit for you. You can also try CONSIGNMENT FOR TRADE, where you get the trade credit you want - eventually.
Update! March 26, 2006 - My mail insurance coverage has changed as I had to switch insurers. My old insurance company no longer does business in Canada.
The big difference is the deductible, or the risk I take on each mailing, which is $100.00 Cdn. Losses of less than this amount are not covered by my insurance any more (the old policy covered all losses down to the last dollar). Moreover, my old policy covered mail losses by first class or air mail up to $400.00 U.S. The new policy only covers the second $100.00 of a loss up to $200.00.
However, although the $100.00 deductible still applies, the new coverage covers registered mail, insured mail, most forms of signature mail and courier up to $4,000 Cdn. As such, if you send me large amounts of material by registered mail, it should be covered just fine.
Please note that I have decided that approvals travelling both ways and mint stamps sent in payment are my sole responsibility. If those stamps are damaged or lost in transit, I will cover all losses up to the $100.00 deductible. However, remember stamps you send in trade are your responsibility until they arrive at my mail box (after that, they are covered if they are stolen or damaged). However, most forms of mailing where there is a $100.00 automatic coverage (like Canadian Xpresspost or U.S. Express Mail) will provide full coverage.
For Ebay customers, I will not cover lots going out as the margins are too small. However, you can buy insurance from me (I will self-insure) for $0.01 for every $1.00 in coverage, up to $1.00 where I will send by an insured method.
The latest craze to hit the world is "Web Logging" or "Blogging" for short. It makes it very easy to update a webpage without doing a lot of HTML coding or FTP downloading. It's as simple as typing some text and hitting a button.
Therefore, so I can update this site frequently, I have added my own Blog, which can be viewed here. I hope to make at least a minor addition every once in a while. The entire site (at least what needs changes) is updated every 4-8 weeks as necessary. The auction page is updated as new lots are added. However, check the blog page for things that change frequently but aren't updated, like the list of box lots for sale, or the demand list.
March 26, 2006 - Sorry if I lost anyone, but my web site url was changed without notice to me. Here's the story:
Way back a long time ago, I found a more or less permanent home with a very reasonable web-site provider at $9.99 U.S. per month called Interspeed. My original web site was haddock.interspeed.net.
However, some time after that, another company calling itself Interspeed started a domain name fight over the interspeed.net domain. The new company was much richer and more powerful, so my internet provider gave in and changed it's name to Hispeed. As such, I was now at haddock.hispeed.com.
Things went well for years until Hispeed got taken over by USA Net Hosting. For a while, they maintained the old hispeed.com domains, including mine. However, they recently upgraded their servers and, in the process, they decided that there were too few hispeed domains to keep the domain active. As such, I'm now at haddock.usanethosting.com.
This is the main reason I keep my alternative mirror site at Fortune City. Please make sure you bookmark both in case I can't get back to one.
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