Discount postage ?

[Mail Art News]

Buy discount postage stamps from leftover business mailings, business liquidations, auctions, etc...but do you want to buy $500 worth of stamps at one time? Hmm. This one's $583 worth of stamps for $350.09. 

https://buydiscountstamps.com/product/under-first-class-stamps-mixe...

[Jeff Bagato]

This is a very tempting deal, although according to the website you have to place a minimum $500 order! As Bradford notes, you can find lots of older US postage on Ebay, although it's not clear whether there's a discount on face value. The real benefit is getting a collection of old postage designs to use in mail art!

In defense of current US stamp options, I've been buying sheets honoring Sesame street, Scooby Doo, and Hot Wheels. There's also a Bugs Bunny sheet. And the Tyrannosaurus ones are pretty cool in my opinion. You can browse all these on USPS website.

[Katerina Nikoltsou (MomKat)]

The old US postage stamps are so much more interesting than the new self-sticks.

Hope to see some of these on mail art envelopes :-)

'Luv collecting stamps as mini art works really.

[P. M. Wilson]

If you buy discounted unused U.S. postage stamps on eBay, your local sales tax will be added to the purchase cost.  If you buy your U.S. postage stamps direct from the USPS, there is no sales tax.  A good time to buy them on eBay is when eBay is running an eBay Bucks promo. 

[Debra Mulnick]

Hard to fit enough small value stamps on a postcard though.  :-(

[PATRICIA LANDON]

Bradford speaks the truth. less than face value,free shipping,usa only postal stamps,a good deal.

[Mail Art News]

Wow this is all news to me. Never thought about it before until just the other day. Thanks Bradford. Yeah I think the older stamps look more interesting. Stamps on USPS today for the most part look kind of dull. 

[Bradford]

On eBay, try the category: > Stamps >US >Postage for best results.  There are some lots that are used/foreign, but by and large the sellers honor the category and list just mint US stamps at less than face value.

There are lots for less than $10 on up to $1000 or more.

[Bradford]

Discount postage is a classified section in Linn's Stamp News and has been offered for decades.  Thanks to eBay, discount postage is available to everyone and not just the cognoscenti.  The stamps should be mint, unused with gum (adhesive) still remaining.  Stamps that have been used on mail, but uncancelled and soaked/peeled off are illegal to be reused as postage.  Do not buy these lots.  Also, lots offered as mint, no gum are suspect and to be avoided in most cases.

The reason that you can buy mint/unused postage stamps at less than face value is due to collectors whose collections are sold to dealers often by the family of a deceased collector.  A friend of my grandfather's used to buy sheets and sock them away as if all stamps are worth more than face value over time.  Accumulations of this sort are purchased as a percentage of face value so that the dealer can mark them up and resell at a profit.

Discount postage is bought and sold as a percentage of face value.  The present lot is only 60% of face value (add your shipping & sales tax, if applicable to the numerator to determine the final valuation) which is a great savings.  I buy US postage for between 50% and 90% of face value depending upon the contents of the lot, it's size and so on.

It's hard to believe even for me at times that I'm buying stamps that are 70 years old or more for less than face value.  Add to that is the fact that many of the older issues are line engraved which leaves ridges of ink and a much more striking print than litho or other printing methods predominantly used in modern stamp production.  They're little works of art for sure and easily available at a discount.