so you are sending some stamps to a collector...

Michael Dodd

now this is not from a Hipstamp sale but I thought worth a show and tell.

You are mailing stamps just sold to a collector. Perhaps, remote chance maybe? the buyer collects stamps, What do you do? Stick self adhesive over each other. Very thoughtful....Not. I cannot even give these to my free stamps for children collectors.

Oh and the lots received, no invoice included ... had to remember where I bought them to leave feedback. why did I bother I ask myself. Because cddstamps cares. :-) :-) Merry Christmas everyone

Scott Payton

Michael,
Neither of these are self adhesive. If you soak it it will come right off. It's a 1292 from 1968, Rotary press stamp, panes of 400. The 3209h is printed from the same plates as the original 292, printed by Banknote Corporation of America, Lithograph.

Both are lick'em and stick'em.

Michael Dodd

Oh thanks I will try it then must be my eyesight :-)

john o'neil

Question......I don't send copies of invoices to buyers. Why is that frowned upon? I don't expect them when I'm on the buying end. Just more papers to store somewhere. If I really need to, I can trace back to my purchase online, Just sayin.

Ted Tyszka

Many collectors buy from multiple venues, and it is tough to remember which orders were placed on which site and from which seller, especially if it is coming from overseas and a lot of time has elapsed since you ordered.
I received an order from overseas with no invoice and a name I did not recognize on the return address. I checked my usual sites and couldn't find any record of the purchase. Finally, I remembered one site I rarely use, and found it there.

In case you are wondering how many sites there could possibly be to keep track of, I have bought from these:
HipStamp
Ebay
Ebay.de
Delcampe
Stamps2Go
Stamp Den
Colnect member sales
Tradera.se
plus probably others I can't recall off the top of my head.

It's just simple courtesy and good business practice to provide your customer with an invoice.

Storage? A recycle bin works great.

john o'neil

I recycled my recycle bin.

Richard Pauls

I used to send a folded copy of the invoice with my orders until I received back the top portion of an envelope (it included my return address) containing the top portion of the enclosed stock card and some of the stamps as well as part of the invoice. The rest was lost somewhere never to be seen again. I posted a comment about this here in the Forums when this happened and was chastised for including a twice-folded invoice within the #6 3/4 envelope (small regular-sized envelope).

As a result, I no longer include an invoice with the orders I send out. When I first started doing this, one customer chastised me for not including at least the invoice number with the order. I always include a short note with each order and I just started including the invoice number within this note as well as offering to help anyone access their invoice on HipStamp. I have not had anymore sliced envelopes since then and have had not complaints about not receiving an actual printed invoice.

Bill O'Malley

For all of the years I have been doing mail order I have always included an invoice simply because it says what is in the package, where is was bought from and if I am selling to a person that is a reseller they need a copy of the invoice in case they ever get audited or if they decide to sell the item later so they have their cost documented.

Richard Pauls

If a buyer really needs a printed copy of their invoice (most don't), they can always print one off themselves. It is always available digitally on HipStamp and either seller or buyer can easily print off a copy.

Bob Woodbury

Richard. Let’s try this one more time. As a buyer. When I buy multiple items from multiple sites it can be difficult to keep track of it all. If asking you to include a single piece of paper is too much for you. Well there are plenty of fish is in the sea.

Luree Hughes

I am in the small majority here. I too will send an invoice along with the order. I do this because as Ted stated my buyer buys from a lot of sites and they need to know who this came from with hopes they will either leave feedback or send me an email thanking me for the shipment. I also include the Invoice number so they can research a little better as to what they ordered. I also add a handwritten note thanking them for shopping with me.

I know when I get an order it is helpful to know who and where it came from. Do I toss the invoice? Absolutely it goes into the shred pile. But at least they cared enough to send it to me.

Also, I'm with Michael on getting an order and having the self-adhesive stamps touching or so close that they cannot be separated. I just sit and shake my head! I do use self-adhesive stamps, but I lower them on the envelope, so the cancel doesn't usually mutilate them. Or worse, the seller doesn't use stamps at all and it's a label from a shipping company! That doesn't make sense to me.

Francois Lafrance

I sell on Hipstamp, Delcampe, Ebid and ebay. I always include a list of all the items that are in my shipments.I copy and paste customer`s name and address and the title of the article that customer saw when placing the order plus I add the item number. I show the site where the purchase was made plus my seller ID. There is my name, address and contact information.. I made a template, so it is easy to simply fill in the details as their pertain to a specific order. There is never any guessing on the part of a customer. Also, the items are tightly packed with stiffening cardboard and do not shift inside the enveloppe. I often get positive comments on my shipping method.

Richard Pauls

One is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. As I mentioned above, I was called an idiot for including a double folded 8 x 11 inch paper with the printed invoice in the #6 3/4 envelopes I use to ship as it causes the envelope to become hung-up in the automatic letter sorting equipment. Now I am being called an idiot because I am not including an invoice.

I include a note including my name, mailing address and email address with each shipment. Along with thanking the buyer for making their purchase(s) from me, I also include in a separate paragraph the HipStamp invoice number and an offer to help them through the process of generating their own printed copy from HipStamp. This note is on 5 x 8 inch very light weight paper that can be folded without causing any bulk what-so-ever in the envelope. The stock card that I use for holding the stamps has a light paper-board backing that provides a little stiffening without causing the envelope from being too stiff to not allow bending. The stock card fits snugly within a #5 glassine envelope, which itself fits snugly within the mailing envelope. No tape needed to hold everything together without shifting within the envelope.

No complaints from anyone who buys from me for not including a printed invoice. For those who do mention my shipping method in their feedback, it is always positive. Oh, I did receive one negative feedback from a buyer this past year who purchased one stamp for 5 cents and then complained in the feedback that my $1.50 shipping charge was excessive for his one stamp. But that is a different can of worms.

Bob Woodbury, you will be happy to note that I did include an invoice with the Scott catalog that you just purchased from me. For orders that are contained in large envelopes or boxes, I do include a printed invoice only because no folding is involved.

Luree Hughes

Richard, this is why I love our hobby! So many do things in a different way. Whatever works for you, and you are comfortable with, go for it and damned the torpedoes! LOL.

Dennis Jorgensen

Using cut and paste, I make up a packing list using information from the Paypal payment email to tell the customer what is beng sent, who it is being sent to, and how it is being set. I also add a special offer, a link to a current pdf of a snail mail pricelist, and links to my own pages. I don't get a huge response, but I do get a response and sell stamps not necessarily listed on Hipstamp. I print a copy for the mailing, and also email the packing list when I ship. The shipment to the customer will also have a copy of my most recent snail mail list.

Rene Bravo

I like the invoice as I keep it in a folder for use when I die and my heirs are trying to figure things out . It’s so microcephalic to get worked up as a buyer because an invoice is or is not included . I think some folks have way too much time on their hands to have strong feelings about something so arcane . It’s all good .

john o'neil

Micro what?

Michael Dodd

I have so enjoyed reading all the replies. Thank you. always good to hear others points of view. even if wrong hahahaha :-) I am joking :-) enjoy your philately and as Luree says whatever works for you. :-) Merry Christmas

..........Mum, Mum, Mum... ........... who is this present from..................... :-)

Jacques Famery

I always include an invoice. At the very least it's handy to protect the stamp sent which of course is in a glassine invoice. Maybe that's why all my mailings got the customer without damage contrary to a previous mentioningg poor packaging...

Charlie

"microcephalic" I love it

Ted Tyszka

Robert Maddox

I don't send an invoice. That is readily available on line and why chop down even more trees? I do include a business card to let the customer know where the order comes from. 99% of the buyers seem to be OK with this approach.

Then of course you have the other 1%.

Bob

Phil Merrill_

Damn. 1%. I want a patch for my stamper jacket. Vrrrummm...

Robert Maddox

Sorry. My math was bad. 99.9%.

The .1% . An elite club.

Bob

Michael Duehr

One of the reasons for including an invoice is should something happen to the envelope and package and the items get separated, it becomes a bit easier for the PO or USPS et al to be able to find out where the items are to go. 2nd if shipping overseas it is required to be included in the with the items for customs purposes.

Doug Briscoe

Just to add a new flavor…
I stopped printing invoices when my printer failed. That was many months (years?) ago. Now I enclose a small piece of paper with “HipStamp Invoice [#]” and the date at the top. I list items only when there are a half dozen or fewer. Then “Thank you! Doug” All this is handwritten. I have a lot of repeat buyers.