I was thinking maybe it was because I copied from another website and posted there. But I think you and I are so self-important that we just naturally assume we made it happen.
LOL! My "other self" thinks he is self-important. He keeps telling me that. I really do wish those folks nothing but the best and really do hope they do well and I agree with you that we should support the younger folks who have an interest in the hobby. I guess I need to go buy that F.I. #3 from them now eh?
Hearing those voices again.....mrphhhhh. Dang Paragraphians!
Greg it was just a joke but you guys rolled out the red carpet. I think it had something to do with not liking to pay fees. Well there is always FB you know. We all hope they come back along with the rest the more the merrier.
No, I get it. I just don't want to discourage the young 'uns from giving it their best shot and getting involved. I actually think it is pretty cool. And a great song BTW.
Do you mind resubmitting what you posted? I was trying to post with our user name, and made things more complicated here. You did not run us off. Please repost and advice you gave. I think we missed it.
No...you know what....this is important (I think). Let me see if I can remember what I wrote this morning..
Again welcome to HipStamp and best of luck to you all in your new adventure. Best advice I can give you at your early stage is to build inventory and be patient (John Maloney notwithstanding). Ask John how his pet beavers are doing.
1. First thing I would recommend is to go to the Internet Philatelic Dealer Association website. They have a really good page there that will give you some ideas about internet stamp selling. Some of their guideline may seem a bit tedious but they are quite effective. Deals with scanning, descriptions, and a lot more. Worth the read for you just starting out. https://www.ipdastamps.com/internet-listing-selling-guidelines/
2. Provide detailed descriptions including hinging status, perforations and watermarks (especially if there are varieties), any damage like short perfs, creases, stains, thins...that kind of thing.
3. Put together a good store policy for your store including what catalog and what year you are using. Think through things like defining any descriptions you may use that are not "standard" nomenclature.
4. Especially for "higher" value items but even for any MNH or items with damage, provide a scan of the back of the listed item. Takes a little more time but pays off in the end. Remember that in the internet ether, your customer cannot actually examine the item personally so they must rely on the information you provide on the item in your store, so the more, the better.
5. Consider entertaining offers on you listed items. I have found that most knowledgeable customers who make offers, make reasonable offers and, in my case, most are accepted. In fact, many times when I accept an offer on one item, it turns into a multiple item purchase...and best of all a repeat customer. The unreasonable offers, just decline to accept them. No harm, no foul, and no hurt feelings.
I am certain I have left out a lot but the good news is that while the learning curve may seem steep right now, it can be overcome. I always taught my own kids that there is no such thing as a dumb question, just dumb answers (which I am sure I gave them from time to time)! LOL!
Don't be afraid to ask questions here. There are a lot of great and experienced dealers here who will be more than willing to help. You literally have decades of an experience well to drink from here.
You may want to rethink your shipping charges. The $1.50 for the first item is not a problem but adding 10 cents each for any over that is a problem with a lot of buyers. You would be better off if you choose to add a surcharge that say after every 100 items adding $1 extra (Which can be done in the shipping)
Not 1 buyer would be happy paying over priority mail prices for 100 inexpensive stamps.
Thank you, Michael. I have looked at many stores that do charge the extra fee, but your feedback is helpful. We will rethink that and may at least try it for a time.
Greg, the information you shared in the IPDA link is for members only and cant be viewed. The membership information implies they are super picky about who they allow to be members. Is that true? Is it a worth while organization?
I wondered about that. When I logged into IPDA the other day, it seemed that the links were dead for me even when I logged in. I'll check it out. Well, I guess being picky about membership is actually a good thing though if one thinks about it. If it was open to anyone, there would be these shysters we all see as members and it wouldn't mean anything to customers (if they care about that kind of thing). It is worth it to me at least and the members I have met so far seem be good, honest folks. Dues are very inexpensive, the newsletter is well done, and I like knowing that my little store meets their standards which are rigorous but nothing that I personally don't expect for myself anyway.
I checked out you store a bit ago. It looks really nice, congrats on a great start!
I/we are looking into possibly making the listing guidelines details public. I'm a relatively new IPDA member myself so I don't have a lot of "pull" but I'll try and run it up the flagpole. We'll se what happens.
Thank you Greg. Yourself and many other people here have been very awesome and fun to learn from. Tonight I made an application to the IPDA. We'll see what happens.
You bet! Don't be disappointed though if you don't get accepted the first time you apply. I wasn't. It took me some time to build inventory, sales, good feedback, etc. Your store is still pretty new but it looks, to me anyway, like you are on the "right track" early on. I think you will do well.
On the other thing, I think their committee is going to look at it from what I hear.
Comments
Hearing those voices again.....mrphhhhh. Dang Paragraphians!
Again welcome to HipStamp and best of luck to you all in your new adventure. Best advice I can give you at your early stage is to build inventory and be patient (John Maloney notwithstanding). Ask John how his pet beavers are doing.
1. First thing I would recommend is to go to the Internet Philatelic Dealer Association website. They have a really good page there that will give you some ideas about internet stamp selling. Some of their guideline may seem a bit tedious but they are quite effective. Deals with scanning, descriptions, and a lot more. Worth the read for you just starting out. https://www.ipdastamps.com/internet-listing-selling-guidelines/
2. Provide detailed descriptions including hinging status, perforations and watermarks (especially if there are varieties), any damage like short perfs, creases, stains, thins...that kind of thing.
3. Put together a good store policy for your store including what catalog and what year you are using. Think through things like defining any descriptions you may use that are not "standard" nomenclature.
4. Especially for "higher" value items but even for any MNH or items with damage, provide a scan of the back of the listed item. Takes a little more time but pays off in the end. Remember that in the internet ether, your customer cannot actually examine the item personally so they must rely on the information you provide on the item in your store, so the more, the better.
5. Consider entertaining offers on you listed items. I have found that most knowledgeable customers who make offers, make reasonable offers and, in my case, most are accepted. In fact, many times when I accept an offer on one item, it turns into a multiple item purchase...and best of all a repeat customer. The unreasonable offers, just decline to accept them. No harm, no foul, and no hurt feelings.
I am certain I have left out a lot but the good news is that while the learning curve may seem steep right now, it can be overcome. I always taught my own kids that there is no such thing as a dumb question, just dumb answers (which I am sure I gave them from time to time)! LOL!
Don't be afraid to ask questions here. There are a lot of great and experienced dealers here who will be more than willing to help. You literally have decades of an experience well to drink from here.
Hope this helps guys!
Jeremy
Not 1 buyer would be happy paying over priority mail prices for 100 inexpensive stamps.
I checked out you store a bit ago. It looks really nice, congrats on a great start!
I/we are looking into possibly making the listing guidelines details public. I'm a relatively new IPDA member myself so I don't have a lot of "pull" but I'll try and run it up the flagpole. We'll se what happens.
Greg
On the other thing, I think their committee is going to look at it from what I hear.
Best of luck to you!
Greg
I just got a message from the IPDA Secretary and was told they updated their website to allow viewing of the listing guidelines details.
This link should work now.
https://www.ipdastamps.com/internet-listing-and-selling-guidelines/
Jeremy