Philatarium | about

Member:

A bit about me:

I've been a stamp collector for more than 20 years, with a primary focus on Japanese philately.

But I enjoy pretty much all facets of philately, and, frankly, I've never met a stamp I didn't like. (That's why I'm selling now!)

I've been on eBay since August 1998.

What's a "Philatarium"?

If there is such a thing as a "planetarium" or a "solarium", then why not a "Philatarium"?

It's your perfect stamp room, with lots of reference materials and plenty of space to spread out.

That's a picture of my mine up above. (Cap and gown optional.)

Just to be clear: the stamp room is a fantasy, but the stamps I'm offering are real!

What I'm selling and why:

Like many collectors, I've acquired a lot of material that over time no longer fits with my collecting interests.

So I'm selling some of this material on eBay and StampWants.

eBay and StampWants:

eBay recently changed its fee structure, and now no longer permits any fixed-price item to sell below $1.00.

Now, if you collect stamps, you know there are a lot of stamps — probably many that you need — that catalog below $1.00.

So eBay may just no longer be the best place to find low- to medium-value stamps. I've had to find another place to offer them.

I've selected StampWants to host my fixed-price store of nice but less-expensive stamps.

Here are the links to both locations (which open in new windows):

Combined shipping & handling:

Please take advantage of my combined shipping offer:

pay only the highest shipping & handling amount among your purchases on eBay and/or StampWants, and the s&h on the other items is free (except for books).

This works only if you pay in one invoice. Please feel free to email me and let me know this is your intention, and I'll figure out how to invoice you to reflect this shipping discount.

Also, for everyone's protection, insurance is required for purchases over $50 (domestic or international).

Careful packaging:

I don't just drop a glassine into an envelope and slap a stamp on it.

I pack items with some rigidity and, for mint stamps, in a moisture-resistant enclosure.

Doing this costs more, weighs more, and incurs a non-machineable surcharge from the US Postal Service.

Every item scanned front and back:

I've scanned in and uploaded images of every item, front and back. You can usually click on a picture to see a larger image of that item.

7-day return policy:

Bid with confidence!

I want you to be satisfied with your purchases, and I try with my scans to make sure that what you see is what you get.

But once you receive the item, if it's not what you thought it was going to be, you may return it to me within 7 days for a full refund.

Do please just communicate with me promptly if you want to return the item.

Insurance:

Insurance is required for purchases totaling $50.00 or more.

Insurance is always available on any item of lower value, too.

I use private insurance, which allows me to insure international shipments as easily as domestic ones.

Insurance
Total value
of transaction: Insurance cost: Status:

$0.01 - $50.00 $1.70 encouraged

$50.01 - $100.00 $2.15 required

$100.01 - $200.00 $2.60 required

$200.01 - $300.00 $4.60 required

$300.01 - $400.00 $5.55 required

$400.01 - $500.00 $6.50 required

$500.01 - $600.00 $7.45 required

$600.01 - $2,500.00 $7.45 + $0.95 per $100 value over $600 required

Smoke-free & pet-free:

All items are from a smoke- and pet-free home.

Some of my favorite philatelic links:

► stamp discussion boards:

eBay Stamp Chat discussion board

Virtual Stamp Club discussion board

Richard Frajola's discussion board

StampWants discussion board

► philatelic organizations:

American Philatelic Society

International Society for Japanese Philately

China Stamp Society

Society of Indo-China Philatelists

American Topical Association

Virtual Stamp Club