Even if you receive a lot of mail regularly from a country you intend to collect stamps from and you have relatives or friends in said country, you probably won’t be able to amass the variety of stamps you want to collect. You are going to need a more organized method of acquiring stamps. In other words you are going to need more sources for your stamps. With a proper plan you will be on track to get the stamps you want.

The U.S. Postal Service loves stamp collectors and conducts periodic market surveys to figure out what percentage of stamps sold are never used and thus presumed to be in the hands of stamp collectors. Such studies look at the total number of stamps and what types sell and which types don’t seem to be selling. such studies can offer a glimpse of what future stamp issues may become popular.

Even with all of these market studies about what percentage of stamps get sold but are not used for postage, there is still a chance many of these stamps could still wind up being used to mail a letter or package. This means that just because these stamps have been sold, it doesn’t imply that a profit has been made yet.

Contrast this with countries that primarily sell their stamps abroad to collectors. Stamps sold in this fashion will rarely be used as postage. Stamp collectors simply accept the fact that such stamps issued by various foreign countries will ultimately wind up in stamp collections rather than on a letter as postage.

Check out stamp dealers to find the foreign stamps you want to collect. Some dealers specialize in foreign stamps. Some stamp dealers will offer one or more of these types of service:

• New Issue Service--You tell the dealer what country or country you want stamps from and they will send you new material at periodic intervals.
• Want Lists--You provide the dealer with a list of specific stamps and the dealer sends them to you with their bill for services rendered.
• Approvals--The dealer sends you a selection of stamps that he believes will be of interest to you. you pick out the stamps you want and buy them and return the unwanted items back to the dealer.
• Collections or bulk lots--This is a great collection starter. Large stamp groupings from a particular country will often cover a large percentage of the really inexpensive material. This is a great way to build your collection.

Like mined collectors can also be a great way to acquire foreign stamps. A local stamp club could have some members that have stamps you are looking for. There are many organizations that can help collectors find the foreign stamps they want. The Internet is a great way to find these groups.