In “How It Was Accomplished” by Andrew Fahsing, pages 4-5 has an amusing paragraph about his life as a full time stamp dealer:

“A typical day at the Fahsings goes something like this: I take the outgoing mail which was worked on the previous day, and deliver it to the post office, and pick up the incoming mail. I also purchase a few groceries we might need for the day, get a cup of coffee at one of the coffee shops, swap a few stories with some of the big-shot businessmen standing outside their stores waiting for customers, and get on home in time for lunch. After lunch, we take the dog for a little exercise and then have a cup of tea. After tea, we take a shower, have a big discussion over which dress Daphne should wear, put on my one suit, and go out for dinner and a show.”

In the next paragraph, Fahsing declares his sarcasm and explains what a typical day is like.

I think many people who look at the life of a stamp dealer conjure up similar images. It’s just stamps. It’s not a lot of hard work and it’s easy money. It requires minimal effort while reaping millions of dollars in profit.

The stamp business is no different than many other small businesses, especially proprietorships. You work your butt off. You struggle every day to find new customers. You worry about the bills coming in. Where do you buy stock at? What are the trends you should be following? What are the fads you should avoid? Is there anything you should be changing about the way you do business?

I don’t want to discourage anyone from becoming a stamp dealer. In fact, I think the hobby would benefit if there were more dealers. I just caution people that think stamp dealing is a life of luxury and easy money. If you feel that way, you are dead wrong.

Like any other small business, stamp dealing is a lot of work. You pay bills. You fill orders. You prepare advertising. You work on building your stock. You answer correspondence. And so forth.

A close friend of mine once said, “The best part of being your own boss is that you get to decide which 23 hours out of the day you want to work.” Someone else probably came up with that quote. I didn’t feel like looking it up. Stamp dealing isn’t quite that bad, but it isn’t far from it.

There are some intangible benefits from being a stamp dealer. For example, if we decide to take the kids to a movie, I can work on stamps later that night. When you are punching a timeclock for someone else, you don’t have that flexibility.

I don’t regret getting into stamp dealing. I will say that I think even though I knew it was going to be a lot of work, even I underestimated what was involved. But I’m getting better at it and improving

I’m happy that I’m a stamp dealer. I would encourage others to try it if they are interested. Just don’t go into it thinking that it’s easy to do and you make a lot of money at it. You can make money at it. However, it takes good old fashioned hard work to make your business a success. If you decide to take the plunge into stamp dealing, I wish you much success!