I’ve added some more modern mint issues to my pricelist. But I still have more to go, particularly in the definitive issues. I have most, but not all, of the commemorative issues. I don’t carry much material in the last five years because demand for that material is very low. Some of those issues are still on sale at the USPS and most collectors, even those new to the hobby, are generally able to get issues with in the last five years. Sometimes post offices, especially smaller offices, may still have a small stash of some of these stamps.

When I made the decision to add approximately 1500 new Scott numbers to my stock, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. So far, I’ve spent over $10,000 buying the stock that I have. It’s a large investment to a smaller dealer like me. When you consider that I try to buy about 20-40 stamps per Scott number so that I can have some mint singles and plate blocks in my stock, the cost adds up quickly.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. Sales of the modern issues haven’t been stellar, but there is some demand there. When buying this stuff, I buy at a lower price because I know a good bit of it is going to sit for months/years until it sells. However, I don’t think the average person realizes what it costs a dealer to get into a new area. Whether it’s modern US like I did, or a new country to add to your stock, or whatever the case may be, the investment a dealer makes is usually in the hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to build up a reasonable stock where the dealer has more than 1 or 2 copies to sell.

For the people contemplating getting into stamp dealing, realize that starting up a stamp stock requires a significant amount of money. If you are going to deal in approvals of inexpensive/common stamps, the investment isn’t quite as large. But to have depth in your stock in a particular area, you need to be prepared to spend a lot of money.