Glasgow Stamp Shop review

Apologies to everyone for the lack of updates in the last few weeks. I have been doing all kinds of things in the summer and last week i was in Glasgow watching the Commonwealth Games. Later this week I will be at a Scouts camp, and then next week I will be on holiday. I am always busy when I'm not at school!

When I was in Glasgow last week Heidi and I visited the Glasgow Stamp Shop. Some of you might now about it but, if you don't, if you find yourself in Glasgow you should definitely visit.

Glasgow Stamp Shop is at 142 West Nile Street. Last time I visited it was a bit further down the road at 132 West Nile Street but it has moved recently - just a few weeks ago actually. I think it's in a better place and now you can look at stamps while enjoying views over the city centre.

The first thing to say about it is that it is quite big. There aren't too many stamp shops around now but I have been to some in Nottingham and Edinburgh (both sadly not there now) and Halifax and they were much smaller. There is a lot of space and two large tables to sit at to look through stock books, boxes of covers, postcards, album pages or whatever it is you are interested in.

The second thing is that it's very well organised. On one side of the shop are loads of stock books ordered in countries. These are all in alphabetical order. On the other side there are thematic stock books and also special interest, like Penny Reds, imperforate 2d Blues and so on. It makes it easy to find exactly what you want.

The third thing I noticed is that it is very reasonably priced. I couldn't really argue with any of the prices. I was interested to look at some of the older specialist items and their prices. They were obviously more than I could afford but I thought the prices were very reasonable.

What I liked most about being in the shop was that I could take my time and I never felt rushed. I often go to stamp fairs and sometimes popular stands can be very busy, so busy that you just can't get the time there you want. Heidi and I spent well over an hour looking for things we wanted and the staff were very helpful (they also gave us biscuits and chocolate, which was nice).

A leaflet I picked up in the shop gives you some facts about the place. It says there is "seating for 20 customers, while we ply you with tea or coffee". It also says that customers can browse: - 545 square feet of displays of world stamps, - 2,870 albums of stamps, sets and singles, - 17,329 new albums - 15,292 packets of mounts - 14,324 items of postal history and First Day Covers

Which is a huge amount, but also makes me wonder who counts all of this.

My dad has been coming to the this shop since he was younger then me. He first visited in 1988 when he was 9 years old. The shop was at 205 Buchanan Street then. My dad says that the dealer kindly gave him a Penny Red and also gave a generous discount on his other purchases. My dad lived on Islay which is a long way from Glasgow but he loved this little piece of history and he would save up his pocket money so that whenever he next went to Glasgow he would have something to spend in the stamp shop. This went on through his teenage years. One September my dad was in Glasgow for the Great Egg Race final, which was being held at a nearby college. He was captain of the school team. He managed to sneak out at lunchtime without anyone knowing and went to 205 Buchanan Street to buy some stamps!

When my dad later moved to Glasgow he would visit the shop regularly, mainly on Saturday mornings before he went to watch a football match. It was always a big part of his life. We don't live in Glasgow now so we only visit occasionally these days but I always enjoy going.

(Editor's note: there were two Glasgow stamp shops in the mid 1990s, when I came to live in Glasgow - one in Scott Street and the one in Buchanan Street. The current Glasgow Stamp Shop is a continuation of the business based at Scott Street, which was originally founded in 1908. However, its current owner, Gordon Carroll, was previously at Buchanan Street Stamps until 2011 and the shop is a minute's walk away from the Buchanan Street venue, so it feels more like the old Buchanan Street Stamps rather than John MacIlwain's shop on Scott Street. It has to be said that the current location is far more ideal that the Scott Street site, which was up a hill near the Glasgow School of Art. West Nile Street is near to the main rail stations, Buchanan Street underground station and bus connections, which definitely helps.)

Scott Street in the 1990s. (Photo: D. Henniker)

Gordon Carroll is the owner and he is an interesting person! He has been a stamp dealer since he was 9 years old, which is quite incredible. He became the youngest full-time stamp dealer in the country. He is now running a fantastic business and he has plans to create a philatelic museum. He is also happy to talk to people, as Heidi will tell you later.

Before we went in my dad asked us to decide what we wanted so we had specific things to look for. I am interested in older European stamps but I also collect dinosaurs so I opted to look for dinosaur stamps. Heidi is really into thematics especially animals and she decided she was particularly interested in searching for stamps with pictures of penguins.

It was quite easy for me to find what I was looking for because, very helpfully, there were stock books labelled "dinosaurs". I didn't have a list of specific stamps that I needed but I never forget what I have in my collection. I was able to pick up some stamps from The Gambia, Guyana and St Vincent including some nice miniature sheets. On a completely different theme I was looking through some other albums of animal thematics and found a fantastic sheet of bats from South Africa which I am very pleased to add to my collection.

Heidi's review

I was looking for stamps with penguins. I collect all kinds of stamps but I like birds and butterflies especially. I don't have too many penguins in my collection and as I know quite a lot about the different breeds of penguins I wanted to change that!

Like Xanthe, I started looking through thematic albums. Obviously there were not any albums of just penguins so I went through the bird stamps. I did manage to find some penguins, including a set from Cambodia and a nice stamp from China. But it was a challenge. So my dad suggested I look at the other side of the shop and check out the stock books of countries like the Falkland Islands, Chile and Australian Antarctic Territory which might be more likely to have stamps showing penguins. And he was right! I found some amazing stamps from the Falkland Islands (I really like Falklands stamps anyway) and I bought this amazing sheet from South Georgia. I found one or two other things I was interested in too.

It definitely was helpful to be able to look through the books and find exactly what I needed.

I met Gordon three months ago at the Stafford Stamp Show. I was looking around the stalls and he had some amazing older stamps, all with interesting stories behind them. I didn't have the money to buy any of them but I loved hearing about them and the history. You don't need to own something to enjoy it! Gordon spent quite a long time talking to me about these fascinating stamps knowing that I was really interested in them but wasn't going to be buying anything. (Editor's note: A good dealer knows that enthusiastic young collectors are far more valuable in the longer-term than quick sales.)

I really like talking to people who know a lot about stamps. It makes collecting more interesting. I like thematics and collecting stamps that are about my other interests, but it's always good to hear about history and stamps that are unusual for all kinds of reasons.

I also found some other things I was interested in including Falkland Islands stamps and some interesting bird stamps from other countries.

I liked the variety of stamps in the shop. There are so many stamps. Basically, it has whatever you are looking for. I liked being able to sit down and take my time looking through stock books and boxes.

Scores: Xanthe and Heidi have worked together to score their experience at the Glasgow Stamp Shop. Range of Stamps - Excellent range of stamps! 5/5

Value for Money - Good value for money, no complaints about prices. It compares very well with dealers at stamp fairs. Gave a discount when paying. 4.5/5

Stock Organisation - Very good, making it easier to find what you're looking for. 5/5

Staff Knowledge - Is there anything they don't know about stamps? 5/5

Friendliness & Welcome - Couldn;t be more friendly and welcoming. 5/5

Accessories & Supplies - We didn't buy any so it's hard to say but we had a look and from what we saw there is a good range of supplies. 4/5

Presentation of the Shop - It's just been moved so it's early days in the new place. Looks very good though. 4.5/5

Something for Beginners - There is a lot that is suitable for beginners, but you have to look for it. And if you're a beginner it may not be obvious where to look, although we're sure the staff would help. 4/5

Overall Experience: 37/40 The Glasgow Stamp Shop's leaflet proudly says it is a place "where no-one is second class". It definitely felt like that. It also says "this stamp shop has to be on your 'must visit' list, if only once in your life". If you are interested in stamps or postal history then I would definitely agree!