How to get your stamps #5 - your mail!

"No-one gets stamps on their mail any more!" - at least that's what a lot of people say. The trouble with that is that I get a lot of stamps on mine!

Yes, another way to get stamps to build your collection is on your mail.

Take a look at the examples in this picture (above). These are all stamps I have received recently. There is only one recent non-Christmas GB commemorative and a recent French stamp, but I have received a nice mix of older commemoratives and modern definitives. All these help fill holes in my collection.

I think it helps that I buy things from stamp dealers, who will usually use stamps on their mail. Let's be honest, they've normally got a lot of them around! If you're a younger collector it can be great to receive these stamps. Sometimes I already have them in my collection and sometimes I don't. The great thing is that it doesn't cost you anything extra.

I also get stamps on letters from my family, especially my grandma. We write letters to each other and try to use nice stamps, and recent ones if possible. Our family likes to send postcards to each other whenever we go somewhere different, so that is another good way of receiving stamps. Of course you don't always know what you're going to get on your mail but that can make it interesting.

Is it the best way to get your stamps? It depends. It's a good way especially as it's what stamps are created for! But on the down side stamps can sometimes arrive damaged, with a black marker cancel (aaaarrrrrggggghhhhh!!!) or might not be stamps you want. If you collect specific types of stamps then it might not be great for you - but if you're a younger or new collector I would say it can be very good!

And to people who complain there aren't enough stamps on mail, maybe there is a solution to that? Perhaps we could all try and write more letters or postcards, or try to use stamps when we can instead of these labels everyone seems to hate?