How do I get free stamps? There are many places in your community where you can get free stamps. With a little initiative and courtesy, you can have friends, family and neighborhood locales helping you get new material.
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: A few days
Here's How:
- Family and Friends The people closest to you get letters daily. Put the word out that you are looking for stamps and they may be able to collect a lot of material for you. Offer to do a favor or chore, maybe even take care of the little ones (and show them the wonder of stamp collecting).
- Work Your workplace gets a lot of mail. While much of it might be metered mail (an interesting collectors field on its own), a lot of stamps will be received. Ask secretaries, employees in the mail room, and co-workers if they can save stamps they receive. Offer to provide them an envelope or box for the material and be sure to pick things up on a regular basis.
- Universities Colleges get mail from around the world from applicants, other schools and many other places. Talk to specific departments to see if they can pull things aside for you. Again, offer a container for them to put material into and be consistent in retrieving the material. Possibly offer a presentation or display of philatelic material related to their field. Good places for foreign stamps include International Studies, Area Studies, Study Abroad and International Student organizations.
- Museums Like universities, museums get a lot of mail from all over. If they are willing to save stamps for you, consider offering to set up a presentation or display. Perhaps they have an exhibit coming up that you could complement or for any youth activity area they might have.
Tips:
- Always offer a container of some sort to keep the stamps in. Be prompt and consistent in getting the material they save for you. The trick is to minimize the amount of work they have to do.
- Don't be surprised if someone has beaten you to the punch. Your sources may already have an arrangement with another collector in place.
- Be Polite This is the big one. Always be courteous and respectful to those who you talk to and who save material for you. They are doing you a favor. Try to find a way to repay their kindness; with a display or presentation when appropriate, or even a simple thank you card.
What You Need:
- Containers to store stamps
- Friends
- Neighbors
- Family