How to be a Successful Stamp Collector

Firstly, the first impression you have is that collecting them is something easy, you buy and album them. But it is a little more complicated than that, and I will show you in part what it takes:

1. Getting to know which stamps you need

That is very important, I have heard many collectors buying a stamp and saying, "Whoops... I already had that stamp but I did not remember!". Yes, that can happen because there are hundreds of stamps to collect. To have access to your album, you just need to go to your lookup and click on the image above "Stamps". Your album is divided by sections, each one with a different theme (Neopia Central, Lost Desert, Charms, etc.) and clicking on them you will see which ones you are missing or not. Those sections have a capacity of 25 stamps and usually the rarest stamps are on the bottom. Make a list of which stamps you need to have a better control and remember to keep it updated!

2. Getting to know your album

As I said, your album is subdivided in sections of 25 stamps each. It is important to emphasize that some sections, when filled, can give you avatars! They are: Mystery Island, Tyrannia, Lost Desert, Haunted Woods, Snowy Valley, Virtupets, Battledome and Faerieland. But you need to know that they are extremely popular and expensive, to complete the cheapest you would need to shell out nothing less than 300 million neopoints. But do not feel intimidated! I also thought I would never complete one, but anyone can. You just need effort and dedication!

3. Have neopoints, lots of them!

Collecting stamps requires a lot of time playing, not just to go behind the stamps you want, but mostly to make neopoints, after all how will you buy them?

There are many possible ways to make neopoints, some you can make millions in one day, others can take a few weeks to do such a feat. Thereby, if you have a fast internet I recommend you to restock on the shops of Neopia, buying items at low prices and selling them at the market price. I am not going into depth on how to restock because this is not a restocking guide, however there are many guides all over Neopia that you can follow. You can restock in the Attic (Almost Abandoned Attic), it works more or less like the shops, you buy items at low prices and sell them more costly. Also you can watch out for any low priced items in auctions. Another way to make neopoints but at a slow rate, is playing games, World Challenge (where every victory you win a map piece and when you collect all pieces you can get prizes!), Key Quest, among many others. But each person has more skills in a particular area, and it is up to you to decide how you will earn your neopoints!

4. Stamp Rarities

Stamps have different rarities, they go from 20 to 180. I will divide in categories for you understand more clearly:

- Rarity 20 to 99: those stamps are stockable on Neopian Post Office, the lower the rarity, the cheapest and more often it will stock, and the bigger it is, the harder and less often. Thus the most expensive and rare stamps are rarity 99.

- Coins rarity 100: well, those are not exactly stamps, but they are album collectibles. There are 2: Emerald Eyrie Coin and Neopian Times Coin. It is important to say that both stocks in the shop Collectable Coins, however it is very, very rare! I myself, after years collecting, have never heard of someone that really saw one stocking (but it is possible!). But do not worry, there are other ways to obtain them: the Wheel of Extravagance can give out items rarity 100 including those two coins (if you are willing to spend 100,000 neopoints to spin it), of course only if you are really lucky. Also Neopian Times Coin was recently given (for the second time) on a special edition of the Neopian Times, becoming more accessible to collectors.

- Rarity 101 and 110: those stamps are considered "Special" and "Mega Rare" respectively, for a reason: they were given at an event, some a few years ago on Lenny Conundrum and Mystery Pic for example and others more recently on plots and Altador Cup, among many other events! But the important thing for you to know is that they have a higher value since their stock is limited.

- Rarity 180: Stamps that are rarity 180 one day were from a different rarity, but TNT decided to retire them or they were just always r180 and also have a limited stock, which makes their price only increase by the time passes.

A few notes:

There are six different kinds of album collectibles: stamps, coins, shells, treasures of the deep, scarabs and charms. As said before, the stamps stock in the Neopian Post Office, while coins and scarabs in Collectable Coins, shells and maractite coins in Collectable Sea Shells, and lastly charms in Toy Shop.

Stamps from albums that give avatars: it is crucial to know that those stamps will have a higher value compared to others of the same rarity, that is because they are very popular and avatar collectors are always interested on them too! Since the demand is big, they will be more valued.

5. Buying stamps and how to negotiate

Now that you have a good amount of money and the list of stamps you are missing, let's get to the business! Firstly, here is a doubt that many people ask me: Should I buy cheap to most expensive stamps first for my count keep going up and hereafter have a chance of winning the Stamp Collector Trophy, or complete sections first, despite prices? Well, the truth is that decision is up to you. I opted to buy in order of prices (cheap to expensive) until I had a good amount to win the trophy, when I did, I decided to save neopoints to only then fill sections. But you can do both simultaneously! Because there are some cheaper albums (compared to others) like Shells and Scarabs for example.

Something important to emphasize here is the way to obtain your stamps. If you are starting to collect now, you can try to restock them and you will save some money doing that (if you are lucky enough to restock some big rarities!) or even make a profit over the repeated ones. But generally, there are some stamps really hard to see in stock (so as rarity 99) and others do not even stock (rarities 101, 110 and 180, as said before) and you will have to search for them on the Trading Post or Auctions.

The big hint here as buyer is using the wordiness to get some discount, after all you are a collector and usually sellers are willing to go a little lower than the current price for us, yay! But do not approach making a low offer or you will offend them. First say you are interested, that the stamp is going to your album and if he would be willing to haggle a little. Only then you make an offer you think it is fair for both.

Initially you can be very doubtful on the current stamp prices, try asking help to your friends that know a little more about market prices or just take a look at the Trading Post (but do not totally trust their prices!). But do not worry, with time and after accumulating experience you will become an expert with prices!

6. Albuming stamps and winning the trophy

After buying a stamp, it is very simple to put them in your album (and here is the best part in my opinion): go to your inventory, click over the stamp and select the option "Put in your stamp album". Now go to your album and check the stamp on the corresponding section. Voilà!

After a certain time collecting, you will probably be going crazy to get the trophy and be recognized as one of the biggest stamp collectors all over Neopia! To appear on the Stamp High Score Table and to have a chance to win the bronze, silver or gold trophies, go to your album and click in "overview" on the top. But do not forget! It is necessary to have a minimum amount to win it, and can take a while until that.

Collecting stamps is not just about having neopoints and filling stamp sections, but also about being patient, to know when making a move, when it is a good deal or not. But mostly it is about dedication and humbleness. Now that you are an expert and know what it takes to be a successful stamp collector, get started your collection!