Money-making idea- any flaws with this plan?

Shankers

Any flaws with this idea?

First Class stamps go up in value every year (the amount is announced in advance)
Buy lots of First Class stamps
Keep them for a few years
Sell them using a platform that takes no (or a low) percentage, marginally below the future price.

For instance.
2021, a First Class stamp costs 85p. 
Let's say in 2024 a First Class stamp costs £1, sell them in 2024 for 94p
The buyer has an incentive to buy. You as the seller makes the equivalent of 3% per year for 3 years on the initial investment.

MalMonroe

Well, anything can happen between the time you buy lots of stamps to the time you can start selling them in a few years' time. And that just reminded me of that old saying, 'there's many a slip twixt cup and lip'.

You might just lose a bundle of money.

Price of stamps could go down, or stay as it is. Anything could happen to you (hopefully not but life is unpredictable). Someone could break into your home and steal your stash of stamps. 

In short, I don't think it's a very good idea and I wouldn't do it. But as I say below, that is just my opinion. If you have money to spare/waste then it's entirely up to you.

Skint_yet_Again

Martin blogged about this back in 2012

https://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2012/04/can-you-buy-stamps-now-then-sell-them-for-30-profit/

Shankers

Skint_yet_Again said:

Martin blogged about this back in 2012

https://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2012/04/can-you-buy-stamps-now-then-sell-them-for-30-profit/

Interesting. The main issue Martin's (admittedly old) blog doesn't cover is the best platform to sell them on. He writes as if Ebay won't take a big cut, but my impression is they take 20%. Other alternatives would be Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree, but they mainly draw in people who are local.

mjm3346

Who is going to buy lots of stamps when franking can be over 10% cheaper? 

lincroft1710

One of the problems will be alerting potential customers to your selling medium. I doubt there are/will be many people trawling eBay/Gumtree/FB Marketplace looking for "postage stamps"

theoretica

lincroft1710 said:

One of the problems will be alerting potential customers to your selling medium. I doubt there are/will be many people trawling eBay/Gumtree/FB Marketplace looking for "postage stamps"

Actually I understand there are - but one of the people looking are the post office looking out for stolen, fake or washed stamps.

savingholmes

You would be better off buying the pretty first class stamps and then selling for a profit on Etsy

bit_by_bit

I haven't bought any as I get mine free but you can buy books of stamps on Fl-bay.

If you are sure you can keep them safe and dry and don't need the money for a few years then you may be able to make a profit.

I would sell in books of 10 rather than loose indiviuals as they are pre glued and less likely to get damaged.

Be fully aware of all fees e.g. buyitnow is an extra charge along with final value fee.

Always send via  the post office counter to get a Proof of Posting.

Obviously it is not a quick return but they are small to keep, unlikely to go down in value, easy to post in a letter envelope and even if their cash value is on the front and they are very old they can still be used/sold.

DH gets lots of old colourful stamps on his deliveries from a few people who send him stuff. I am looking at selling these used franked stamps for a bit of a return so why not??

lincroft1710

bit_by_bit said:

I haven't bought any as I get mine free but you can buy books of stamps on Fl-bay.

If you are sure you can keep them safe and dry and don't need the money for a few years then you may be able to make a profit.

I would sell in books of 10 rather than loose indiviuals as they are pre glued and less likely to get damaged.

Be fully aware of all fees e.g. buyitnow is an extra charge along with final value fee.

Always send via  the post office counter to get a Proof of Posting.

Obviously it is not a quick return but they are small to keep, unlikely to go down in value, easy to post in a letter envelope and even if their cash value is on the front and they are very old they can still be used/sold.

DH gets lots of old colourful stamps on his deliveries from a few people who send him stuff. I am looking at selling these used franked stamps for a bit of a return so why not??

Selling used stamps which have been obtained at no cost and which may (or may not have) a value to stamp collectors is completely different to reselling books of 1st Class stamps.

elsien

As someone trying to offload some unneeded books of first class stamps, there are surprisingly few people who want them at a decent price.
Sellers on eBay sell them cheaper than I would want to, and on FB market place people are suspicious of fakes. 

And there are a lot less people posting things than perhaps a few years ago, with the rise of e-cards etc.
My stamps cost me nothing so I’ve little to use but it’s not something I’d want to take a punt on unless I was getting them cheaply in the first place. And possibly not even then.