In my Spring 2016 pricelist, I mentioned the trouble I had with a particular customer who ordered discount postage and returned the Christmas stamps all stuck to the glassine. In the end, my profit was almost zero in dealing with him. I’m not going to repeat the entire story again.

I got a letter in the mail. He wanted more discount postage, but he wanted certain denominations (which is usually no problem). In some cases, he wanted particular Scott numbers. They were all common Scott numbers, but …

Wait a minute! Discount postage is the scrap that comes out of collections. It is material that I’m overstocked on or more often lightly damaged stamps (disturbed gum, damaged perfs, creases, etc.). You do not get to specify Scott numbers on your request for discount postage.

I can usually honor special requests like, “I want only low denomination stamps” or “Can you make sure the combinations equal the first class postage rate?” Requests like that are usually possible and it is not much extra effort to do so.

Obviously, he is trying to build at least a portion of his mint collection through supposed “discount postage” orders.

I returned his note with, “Sorry, I sold out of my discount postage.” I am not going to work for near zero profit again. Nor will I build his US mint collection at less than face value for the work involved. Sorry Charlie, try another dealer with your scheme.