Foreign New Issue Subscriptions

[srijan]

How many members here have subscribed to new stamp issues from foreign countries? Recently bought a couple of subscriptions (UK and Germany) from the website PostBeeld(dot)com. Will be cancelling it very soon as it is just too expensive - they are charging me at least 2-3 times the face value, not to mention the shipping charges.

It was a pleasant surprise when I found out that Canada Post sells Quarterly packs with free international shipping for purchases over $25. Do they sell them at face value or do they charge a premium?

Could anyone tell me which other countries I can get subscriptions/year packs directly from?

Most of all, is it worth it? Or should I wait for 20 years or so when most of these would turn up in kiloware lots?

[youpiao]

I have not subscribed, but I have placed orders with An Post (Ireland), a few years back, and they only charged the 80c postage, and Australia Post, who offered free postage on orders over $45.

[stampie78]

Nov 12, 2019 7:19:14 GMT -5 srijan said:

How many members here have subscribed to new stamp issues from foreign countries? Recently bought a couple of subscriptions (UK and Germany) from the website PostBeeld(dot)com. Will be cancelling it very soon as it is just too expensive - they are charging me at least 2-3 times the face value, not to mention the shipping charges.

It was a pleasant surprise when I found out that Canada Post sells Quarterly packs with free international shipping for purchases over $25. Do they sell them at face value or do they charge a premium?

Could anyone tell me which other countries I can get subscriptions/year packs directly from?

Most of all, is it worth it? Or should I wait for 20 years or so when most of these would turn up in kiloware lots?

Funny you should be asking about Canada Post stamp sales. I was just about to order my new issues for the rest of the year.

As to your question, Canada Post sells all New Issues at face value and as you quoted they do ship postage free if order is over $25.00.

Years ago when I was in Israel on UN Peacekeeping  duties, I found a stamp dealer in Eilat that sold Israeli new issues at face value.

Before I came home I subscribed to his service. He sent lots about 3 times a year and only charged a very small fee for the service (1 or 2 % I think) and normal postage rates to Canada. (Don't know if he is still in business or not) I also bought from UN and USA at face value plus postage. Don't know much about any others but I would think they would be the same. That is from the Official Post Offices. Dealers can give you the same service but of course they will charge a premium for the stamps + P/H.

Depending on the country it can really add up. On the other hand if you wait till they show up in kiloware you will most likely pay 10 times as much and end up with a bunch of stamps you don't need or want.

[khj]

I haven't subscribed to new issues since the early 1990s. So I can't give you any current info. But in general...

-- going through a private agent will be more expensive than buying direct from that country's postal bureau; the advantage of private agent is that you usually can get several countries all at once; one major agent used to sell subscriptions at face value or even 10% discount, but I think they went out of business about 10 years ago
-- some postal bureaus did offer free shipping with deposit subscription; in fact, all the ones I used to subscribe to, I never paid anything for shipping (including overseas international)
-- subscribe only if you want new issues now; financially speaking, you are much better off waiting 5-10 years and you can get most of the same stamps at face value or below in large batches; however, you will need to do some shopping around, especially for stamps missing from the batches; the new issue subscription lets you get the stamps within months of issue and you don't have to worry about looking for missing stamps (but some people enjoy the hunt)
-- when you buy "packs" or "year sets", keep in mind that some of them actually do not contain all the stamps for that series/year; you need to check each time; for example, when the US started issuing the 50 stamp panes, the commemorative year sets only had a single representative stamp from that pane, and you had to buy the full pane separately

Enjoy your foray into new stamp issues!

[terri]

It used to be wonderful having new issue subscriptions. Many countries would mail your purchases in covers with the recent stamps. The UN used to use a special cancel with each issue.

I’m also not sure how things function now, but I know that postage stamps on the shipping covers is rare. Does anyone know of any entity still doing that? I miss getting those covers!

I don’t currently have any subscriptions because I’m shifting away from collecting mint and I’m not fond of CTO courtesy cancels and First Day Covers. Besides with all the booklets and other confections many countries issue, it has become very expensive. Newer collectors can get a lot more for their money elsewhere. Just my personal opinion.

[khj]

Nov 12, 2019 20:50:38 GMT -5 terri said:

Does anyone know of any entity still doing that? I miss getting those covers!

UNPA still does it, as far as I know. Their subscription mailings coincide with a new stamp issue date, so you get a first day cancel on the cover as well!

For an example of such a cover, see In memoriam of collections from years past.