But even though I consider myself an interwebs search jedi, I wasn’t finding enough face value (or cheap enough), unused stamps, even on eBay. This how-to from 100 Layer Cake was helpful, but didn’t quite get me there. And then I stumbled on the vintage stamp secret! Search by sheet. There are zillions of stamps on eBay, but it’s significantly easier and faster to search by sheet. Stamps used to come in sheets of 50, 40, or sometimes 20. So if you’re buying nearly face-value, intact sheets, they’ll be unused and you’ll have lots to pick from. Jackpot.

Then you’ll see that many or most have “Scott Numbers” listed. For those of you who aren’t stamp geeks, that’s the catalog number. When you find a design you like (even if it’s not at a price you like), go to the main stamp sheet page here and then plug in its Scott number and search. Bingo. You’ll usually get lots of results with varying prices and are almost sure to find a deal. (For instance, here are a bunch of listings that vary widely in price for one of my fave stamps, botanical congress.) Just one warning: Once you figure out how to find them, it’s hard to stop. If you’re on a vintage stamp quest, I hope this helps!