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Step 1
Decide which stamps in your collection you would like to trade to other collectors. These could be duplicate stamps, stamps that do not fit with the type of collection you are working on or simply stamps in which you have lost interest or do not like.
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Step 2
Choose which stamps you are interested in acquiring. This is a highly personal decision based on your collection and the stamps you are seeking to fill it.
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Step 3
Find other stamp collectors that are interested in trading. Their are many places to look, including classified ads in stamp magazines, newspapers and websites, trading message boards and forums on stamp websites, stamp clubs, and stamp shops that offer trade as well as buy and sell.
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Step 1
Do an Internet search on an unknown trader you are working with, as many trading scam-artists are well-known and identified on multiple stamp-related Web sites.
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Step 2
Ask unknown traders for emails or letters of reference from past trades.
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Step 3
Use the first transaction with a trader as a test only. Do not send stamps with a high value or more than 50 stamps in the first transaction.
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Step 4
Be wary of trades that seem to good to be true, like a trader that offers a higher value stamp in exchange for a lower value stamp. Often the stamp being offered is a fake or forgery. Look for stamp values in a stamp catalog.
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Step 5
Make a good faith agreement that the trader will agree to a re-trade if their stamps are unsatisfactory to you, and will send your stamps back.
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Step 6
Follow the rule that the trader who makes first contact also sends his stamps first. Upon satisfactory receipt, the contacted trader then sends her stamps.
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Step 7
Send stamps through registered mail to ensure proper tracking of the package.
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Step 8
Post positive feedback on the online profiles of stamp traders with whom you have made satisfactory trades.
