recipe for disaster

I didn't have any parcels to post this weekend so I popped into our local post office to get some commemoratives to stamp next week's lots.

'Sorry, we don't have any. We always send them straight back.'

Unbelievable. One of the best ways for the PO to make money is to sell stamps to collectors - it's almost all pure profit. And one sale leads to many others. This is business suicide. Okay the main business of the PO is to deliver items, but the collectors side is a nice little extra earner.

By doing this one aspect of the PO is sabotaging the other.

On a similar theme a year or so ago I phoned re setting up a Key Account with the philatelic bureau, which gets you a 5% discount when you spend over £5000 pa. When I explained I wanted to use the stamps for postage they said 'we didn't hear that'. Ridiculous!

The PO needs a panel of professional philatelist that can be consulted on all philatelic matters, because at the moment they look like they are working blindfolded.

couldn't resist

Couldn't resist putting this on. From the same source as the Belgian gems below these magnificent and rare items are on eBay with a starting price of a mere £4.99!!!!! The blurred photo (these idiots all have yet to discover either scanning or modern digital cameras) reveals enough detail to show that these are a) dead common and b) stained with poor perfs.

The seller says he's neither a collector or dealer. That much is obvious! No bids of course!

gems!

I never fail to be amazed by some of the absolute rubbish people try to sell on Ebay. Why do they bother? Nobody is ever going to buy these two monstrosities, hiseously damaged and stained if you can make them out through the blurred photo (rather than scan).

What are they thinking?

99p start on these by the way. No bidders as yet and less than an hour to go. It amazes me that people have the time to waste! Or do they think we were all born yesterday?