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I'm a SU fan and find myself running out of storage space. The problem is I find myself holding onto stuff because "I might need it some day." And I really like wood mounts. I know demos especially like to keep a lot of current stuff on hand. How do you non-demos decide which sets to trade or sell? Any advice would be appreciated!
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i have only sold a handful of sets and regretted it...
i don't plan on selling any more!
maybe you could gain some space by pulling out seasonal sets and storing them on a top shelf.
in my organizing i have taken all of my alpha sets and store them separately from my other stamps, i did the same thing with all my back ground stamps. it did help me to gain some space for 'regular' stamp sets.
I get rid of stamps all the time. I mean every few months I sell about 1/4 of all my stamps. I LOVE it because I get money to buy the latest and greatest.
I have issues and always want the newest thing. I've gotten a LOT better by making myself NOT buy anything for at least a month after it comes out. Then I can tell if I'm just excited by the newness of if I really need it.
Anyhow back to the selling. I sell everything that is similar to something else I have. I mean how many rose stamps do I need? (ONE) Unless I LOVE LOVE LOVE that style. Like right now I'm all hot for silhouette flowers. I have about 3 stamp sets of those and I'm find with that.
I sell almost all the gimmickie stamps I have. Cute bees with cute bee sentiments, cows stuff like that. I figure after I make a few handfuls of cards with those I won't use them again. And I sell the Holidays after they pass. Well not really basic stuff like sentiments. But each Christmas I'll buy one or two sets, make my giant stack of a million cards, then sell them. I won't use the same stamps again next year, or even in five years. Also I can count on stamp companies keeping making me awesome Christmas sets. So I let those puppies go. Same with the other holidays. I do have an Easter set I still have. I have specific plans for it.
I keep all my background stamps. They are so basic and I use them on so many cards. I keep most of my phrase sets. The only time I really sell those is when I realize they were a mistake to buy anyhow.
I have a company (Eat Cake Graphics) which I have never sold a single one of my hundreds of those stamps. They are so cute I can't part with them. Maybe someday.
In additon to all that any stamps that I can't pull off. You know, the stuff you see is all cute, but it never works out? I sell all those. And anything I have not used in a while, I sell that too. Unless I have a specific plan for it.
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If I haven't used it for 6 months or so, it's gone. I do know that I have like 10 sets of the same thing by different companies which is really bad. I tried unmounting and hated it! I'm going through my stuff this weekend though to make some new room. Like Erin, I sell the Christmas stamps after the season unless I really like them and know I'll use them again, but who knows. I do purge, but wing it most of the time. I honestly do have too much outside of SU as well and need to have a sell.
I've only sold one set and regretted it so I haven't sold any more. For me I am thinking of boxing up some and if I go a year or so without wishing for them I'll sell 'em. I admit though that I have to REALLY love a set and have several ideas of usage before I'll even buy one though.
I purge periodically and like to sell my stamps on SCS. Right now, I have a box of SU stamps and a box of clear stamps ready for new homes.
I was able to keep a lot of my SU stamps once I went unmounted, but then my interest picked up in some other companies and I had to make room again!!
Erin's post was really inspirational. I have kept a lot of Christmas stamps but I still don't even make all the cards that I should. What she says is right on -- you'll always be able to find Christmas stamps you love!! And really. . . just how many do you need?!
I also separated my holiday and Christmas stamps from the rest and keep them in their own box. After reading Erin's post, I think I'm going to get more realistic in my approach. I already have my Christmas stamps picked out for this year, so I need to let some go. . . probably all but the Australian one and the more rare ones (Santa Collage, SU's Winter is Calling, etc.). It's hard to give up lovely images but I will try to keep Erin's words echoing in my head LOL!! It's quite liberating actually and maybe I'll do better with my Christmas cards this year when I'm not overwhelmed by choices.
When I purge, I think about how frequently I use the stamps and also how many I have of a certain type. I always feel that I need to at least represent some of my fondest subjects. If I come across a stamp/set that I don't use often, I ask myself if that theme is well-represented by another stamp/set. If so, then I can let it go.
I tend to purge when I'm feeling overwhelmed or when I've lost my stamping muse (like now). When I don't feel like I can stamp, I find that organizing, sorting, purging is a good way to keep my hands in it, keep literally "in touch" with stamping, and still actually accomplish something. It's like spring cleaning for my stamping brain!!
Hi!
I went the unmounted way. I am able to keep over 6,000 unmounted stamps, in 9 plastic shoe boxes, on 3 shelves in a narrow cupboard. This way I didn't have to sell any of my older SU stamps. Probably, not what you wanted to hear, LOL!!!
I box up what I think I want to get rid of, store it in the basement for a year, and if I don't retrieve it or fall back in love with it, I sell it. Theoretically. I've taken the box to the sell-it-on-the-bay store twice and they were closed both times. Gotta put the box back in my car and just do it, LOL!
I love to sell stuff....and have never regretted a sale. I sell anything that I haven't used in about a year ... although sometimes less if I realize that I made an impulse buy that just "isn't me."
I always sell magazines too. I just never go back to look at them. And then of course there is the random "double" purchase!
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I have unmounted all my stamps to take up less room. I have never sold my stamps and don't see why I would want to. I purchased the stamps because I like them so why would I want to sell them?
I now have all the stamps that I want and really don't look for more. When I have purchased Stampin' Up stamps, I only kept the ones from the set that I wanted, I trashed the ones I knew I would never use.
I only have a few verbage stamps.....just the true basics and one of each. The rest I do on my computer. I don't purchase seasonal stamps as there is such a limited time you can use most of them. I like more general stamps......mostly trees, leaves, animals, a few flowers, but most of my stamps are swirly things or decorative accent images. I do have a few scenes too. These stamps seem best for me to use since I do personalize cards to the person I am giving them to. For those I give as gift sets, I use swirl and decorative accent stamps. Those can be used for just any occasion.
Unmounting for me was a necessity for the purpose of saving space.
I think each person has their own style and reason for what stamps they keep, give away or even sell. That's why there is chocolate, vanilla and even strawberry!
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I sold one set once on E-bay. I thought I would never use it. I 'bout cried when I actually had to send it to the winner. Then, GUESS WHAT? My demo sold me hers and I use it a lot! (Trees Three). The funniest part is that my husband, who I thought didn't notice what sets I had, saw the set on my bench and said, "I thought you got rid of that set". Still makes me laugh!!!!
My house is bursting at the seams. It took me a long time to figure it out, but a thing I finally learned about myself after years in therapy is this: I believe in keeping things. I keep friends, I keep promises, I keep secrets, I keep confidences, I keep books, I keep stamps, I keep STUFF. (I do throw away the trash, but I recycle what I can.) I got married once, and I kept my vows and my husband until he passed away. I keep things long past their useful life because I can't bear to part with them. It's a neurosis, I guess, but I hate it when I lose something, and I almost always find that even if I haven't used something in YEARS, if I finally part with it, I need it within the week. I have so much STUFF that sometimes I buy duplicates of things I already have because I forget I have them; when that happens, I give away the duplicates. (Now that I think about it, no wonder I'm a raving lunatic! )
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I have sold many sets. As mentioned in previous posts, I get rid of ones that I haven't used in a long time and it's unlikely that I will use them again. I also don't tend to keep holiday stamp sets since I won't re-use them. I put the sets I want to get rid of in a box and close it up for a couple of months. If I haven't gone back in the box to get anything in that amount of time, then it gets sold. If I do pull something out (has only happened twice and both times were to stamp something from it to send in a RAK) then it stays - at least until the next purge.
I do have a couple that are retired from a long time ago that I love the images of but I never use the stamps. It's hard to part with them but I would prefer that they go to someone who will love them and use them rather than letting them collect dust on my shelf.
I don't regret any of my sales. There was a set that I knew was in my "to sell" box that I thought I would pull out because it was perfect for a themed project for my design team. When I couldn't find it, I realized that I must have sold it in a yard sale I had recently. Bummer. But that's ok, I used another stamp I had in my stash instead and the project came out even cuter than the one I would have made with the set I sold.
Be aware that except in rare cases, you will not get a lot for the sets you sell. I have noticed that, especially in this economy, that most sets are selling for about 1/3 to 1/2 of the original price. And very common sets, like the SAB sets, go for almost nothing or don't sell at all because so many people are selling them at the same time.
If you're unsure about selling them, how about trading them with a stamping friend? You both get "new" sets and if you ever want to use your old set again, you can just borrow it back.
I have sold a few sets along the way. I have sold some that I bought and just couldn't work with. They do not stay around long. I keep the holiday sets, but I have kids who like to stamp with me. If I haven't used it for awhile, it has to go. I am just starting to unmount. I think if I clear out stuff I do not use, then I will use what I have more frequently. I do stamp a lot for wish rak. I purged a ton of papers etc and gave a lot of stuff away. I have been sending single stamps to people on wish-rak.
Oh I have re-bought a few sets. I sold Flaky friends and then realized I wanted it for Christmas cards last year. The others were inexpensive sets that I added to stuff from the buy/sell/trade board here to justify the shipping.
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Erin, next time you are ready to sell, let me know!
I actually am about to sell.
but I sell all my stuff on another stamping message board. The BST forum here is HUGE and I feel like I get lost in it. My other board is way smaller, but I still mangage to sell everything.
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Whenever I feel compelled to make room I go to the ISO or TRADE forums here on Splitcoast and see if someone is looking to buy or trade a set I own. If so, then I ask myself if I want money (or the trade item) more than I want the set I already own. Since I usually only mount a stamp when I am about to actually use it the first time, I can tell at a quick glance which sets are more likely to be able to "leave home" without regrets. It also helps retain more of their value (at least on SCS), imo.
I have no regrets for trades or sales because, over the years, I have learned to know which images I enjoy most. I will probably have to part with some soon because we just moved into a 2BR apartment from a 3BR house (but it is kinda short-term and we are keeping a storage unit.)
My only other tip (although I have not done it) is to look at each set and decide if there are any images within the set you could part with. Many times I buy a set because of one or two images I relly want. E-Bay usually has many "individual" stamps listed for sale.
If you don't need to sell, you could also consider RAKing or PIFing.
I have one tip to share that has worked well for me. I've found that many times I am holding on to a set because it will be great for scrapbook pages, especially for specific events. If that is the only thing that I plan to use it for, I stamp a number of background pages with the set and then several pages of individual images. This way, I figure I can make as many pages as I will need when I finally get around to scrapping that event. Once this is done, I am able to sell the stamp set.
Which stamps to sell, how do you decide?
