After 23 years - free postage.

[dstorm 10]

Hello to all stamp collectors on BidorBuy

The end of August will mark the end of my first 23 years as a stamp dealer.

In this time I have had my ups and downs, especially since going full time in 1997 (Seahorsefanatic knows all about how he helped me to buy back half my own stock and also half my own house – all of which I paid for originally). What I find amazing, especially with the economy in a so-called down turn, is that the last month was my second best month ever. The last three months were my best three months ever! BidorBuy accounted for a very large percentage of this. Thanks to Cuan, Andries and all the BidorBuy staff for the privilege to be on the site and the forum!

To give something back to all my loyal BoB clients, I will (till further notice) mail all items free of charge (normal mail with tracking number). So please ignore my current postage charges on all items. Overseas clients to please add R20-00 for postage. I believe that Namibia is overseas as well (this is what my local post office told me).

I have made fantastic friends through stamp dealing. I can mention (in alphabetical order) Alan H, David K, David L, George S, John B, Kenny N, Ken W, Leon B, Morne dl G, Otto K, Savo T (am I right?), Steve C, Steve K and many more. Some dealers / clients did not become friends as such (yet?), but their input into and their effect upon my life is simply unbelievable. The countless hours spent making money at the countless stamp fairs during the last 23 years would have been empty if it was not for the many hours spent laughing with people who just love laughing. Yes, with the same people who will just as soon become deadly serious when it comes to the final seconds of a deal or when it comes to discussing the technical side of stamp collecting / dealing.

Other people became BoB friends – stamp friends who I am yet to meet.

There is an “11 11 11 evening” coming up (the last such an event was a “06 06 06 evening”). We will celebrate “From the Waterfront to Uncle Tim’s and Beyond”. Sorry David K, no numbis will be on display – stamp dealing is a serious business.

Keep well and regards

Jacques

[Phil Invest Serv 10]

Happy 23 years :grin:, hope u have many more Jacques :whistling:

[qball 12]

This is not a marketing ploy nor advertising in the strictest definition, so this post is allowed.

 

Well done DStorm, hope it's another successful 23 years!

[lilythepink 11]

Congratulations DStorm. And I think your gesture of free postage is magnificent. May you have double or treble your usual sales ahead of you.

[DennisPM 10]

Congrats on your 23 years as a stamp dealer - may you celebrate many, many more....

 

Kind regards

Dennis

[dstorm 10]

Hello Cuan, Dennis, Lily and Mornè

Your well wishes are truly appreciated.

I really believe that you are rather optimistic about the next 23 years. But believe me, I hope that you are right!

Thanks and regards

Jacques

[Kit W 10]

Congrats on your 23 years as a stamp dealer - may you celebrate many, many more....

 

Kind regards

Dennis

 

Hi Jacques

 

Congratulations from my side - this is truly an achievement of note and couldn't happen to a nicer person.

 

Good luck for the future

 

Regards

 

Kit

[seahorsefanatic 10]

Hi Jacques

 

What a 23 years its been with plenty of memories and tons of hilarious moments. I remember when I first met you at one of the last old East Rand Fairs before you started your own Fair. That was many years ago. Its been a blast and I look forward to many more years of laugh's with you and the gang.

 

From the days of strangers walking into your shop and demanding " discount, discount" to others who professed to know much more than they really did. Our hobby goes beyond the subject matter and has involved many discussions from current affairs to personal matters.

 

It has been an honour knowing you even though you are younger :smile:

[mellowred 10]

....... It has been an honour knowing you even though you are younger :smile:

 

Ah ah he is a classic! :blink1:

 

Have never met you in person Jacques, and haven't a clue about stamps, but your posts are always sincere and when humorous they always give me a good giggle.

 

I imagine you to be a true gentleman with a great sense humour and a pretty large dose of compassion.

 

Congrats on the 23 years.

 

Regards

Mandy

[dstorm 10]

Thanks Kit, David and Mandy (and once again to the “others already mentioned”) for the wonderful comments.

With this kind of friends around me, I just can’t wait for my 25^th anniversary!

Very seriously though, should I still be around in two years time, we will have a party, perhaps in Napier, so that Mandy could attend. David will be living somewhere in the Cape together with the majority of the BoB stamp buyers. I will hire a party bus for the Gauteng collectors and dealers. We will take a detour off the N1 and pick up Andries and Lily on the way. It is not that Cuan won’t be invited, but I believe that BoB would have bought out ebay by then, so he would most probably be living in America.

On the business side, the stamp market has never been like the way it is now. Due to the internet, the catalogue is now just about nothing but a chronological listing. And the stamp market has never been this exiting. Which brings me back to the old topic: it is time for the traditionalists to wake up! The catalogue publishers who ignore the internet trade and simply base their values on “formal auction” prices alone are bound to soon experience the “downswing in the economy”.

Keep well and regards

Jacques

[ATA STAMP CENTRE 49]

Congrats and well done Jacques.

To keep your sanity after so many years in stamp dealing is a remarkable feat.:grin:

I see i am not yet considered a friend so we shall have to rectify that in OCTOBER at the EXPO.

Please let me know your preference of JONNY WALKER label(even if i have to break the bank) and if sharing a bottle or two does not make us friends then i dont know what will.:laugh:

Regards

Neil

[mellowred 10]

The party has been noted in my diary :smile:. I'm upset that I wont be on the party bus though, that will be an absolute riot.

[alloway65 10]

Very well done Jacques……an amazing feat considering all the Stamp Dealers I knew in the 70s and 80s are no longer Stamp Dealers or have passed on to the Post Office in the Sky!

For your forty sixth anniversary Jacques it might be cheaper for you to charge for postage and supply the stamps for free!!!

Warmest regards

David

[dstorm 10]

Thank you very much Neil and David

David, I am not sure whether there are any stamp dealers in heaven, but it would sure be nice to meet up with a couple of the “old brigade” somewhere and to talk about the days when I was referred to as the newbie and the Young Turk.

Neil, my apologies. When I referred to friends, I was referring to people who became House Friends. You see, with all the stamps in the house, the house became quite a mess. It must be a year since I invited anybody for a braai.

I still believe that you are the one who played the biggest role in lifting the standard of the Stamp Section of BoB into ultra respectability. We I joined BoB about three weeks after you did (2008), very few quality items were offered for sale at competitive prices – and I was also reluctant to list quality items. You took the lead. Nowadays, not a single stamp fair in Gauteng will take place without Bob being discussed.

I am not going to the Cape Town exhibition anymore. I would rather take a holiday soon and stay over in Durbanville for a night or two and then visit the Durbanville Fair (I have access to a house that is less than 5 minutes drive from the library).

All of the best and regards

Jacques

[voldermort 11]

Very well done.......as Neil said it is not easy keeping your sanity especially with some of the 'not so nice' people we are all unlucky enough to have to encounter, but at least the majority are very nice people & they do make it all worthwhile.

As you said, a big thank you to BoB for allowing each seller not only to sell their items of choice, but also their dedication & hard work in making this site world renowned (back in 2007 I honestly don't think their were even a quarter of the buyers/sellers that there now are) which ultimately benefits us all as sellers.

Once again....well done.

[lilythepink 11]

The party has been noted in my diary :smile:. I'm upset that I wont be on the party bus though, that will be an absolute riot.

 

The last time I got picked up in Grahamstown was by MsPlod who took me (and MrAerospace) across the Victoria Falls whilst she pushed us in a wheelbarrow. We all determined that her strength and balance was as a result of wearing one of those balance thingies on her arm.

 

No doubt DStorm will be able to arrange a better form of entertainment for us on the bus trip to Napier? Mandy, please don't forget that everyone needs to bring their own sleeping bag or else Mona will have to sleep outside!

[mellowred 10]

The last time I got picked up in Grahamstown was by MsPlod who took me (and MrAerospace) across the Victoria Falls whilst she pushed us in a wheelbarrow. We all determined that her strength and balance was as a result of wearing one of those balance thingies on her arm.

 

No doubt DStorm will be able to arrange a better form of entertainment for us on the bus trip to Napier? Mandy, please don't forget that everyone needs to bring their own sleeping bag or else Mona will have to sleep outside![/QUOTE]

 

Ha Ha Ha Ha .... can you hear Mona rolling about laughing at that comment Lil! She thinks there is plenty of room in the back yard for you humans while she lounges on her bed.

 

But don't worry about her, we have plenty of floor space, a couple of spare beds, spare mattresses and a hotel just up the road where we can arrange very cheap accommodation.

[lilythepink 11]

I am wishing to be there with you, Hennie and Mona already! (And Mona is welcome to sleep on top of me!)

[MrAerospace 10]

I want to meet Mona too. DStorm, please include me in the travel plans! (And I am still trying to recover from our epic journey with MsPlod across the Victoria Falls!) Where is MsPlod these days? I miss her postings.

[dstorm 10]

Hello Samantha

Thanks for the double “well done”.

I fully agree that the vast majority of buyers on the BoB stamp section are simply wonderful people.

Up to now I have encountered at the most five difficult or unreasonable stamp buyers.

In turn, I have made a couple of mistakes and found that almost all stamp buyers are extremely forgiving and patient.

My best or rather my worst was when I totally forgot to mail a certain item. After about 4 weeks the client phoned me to enquire about his item. I was on holiday in the Western Cape at the time and I assured the buyer that I would mail his item as soon as I got back to Gauteng. Another 4 weeks later I got another phone call. I forgot about his item again! Things got sorted out and the buyer is still buying from me. Is this not tolerance and forgiveness?

I see BoB as one massive stamp fair. More buyers = more sellers = more buyers = more sellers, etc, etc.

Your place is booked MR. Aerospace!

Thanks and regards

Jacques

[MiemsJewels 12]

Congratulations Jacques, WELL DONE!! May there be many, many more!!

[dstorm 10]

Hello Miems

Thank you very much. It is truly appreciated.

All of the best and regards

Jacques

[TRANSLIN 10]

Dstorm ? / ? Die storm

 

Hallo jaques,

 

goeie beginsels en vasbyt tot die valstande kom,, dit is hoe die afgelope 23 jaar + saam met jou voel, geluk met jou prestasie en baie dankie vir jou gedult, vasbyt en bowenal die meesterlike onderig wat ek vanaf jou ontvang het,,toe jy die eerste dag van ons ontmoeting my in jou vertroue geneem het en my stadig aan begin onderig het aan die leefwyse van n baie klein artikel,,,,namens ?? Seels ?? Versameling,, was ek verstom oor jou kennis en die wyse waarop jy jou leerlinge onderig en vertrou het ,,die pad was nie altyd makik nie,,nogtans het jy met jou vasbeslotenheid en deursettings vermoee bewys dat dit waarin jy glo tot n hoogtepunt sal ly , en die sienswyse van baie ander versamelaars sal omkeer,,nogmaals dankie en ,,do not stop with what you believe in,,

 

groetnes

 

kobus