Are you new to rubber stamping and want to pick up some supplies at a discount or have you been doing this for awhile and just want to add to your stash? Either way, eBay always has a large variety of stamps at a big discount from retail.

What do you need to know about buying them on eBay? A little bit about everything!

LEARN THE LANGUAGE

Assume that you are browsing on eBay and see this description;

UM and Retired Stampin Up set of 6

For this particular auction you could probably figure out that this is a set of 6 stamps but the rest might be a mystery. Read the short glossary below to find common abreviations that many sellers on eBay use to take advantage of the 'real estate' advertising their auction.

UM - Unmounted. The rubber part of the stamp used to create the image is not attached or 'mounted' to a handle. Some unmounted stamps come with just the rubber image that most likely will need to be trimmed and requires the buyer to provide their own mounts, usually wood or acrylic. Some unmounted stamps come with wood blocks but require the buyer to trim the rubber put the pieces together. Lastly, there are specially created clear images that adhere to acrylic mounts but are stored and usually sold separately from the mount.

WM - Wood mounted. These stamps are already mounted on wood blocks and ready to be used.

Trimmed - If an auction describes stamps as closely or professionaly trimmed, it means these stamps were trimmed by hand and will probably stamp crisp images. Occasionally stamps will leave behind a stray mark which is an industry term for undesirable ink marks on the project from loose rubber on a stamp that may not have been trimmed properly. If you have a wood mounted stamp that leaves stray marks you can simply put your stamp in the microwave for a few seconds to loosen the adhesive and then trim away the excess rubber that is cuasing the marks. After trimming, put the rubber back on the wood handle and if it doesnt stick use some commercial quality glue found at any craft store. I have not tried this myself but other stampers tell me that glaze works well to secure the rubber back to the mount.

Sets - Stamp sets contain multiple images of similar design that can be used separate or together to create a project. Sometimes, a large stamp manufacturer will create an entire line of stamps that can be used together, further expanding the range of the collection. 

Retired - These are stamps that are no longer being made. Some manaufacters create a gift wih prurchase stamp or set that usually is produced in limited quantities so do some research, you may have some of these hard to find (HTF) sets that are worth more than what they retailed for.

Stained - Dye ink, which is the most common type of ink used in rubber stamping will sometimes leave a permanent mark on the rubber or the mount (wood). This rarely affects the usability of the stamp so feel free to bid on any 'well loved' stamps. You can sometimes sand any ink stains from wood and if you coat the wood mount with clear nail polish before using, it will help retain the natural look of the wood and help you avoid stains in the first place. Just as a side note, stampers tend to pay less for stained stamps. I honestly dont know why since they dont affect the image but if you are selling HTF stamps make sure you list the condition as those in Mint (uncut and unmounted with all original pieces and box) sell for much higher than their mounted and stained counterparts.

These are some of the manufacturers available on eBay

Art Impressions - Variety of fun, whimsical, images. WM, sold individually.

Close To My Heart (CTMH) - Originally called DOTS. Stamping and Scrapbooking direct sales company. Products include 'myacrylix' which are the clear mounts using clear stamps. These stamps are ideal for exactly placing your stamp image on your project. Stamps are sold in sets with the a clear backing sheet and a storage envelope all at a low cost due to the reusable mounts which are sold separately. 

Dream Impressions - Unmounted stamps sold individually or as a set. Sets come with wood mounts, index sheet and a white box. I believe this company used to be direct sales but now is closed down.

Hero Arts (HA) - Complete rubber stamping resource selling a wide variety of stamps, ink, and other craft products. WM and sold individually or in sets.

Inkadinkado - Complete versatility with wood, foam, or clear mounted stamps. Also resells a line of stamps from my favorite artist ever, Dawn Hauser! Check out her very feminine and retro images. 

Stampin Up (SU) - Stamps are sold in unmounted sets that include the rubber images pre mounted on thin foam adhesive, the wood mounts, an index sheet, and a storage box. These stamps are more expensive than their acrylic competitors due to buying the mounts with every set. Because these are in sets, they will still be cheaper than those you have to buy individually at hobby stores.

Stampscapes - Line of interchangeable stamps that when put together, create beautiful landscaped art. WM and sold individually although sellers sometimes sell them on eBay as a 'lot'. These stamps take some practice so try googling Stampscapes for some wonderful tutorials. 

The Angel Company - Creative cling stamp company founded in 1997. Their stamps are rubber and foam mounted images on clear acrylic blocks. They also have a paper product line.

Basic buying and selling tips

Some retired stamps have an amazing secondary market so consider selling your  used stamps on eBay so you can buy other ones you like! To find the value of a stamp or set go to advanced search, type in the name of the stamp or set and before hitting search, check the completed auctions only box. This will give you a list of the most recent ending items that meet your search criteria and the sold ones will indicate the approximate secondary market value. My most valuable tip for all sellers is to sort the sold list of items by highest price and then identify when the higher sets sold (date and time). That information will tell you when your target market is buying and when you need to begin and end your auction.

INSPIRATION - There are tons of materials on eBay but something you may not have thought about for inspiration before is old retail sales catalogues like the IBC (idea book and catalogue) from Stampin Up or the catalogues CTMH puts out every quarter. These catalogues are used to showcase products the retailer is selling but they also are packed with beautiful, full color examples of cards, scrapbook pages, embellishments and gifts. 

Lastly, there are some policies from stamp manuafacturers, especially the direct sales companies, that restrict anyone from selling their current merchandise, at a fixed location which includes eBay. Sellers that do this know they are breaking the law but do it anyway because it is big business. Unfortunately, unwitting buyers sometimes pay way more for stamps from these thieves than what they would from another seller because they have not properly researched the item.

If you have additional information to add, have corrections, or comments, I welcome them. Thanks for reading this and happy stamping!