How to order:

The web site is fully shopping cart driven so it is merely necessary to click on the price to order each item. When your order is complete go to the shopping cart to finalize your order. Once you have double checked your order and entered all your contact information, submit the order. We will fill your order and send you an e-mail confirmation copy of your order (showing any changes if necessary). This confirmation will have a link to PayPal, however if you don't want to use PayPal that is fine simply let us know - we also accept checks, money orders, or credit cards: Discover, VISA, MC. Generally we will fill all orders by the end of the next business day. If we are out of the office for more than a day we will post a message on the screen when your order is submitted. Occassionally we get backed up, but usually if you don't receive our confirmation e-mail within a couple days there is a problem with the e-mail address so please contact us. The two most frequent are either a typo in the submitted e-mail address, or your e-mail provider has blocked the confirmation as being spam (for some reason this happens a lot with AOL addresses)

Your privacy and security are important. Notice that we only collect your contact information when your order is placed. If you use PayPal we never receive any additional financial information. If you use a credit card we do keep that information on file, so that after youv'e gotten the information to us once, you only have to note something such as "use VISA" in the comments section of future orders. For absolute security simply print out the shopping cart before submitting and mail it in, along with payment info (or at least how payment will be made if you plan on phoning in your credit card info). For mail in orders paid with check or money order, you have a refund choice should there be any out of stock items: check (postage for amounts less than $1), or store credit. If no instructions are given we will provide store credit which can be converted to a cash refund at any time. See below for specific questions relating to online ordering.

Our ordering conditions are simple: no minimum amount or quantity, only a $2.00 handling charge per order, and you may return any item(s) within 30 days for a refund or credit. Orders are shipped via First-Class Mail, if you require additional services (insured, certified, etc.) these costs will also be added. For orders outside the U.S. you are also charged the actual mailing costs. Note that we don't guarantee the items against loss or damage in transit, so take this into consideration when selecting how you would like them mailed. We use Scott catalog numbers from the latest U.S. Specialized Catalog for United States stamps, but our worldwide stamps (depending on the country) may have been catalogued using a catalog as old as the 1992 edition. Fortunately very few numbers change, but it is something to be aware of. If there is no specific Scott letter for a variety we try to come up with one that relates to the situation (see abbreviations). Centering is generally F-VF or better (perforations clear of design on all sides) for more recent issues and for earlier issues additional grades are offered. Each item in the 'Rarer Items' section is fully described. A blank in a column means either there is no such possibility or the stamp is out of stock. Individual singles from se-tenants sets may also be purchased. They are priced (with only a few exceptions) using the formula: (set price + 5%) / (number of stamps in set), this number is then rounded up to the nearest 5 cents (NOTE: this is taken care of manually so you will have to list these in the comments section or with a seperate e-mail).

If you require VF centering for items from our main list, these are 20% more. Note this in the comments section and we will add this onto the order.

If you collect specific plate numbers, positions, or other non-listed items we will look for those at an additional charge of $12/hr. Also you will need to mail in these requests. The exception are those plate numbers already shown in the 'Rarer Items'. Generally items which are priced in Scott’s or Durland’s at less than twice the base price are priced at our listed price. Scarcer items are priced at the multiple of our base price (e.g. a plate block in Durland’s for $50 with a base price of $10 will be priced at 5X our base price). As we identify more expensive numbers these are added to the ‘Rarer Items’ section. The vast majority of our excess stock has not been checked for plate numbers so the ‘Rarer Items’ list shouldn’t be viewed as being complete. For this service a prepayment or arrangement needs to be made – too often a collector has sent in a long want list that we have painstakenly gone through and found numerous items, only to never hear back from the collector.

If you wish to return an item for any reason, you may do so within 30 days. It is helpful if you explain why an item is being returned (it helps eliminate mistakes in the future if one was made), but it is not required to receive a refund. Refunds may be subject to a 10% restocking fee.

Bonus Programs:

To benefit those customers who order large amounts, or those who have small orders but order frequently, we have the GOLD bonus program. The purchase amounts are cumulative for the year and calculated on January 15, for orders filled during the previous calendar year.

The GOLD Program is our thank you to customers who purchase more than $1000 over the year. The first benefit is 5% back on total purchases which exceed $1000 For example:

$1000 in Purchases $0 Bonus
$2000 in Purchases $50 Bonus
$5000 in Purchases $200 Bonus

The second benefit is Free handling on individual orders over $50 through January 31st of the following year.
The third benefit is a 10% discount on all items from the ‘Rarer Items’ section of the web site, also through January 31st of the following year.

We will award the bonus as store credit, however we can send you a check if you’d prefer.

What customers have said :

It is certainly a pleasure to do business with you!  I do appreciate the care and concern you take with my orders.  I am glad I found you, a trustworthy and valuable trading partner, to buy my stamps from.  Thank you again for being such a great person to deal with.  - J. C. Mississippi (Mar. 2010)

I do appreciate the fact that the items ordered previously were appropriately placed for easy identification, and I do not recollect having any difficulty on this front.  This is one of the reasons I prefer to continue my business with ACS, the others being prompt and clear communication, reasonable prices and high quality of stamps. - R.C. United Arab Emirates (Mar. 2010)

Ordering situations that can occur:

Ordering more than one of an item. This is very easy: every time you click on the price 1 more is added to your shopping cart. You can also adjust the quantity within the shopping cart. Since it is so easy, please double-check your shopping cart before checking out to make sure the quantities are correct.

Ordering Pairs. Coil pairs are priced at 2X the single price. Click on the single price, enter 2 for the quantity (or click the price a second time), and note in the comment section the items you want as pairs. Likewise if you want a pair and a single, enter 3 for the quantity and put pair and single in the comments (or I note it simply as 2+1)

On-line order disappears. Most systems will time out after about 20 minutes of inactivity. Currently we don't have a way that allows you to start an order and then retrieve it later for further changes. However, the system does send us a copy of your order when you are finished. So if you think an order is 'lost' it's possible we may have a copy of it. Also, it is relatively simple for us to delete items if we receive timely notification. Combining orders is simple any time before payment is received so we can remove duplicate handling charges. We try to get orders shipped as soon as we receive payment - often an order will be in the mail within 15 minutes of our having received a payment.

Do any of the 'Rarer Items' come with a PF certificate? If they do not, what is your policy on obtaining a certificate and who pays for the certificate if the stamp has any problems, for example thins, tears, folds, creases, not ID'ed correctly etc.?

If the stamp already has a certificate this will be noted in the description. We attempt to fully describe all items in our 'Rarer Items' list, including any faults. Our policy on your purchases of non-certified items is simple: if you would like a certificate, then get one [the Philatelic Foundation (PF), American Philatelic Expertizing Service (APS), or Philatelic Stamp Experts (PSE) are all acceptable; we'll handle other organizations on a case-by-case basis]. If for any reason once you receive the certificate you would like to return the item, we will refund the cost of the item plus the certificate cost. Just let us know you are seeking a certificate so that we can extend the normal 30-day return period.

I have some old stamps, how can I check their price?

If you have some stamps which you are interested in identifying, valueing, or selling I suggest the following options.
1) Check out a Scott's Stamp Catalog from your local library and see if you can identify what you have (the values in the catalog are also fairly close to retail prices).
2) Take your stamps to a local stamp dealer and see if you can get some assistance.
3) Find a local stamp club and see if they can help.
4) We also offer appraisal services. For $60/hr we will provide pretty much any service you need, ranging from appraisals for insurance purposes to basic stamp identification. The customer is responsible for any additional costs incurred as well as mailing.

I would like an appraisal or to sell my collection:

Appraisals are a subset of #4 above. The usual first step is for me to see the stamps and discuss with you exactly what is wanted. The range of options is everywhere from "is the collection worth anything?", to fullblown evaluations for estates and insurance purchases. The majority of people who initially ask for an appraisal are actually wanting to sell their collections. That is one of the purposes of the initial discussion: I will only very rarely purchase a collection I've appraised.

If you're just wanting to sell, bring in your collection and I'll give you an offer at no charge.

Hint: Keep in mind that buy offers are based on the value to the buyer (true for all buyers/items not just stamps). This may or may not have any correllation to what it's perceived "value" is, and will vary. If you don't like the offer, take it somewhere else. After a couple of offers you'll have a good idea of its market value. Personally, I make my best offer up front and have never contacted a seller at a later date with a higher offer.