not-so-QUICK Postage stamp bags swap x3 #110

Let's swap! Just not as quickly as usual.

You get 3 partners and to each of them you send at least 2 postage stamp bags. They can be new or established, but please don't send more than 1 bag to each partner that is going home after the next signer.

Most postage stamp bags start out with 5 stamps, with a rule of taking 3, adding 5, fifth person who gets it returns it home. Some even offer a reward to the one who sends it home! If you are a postage stamp collector and don't know what a postage stamp bag is, I can give you a link with photos, just send me a personal message =)

The sender of a bag is responsible for the quality of a bag. If you receive a bag with sub par stamps in it, it's YOUR responsibility to clean it up and put in good stamps. Here are a few rules you HAVE to follow.

All stamps must be in collector quality. It does not matter if it's on or off paper, but it must be in perfect condition.

No more than half of the stamps in a bag can be small. By small I mean the regular "Queens head"/thumb nail size. The rest should be at least twice that big.

No sticky stamps. If you pull a postage stamp off an envelope without washing it you are NEVER allowed to put it in a stamp bag. They destroy the other stamps, and you know it.

No stamps with tape on them. That's not collector quality.

It's nice to cut off the excess paper, but don't cut the paper so close to the stamp that you damage it. That happens way too often.

No bags should be lager than they have to be. Fold a printer/copy paper twice, and that's the max size of a bag. No newly established bags from participants in these swaps over that size allowed! This is to cut down on postage costs, and because folded bags often destroy the stamps inside.

All bags should have a closing flap. Do not glue or stick them shut with stickers, but if they are wide open they often lose their contence, and if there are more than one open bag sent at once it's impossible to know what belongs where.

If you receive a bag that does not follow these rules you MUST rate with a 3. No exceptions. Everyone that has been in these postage bag swaps the last 6 months has been warned, all new swappers must read swap requirements anyway. If a bag is really bad and you don't want to or can clean it up yourself, send it to me (my address is on my profile) and I'll do it. You are responsible for the contence of bags you pass on without doing any trades, so that is not an easy way out.

Swapping postage stamps should be fun, but it's not if the bags are of bad quality.