Coin & Stamp Collecting for Charity?
23 April 2007 at 1:31 pm
If you have previously confused philately with philanthropy well have a look at this – a businessman in the Netherlands has found a way to combine the two – using the Internet to raise charity funds from stamp and coin collectors across the world!
It’s called Philyauctions.com and allows collectors to do more than just expand their collection or put it up for sale. It allows them to support various charities at the same time.
The basic cost is just 1 cent US per lot which will be donated to charity. The collectors can even opt to donate a percentage of the sale to a charity of their choice.
Bert Froolik, founder of Philyauctions.com, enthusiastic stamp collector and now philatelist turned philanthropist says it has been difficult to find low-priced stamps and he thought it was time to do something about it.
He says in order to prevent spam, he choose an entry rate of 1 cent US and this cent is donated to charity with reputable charities registering for donations.
He says he’s trying to increase availability so beginners can easily expand their collection.
And while 1 cent may not appear to be much for a donation, according to Bert Froolik there are over 20 million stamp collectors in the United States alone, so all these cents together can turn into a very interesting amount.
The construction of a full auction site with the possibility of opening their own store allows sellers and buyers to connect to each other. There are various ways to promote sales.
Philyauctions.com aims at collectors in Europe, the United States and Australia.
The international character of the site makes it easy for collectors to expand their collection through direct contact with local sellers on the other side of the world!
Ultimately, the goal of Philyauctions.com is to bring collectors throughout the world together in order to exchange information and to swap, buy or sell stamps, coins or securities with side benefit to charity.
A quick check of the website found a busy trade in stamps although no Australian collectors have joined the online throng and the three charities listed are so far are all based in the Netherlands!
To check it out go to www.philyauctions.com
