NEVER BE PICKY! Collect all the stamps you can get your hands on for free. You never know what might gain popularity in latter years due to unforeseen circumstances. You can never tell if you'll meet a friend who's willing to pay thrice as much for something that has no value in the market but has great sentimental value for her.
EXPRESS YOUR DESIRES! Let all your gift-giving friends, relatives and acquaintances know that you're a very serious stamp collector. Let them know that nothing would please you more if they use special or commemorative stamps - in short, stamps that have a good chance of acquiring a higher value in the future because of their "collectible" quality - when they send you letters.
BE A GARBAGE HUNTER. But not literally speaking, of course. Instead let everyone your neighborhood, school, organization, workplace and every other place that you frequent to know that you're a dedicated philatelist. Knowing this, your acquaintances would no doubt prefer it more to give you the stamps on their letters - for free - rather than let them go to waste or dump them in the waste basket. There is no shame in doing everything you can to minimize costs so don't be shy letting your friends know that you're open to accepting freebie stamps!
CHECK THE OFFICE MAIL. Even at the height of technology, hundreds of companies still rely on the snail mail to keep communication lines open between them and their clients. In this case, there'd be many instances that mails would bounce back due to invalid addresses and SASE mails would be posted back to the sender for replies. When this happens, postage stamps used on the letters are - once again - often thrown away.
Rather than let this golden opportunity to slip you by, ask your supervisor for permission to obtain the stamps from the letters. Once permitted, do not hesitate to collect duplicate copies as they'll certainly be useful in future trades. Remember, you can never be too thin, too rich or have too much stamps!
GO BACK TO THE PAST. In the old days, email was still something too futuristic to consider and all people had to rely on to communicate with their loved ones were postal letters. Most courtships and marriages in the past were also in fact frequently results of relationships forged on the strength of beautifully written love letters.
There's not a doubt that your parents or your grandparents have quite a few of these letters in their treasure box. Ask them if you can take away the stamps. Most people anyway place more value on the letter and not what's glued on the envelope so it would be a rare occurrence for your elders to refuse your very reasonable request.
JOIN STAMP CLUBS. Stamp clubs tend to offer their members lots of exclusive perquisites and benefits and one of them would naturally be beautiful, interesting stamps to add to your growing collection!
Lastly, POST FREE ONLINE ADS about your interest in purchasing secondhand stamps. Used stamps are naturally cheaper than unused stamps and there's always a good chance you'll find a paper diamond in the rough amidst all the dust and cuts.
