Bruce was rude, dismissive, and degrading. I called to schedule time to look at a tiny, inherited collection. Instead of saying, "I'm sorry, we can't help you" Bruce had to go on and on about how he wouldn't even THINK about looking at ANYTHING I had. I think he would have gone on all day telling me I was wasting his time. I kept telling him I understood and kept trying to get off the phone and he just wouldn't quit. It was hard enough calling about an inheritance, I had their number in front of me for months working through the grief to call. Just say "I can't help you." Why the degradation? read more

This review is for face value stamps only- I am not a collector and know nothing of the stamp collecting world. When I was referred by a friend, I thought, well it's a collector's shop. They're gonna try to upsell and give me a hard time if I'm only there for face value stamps. So it took me about 2 years before I made my way to the shop. Boy was I wrong. As you walk in, you will see shelves and shelves of neatly organized binders. The store is much larger than I imagined, with a large communal table-type space in the middle for you to sit as you sift through binders and bins. Their face value stamps fill up an entire shelf from top to bottom, but compared to the rest of the store is really nothing at all. I was greeted by a very nice lady who had no problems pointing me to the face value shelf (immediately to your right as you walk in). She explained to me how the stamps were organized (by denomination, then binder #). She then told me to feel free to take any binders and sit down in the middle of the room to look through them. I was there for almost 2 hours- in a nice air conditioned, well lit environment, and no one ever bothered me. The staff was all around and I could have easily asked for help at anytime, but no one ever tried to push me to look at anything other than what I was there for. I ended up leaving with about $30 worth of stamps - but most at face values of 2-8 cents each. I did manage to walk out with 2 full sheets of vintage stamps that I may very well end up never using because they are just too beautiful. I was so happy with my experience, I have been raving about this place to any of my friends who still write letters and would enjoy decorating their envelopes with gorgeous face value stamps. I definitely plan on coming back the next time I do someone's wedding invitations. read more

I can't address the store itself, but I had a phone call with Bruce that filled me with respect for the business. I explained I had a collection I knew nothing about, and wanted to set up an appointment to appraise it. Although it was clear from the onset that my stamps were going to be worthless to him, he spent so much time explaining things to me - telling me what to look for, etc. His knowledge of stamps, both American and foreign is truly impressive. Based on brief descriptors from me over the phone, he was able to instantly tell me what I had, what they might be worth and stories about their provenance. Truly lovely customer service! read more

I was just reading a review from 2016 that said the store wouldn't buy some stamps because they said they were worthless and that some of the "same stamps" were sold for $38,000. That is misleading on so many levels. First, the reviewer didn't say that the stamps that were brought to Champion were later sold for $38,000. He said some of the "same stamps" were sold for that amount. Stamps can look the same but one might be worth cents and another might be worth thousands of dollars due to small differences in how they were printed. Second, no dealer is going to scoff at a collection legitimately worth $38,000. If a dealer could sell those stamps for that amount, he would offer thousands to buy them. Maybe not $38,000 but enough to make the buyer happy and make a profit. Most likely the stamps that were brought to the store were common stamps worth pennies even though they might be over 100 years old. read more

I went online to champions site..Found just the stamp I wanted. Phoned Bruce. He described the stamp. I bought it based on the description he gave. Stamp arrived today. Beautiful. Thanks Bruce read more

I can't believe nobody has reviewed Champion Stamp! Maybe the stamp collecting community and the Yelp community do not overlap... Hmm. Well, regardless of how interested in stamps you are (I am generally not, at all), Champion is THE place for stamps in NYC. I don't mean fancy expensive first day covers or rare complete sheets-- they do have these, but I know nothing about them. BUT, if you are looking for FACE VALUE vintage stamps, look no further. You know how sometimes people get fancy with their wedding invites and they use a bunch of vintage stamps instead of just one and it looks beautiful? Champion Stamp is where that magic happens. There are tons of services online where you can buy stamps for double what they're worth, just because they're "curated" into sets of a certain postage value, or you can scour Ebay pay a bit less than double, or you can come to Champion, grab the "face value" binders*, sit down at the table in the middle, and go to town. The stamps from this book are actually sold at face value, so you're not even paying a mark-up to have amazing mail**. They might be low-value on the stamp collector end of things, but they have every color, every era, every style, within these 25 or so red and black binders. It does take awhile to go through, but it's the only store I know of in the whole city where this is even an option. Because of Champion Stamp, I ended up having super amazing wedding invites that looked much more time- and resource- consuming than they actually were. Any brides thinking of doing this, do yourself a favor and come to Champion Stamp. I guess if you're a stamp collector, you will probably like this place too :) *For face-value binders, make a right when you walk through the door, and then another right. There's a shelf of small red and large black binders that are numbered. These are what you want. You can also ask one of the salespeople if you get lost. ** They do charge tax, though, so I guess you're paying an 8% premium over the post office. Worth it. read more

If you are looking for vintage stamps, look no further. I was looking for low-denomination, colorful, face-value stamps for my wedding invites and I found tons of them. They are well organized into binders -- when you find one you like, you just remove the page from the binder. When you're all set, just bring the pages up to the counter. I got hundreds of stamps (went a bit "postal"...hehe) and they only cost me $9. read more

Sorting through stamps here is an activity every New Yorker should engage in at least one time. This is the sort of place that only exists in a large and great city like. I am more interested in the face value stamps, meaning an antique 2c stamp costs you 2 cents. I am not sure how stamp collectors feel about these things, but the face value stamps are great for assorted crafts, framing and to uses as colorful postage. Face values come in a million shades of every color, arranged in large binders over to the side of the store. There are large tables for sorting and selecting with no one to bother you regardless of the length of time you stay. read more

Came here to find stamps for my wedding invitations. I'm not a stamp collector so I don't know how good of a collection they have. However, they do have lots of face value stamps you can buy. You do have to look through book after book to find what you really like but I was able to find some incredible stamps after about 1 hour of searching. If treasure hunting for stamps is not your style, you can also order straight from their catalog but at a marked up price. read more

A basic stamp shop - nothing fancy. They probably excel in US stamp history but their FDCs were very weak and the non-US I looked for was even weaker. If you like the old musty stamp shop vibe this is definitely your kind of place. read more

Great place for stamp collectors (as well as wedding coordinators). They have a huge range of (mostly mint) US and international stamps and a good selection of collections and stocks. Best feature for me is a wall full of international covers, many thousands sorted by country. These are mostly postal history, fewer FDCs. Prices are fair, with many bargains to be found in the covers. The collections may seem priced a bit high, but larger purchases can be negotiated. Anyone visiting the 2016 International should drop in here as well. read more

I was here the day after Thanksgiving 2013. Staff was friendly and helpful. I picked up some nice pieces for my Haiti collection, and more importantly, some U.S. newspaper stamps. The newspaper stamps had some faults and hinge remnants. These were clearly and accurately identified, I was informed of them, and the price was appropriate. Very good visit, very pleased. read more

Great resource for face value vintage stamps, which I used for my wedding invitations. The stamps are organized into binders by denomination or theme and they have a broad selection. For those who aren't local to NY, like myself, they will also mail a "grab-bag" selection at face value based on denomination. You can also special order a specific design at a small markup. read more

i am not sure of the name of the woman i spoke to at champion, but she was extremely nice and had great customer service. i was ordering stamps for my wedding and i didn't order enough to get to the require 0.70 cents postage...she helped expedite the shipping even though it was my mistake. WOW! so so awesome. read more