If you have recently started collecting stamps, or are thinking about starting, you may be wondering if the hobby is expensive. One of the biggest questions any stamp collector faces is where to find stamps inexpensively. If you intend to save stamps of the United States or the world and want to save used as well as unused stamps, the opportunities are really great. Not all collections consist mainly of unused stamps that you buy in the post office. Used stamps are worth saving, have value, and they may cost you nothing.
Many stamp collectors save only used stamps.
Others save both used and unused ones. Others save stamps only from one country or one part of the world. There are any number of different types of collections. All postally used stamps started out being received in someone's mailbox, at no cost to the person receiving them. The first place to search for stamps, then, is your own mailbox.