but then living out of the mainstream leaves me no other alternative. I always try to go by the 1st rule of collecting i.e., "buy what you like and don't worry about profit". Nearly all my chip transactions are purchases, less than 5% have been trades or sales. I may never recover my COG but that is not why I enjoy the hobby. If the "dealers/sellers" must increase prices so be it. IMO chip sales have not been slowed by postal increase. If there is a dropoff, I submit it may be due more to the economy as more of us find our discretionary budget smaller.