Postage Stamp Chat Board & Stamp Bulletin Board Forum
 

Being in the retail industry I have an interest in the many marketing methods used - especially when they involve stamps.

Trading stamps have been around for over a century. No-one seems to know who did them first but the largest and most successful trading stamp company was Sperry & Hutchinson who started in the United States in 1896.



The deal was to sign up retail stores and sell them bulk quantities of stamps. The retailers would then give the stamps to their customers in proportion to the amount they spent.

In America 10¢ was the going rate whereas here in Australia 6d was the going rate when the American system was introduced to Australia in 1898.



The customers would then stick their stamps into savings books and when they were full the books could be redeemed for goods - usually kitchen and other household items. The more books, the better the item could be had.

The Sperry & Hutchinson system was such that they imposed some exclusivity to certain retailers in each town and this made the system quite unpopular. In Australia the stamps were issued under the name of the Co-operative Coupon Company.



In order to fight the exclusive nature of the Co-operative Coupons many retailers and trade organisations issued their own stamps. These are of particular interest to me - especially those issued in my home state of South Australia.



As very little has been written on Australian Trading Stamps I am starting this thread for cinderella collectors to post images of their trading stamps - aka co-operative coupons, green stamps, discount stamps, discount coupons, savings stamps, etc etc.

Don't forget to also post up images of other related items such as the books, collector sheets or cards etc, advertising ephemera, etc etc.



I have also set up threads for non-Australian Trading Stamps.

American Trading Stamps -
http://www.stampboards.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=15984

British Trading Stamps -
http://www.stampboards.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=15985



Regards

Martin

Interesting threads Martin.

Kevin Morgan once issued sheets of Platypus "Aussie Blue" stamps along these lines.

I have sheets of them around somewhere - they are on ebay at $4.99 each stamp!

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Australia-Platypus-Aussie-Blue-trading-stamp-cinderella_W0QQitemZ250537434060

Aussie Blue Trading Stamps

Thanks for highlighting these. Perhaps Kevin can post an explanation of his scheme.

Martin

Customers of Kevin Morgan Stamps & Coins receive one of these stamps for each dollar purchase. On completion of a saver book of 480 stamps they are entitled to $25 off their next order, or $10 for a half book.

That is an equivalent 5.2% DISCOUNT, in addition to any already discounted items.

Other dealers who are interested in the scheme may contact me on 0425 795 693

Essentially we sell the stamps in bulk to other members of the scheme at 5c per stamp, and saver books at 50c each. When when they redeem a book for a customer and return it to us, we credit their account with the full $25.

Minimum purchase from us is 5000 stamps and 100 saver books.

The profit to us comes from any unredeemed stamps.

The sale of these at $4.99 on eBay is a bit of a surprise, especially when our print cost is less than 1c per stamp!

_________________
FREE sample copy of Stamp News Australasia available on request to all Stampboards members!
Also don't forget to checkout our websites at http://www.kevinmorgan.com.au

Thank you Kevin,

A true trading stamp scheme.

Woolworths and Safeway Cash Saver Stamps

Woolworths was formed in Sydney in 1924 and has grown to be one of the two biggest supermarket chains in Australia. Woolworths acquired Australian Safeway in 1985 and still operates under that name in some of the Australian States. Marketing material can therefore be found bearing either name, and sometimes both.

Cash Saver stamps were used in the 1980s in association with a series of continuity programs. For every $5 spent at one of the stores the customer was given one stamp. By collecting the stamps on special sheets the customer became entitled to either purchase items at ever-increasing discounts until some items were free. Most items on offer were special ranges of crockery and glassware.

The cash saver stamps come in a range of colours - different colours for different promotions. The stamps are generally 30mm x 23mm in size but the printed size is either small (23-24mm x 17-18mm) or large (25-26mm x 18-19mm). The stamps were supplied in pads of 1,000 stamps in 100 panes of ten.

The panes are imperforate all round and the individual stamps are perforated between. The large stamps have been seen with a large hole in the centre of the line of horizontal perforation but the small stamps have been seen with a row of even sized holes. Other variations may exist and details are invited.

Finally, the designs come in two types - one for Woolworths ('W' logo) and another for Safeway ('S' logo).

Seen to date are the following -


Blue, small size, used for Sheffield Porcelain China Collection. Woolworths stamps issued in early 1985 and had to be redeemed by 23 March 1985.


Orange, large size, used for Countryside Bakeware Collection. Woolworths stamps issued to 7 September 1985.


Brown, large size, used for Countryside Cookware Collection. Woolworths stamps issued to 10 May 1986.


Beige, large size, used for Countryside Cookware Collection. Safeway stamps issued to 10 May 1986.


Purple, large size, used for Royal Bavarian Crystal Collection. Woolworths stamps issued to 11 October 1986.


Red, large and small size, used for Countryside Stoneware Collection. Woolworths stamps issued to 31 January 1987.


Grey, large size, used for Galleria Bakeware Collection. Woolworths stamps issued to 4 July 1987.



The final type, or perhaps the first, is for a Safeway Stoneware offer. Red stamps of a different design were used
in the promotion running from 15 July to 2 November 1985.



Additions to this group are welcomed.

Martin

Re: used for Countryside Stoneware Collection. Woolworths stamps issued to 31 January 1987.

I can add a sheetlet of 20 stating 'fill 2 sheets and get the Stonewhere for free' maybe only issued in Queensland?

All other Woolies & Safeway shown above i can confirm. The last safeway sheet shown above i have is twice the size of the Woolies ones.

Dave

Found some pink ones not shown above also a different design. All from Queensland

I found these wedged in the back of a folder and thought they might be some sort of a trading stamp.

It has Wallace & Assocoates Inc, Bonus Certificate on it so what is the difference between a bonus certificate and a trading stamp? Does this fit in here or is it something completely different? Thanks in advance

The Bonus Coupons you show were put out by Coles New World 1 for every $5 spent several colours and various cards to fill as above. Coles also issued much larger ones found in sheets & coil rolls. I am sure this thread will get around to listing them...Dave

Thank you Revenuer, you are so fast I do shop at Coles but I don't remember these. Do you know what years they came out?

I will let the owner of the thread list them as it's his baby i have them up into the 90's

Thanks Revenuer and Brummie for your contributions.

My use of stampboards for this project is threefold -

1) As a convenient place to record things as I find them and slowly get my masses of stuff sorted and organised.
2) As a means of exposing a very large base of material for which there seems to be very little written
3) To pass the lot on to Cinderellas Australasia for their journal - which is in desperate need of contributions.

So please feel free to scan and post as much as you like.

Regards

Martin

Coles New World and Super Kmart (Wallace and Associates Inc).

Australia's other dominant supermarket group is Coles. Beginning in 1914 as a variety retailer Coles expanded into groceries in the late 1950s and opened its first supermarket in 1960. The variety business continues to flourish trading under the K-Mart name. The first Australian K-Mart store was opened in 1969.

Coles and K-Mart both participated in continuity promotions in the mid to late 1980s and early 1990s. Coles was a founding partner of FlyBuys in 1994 and I do not know of any continuity promotion after that date. It appears that Coles continuity promotions were partnered by Wallace and Associates Inc - a company specialising in organising these promotions.

The Wallace promotions were similar in operation to the Woolworths Saver Stamps except they called them bonus certificates. I have seen two sizes - the large 30mm x 22mm stamps and the small 22mm x 15mm stamps. The stamps were also issued in pads - the large stamps in panes of ten and the small stamps in panes of twenty. Other formats are likely to exist. Some stamps have ESPCo on reverse side. Like the Woolworths Cash Saver stamps the Wallace Bonus certificates come in different colours - presumably for different promotions. For most promotions one certificate was given for each $5 spent although the 1987 Scanda Glassware promotion required a $10 purchase to receive each certificate. The collector sheets shown here were given to me recently and the use of small certificates on sheets obviously designed for large certificates casts some doubts on the relationships between the two. At this stage they are all I have to go on so any challenges and additions are welcomed. Please post scans of anything that differs from, or adds to, this group.

Coles New World Promotions


Black on salmon, large size, used for Spice of Life Corningware collection. Promotion was from 2/9/1985 to 7/12/1985. ESPCo on reverse side.


Blue on white, small size, used for Sakana Steak knife and Fork set. Promotion commenced on 15/9/1986.


Black on pale green, small size, used for Scanda Crown Corning Glass collection. Promotion closed on 20/6/1987. These stamps required a $10 purchase instead of the usual $5 purchase. ESPCo on reverse side.


Black on very pale green, small size, used for Vulcano Cookware collection. Promotion was from 22/5/1989 to 12/8/1989.


Green on straw, small size, used for Cristal de France collection. Promotion closed on 27/1/1990. ESPCo on reverse side.


Kmart Promotions


Red on pale blue-gray, small size, used for Regis Glassware collection. Promotion closed on 10/5/1986. ESPCo on reverse side.

Regards

Martin

Step Back up the page.

As my article has just come out in Cinderellas Australasia i will add it to this thread. Maybe others can further add to it.

A Short History of Green Coupon Company Ltd.
By
Dave Elsmore

The earliest I can track down this company is in the Sands Directory which lists that the company operated from 1927 from 695-7 George Street Sydney. An advertisement in the 1932 Sands directory announced it had branches in Crows Nest, Newcastle, Cessnock, Parramatta, Katoomba, West Maitland and Wollongong. We know on the Green's coupons it state's 'Established 1898' so further study is needed.

The earliest coupon type business I found in New South Wales was in the 1900 Sands Directory, which showed the Co-Operative Coupon Co. Ltd at 387 George Street Sydney and Church Street Parramatta. From 1916 to 1925, this company was at 697 George Street (the same address as the Green Coupon Company from 1927). It would appear Greens took over the Co-Operative Coupon Co. Ltd.

Sixpence spent at participating shops entitled a customer to one coupon. These were saved and could be redeemed for household items, such as crockery, china, cutlery, saucepans, tea towels and so on.

The Green Coupon Company stayed at 695-7 George Street until 1951 when it moved to 263 Castlereagh Street Sydney, and remained there until 1969. In 1970 it was at 17 Parker Street Haymarket, and then it appears to have closed, as no further listings occur.

Not everyone was enamoured of the coupon system. The grocery trade magazine Australasian Grocer criticised the system in an article in its November 20 edition in 1928, and noted that it was first 'imposed' on the trading community about 1900. Successive New South Wales governments had rejected repeated requests by traders to outlaw it. The article said the grocery trade in this State had 'gone mad on coupons'. It added that 'firms who detest the coupon system are coerced into adopting it, as the desire to get something for nothing appears to be bred into the bone and marrow of the Sydney consumer.'

Here are the graphics that went with the article:

Back to Coles & K mart

Add the below:


Diff Colours


Small & Large Hole Coils. Brown

I can only add one extra sheet to the above June 2 1990

I thank revenuer for alerting us to this article. My copy of the latest journal has not yet arrived and I look forward to receiving it.

Hopefully he has acknowledged Daphne Wiles' talk appearing on page 3 of the August 2004 edition of "The Granville Guardian" published by the Granville Historical Society Inc. appearing here -

http://www.granvillehistorical.org.au/N ... %20_1_.pdf

Martin

Saphilatelist it is good that you found the link.

I had collected this info 18 months ago by just copy & cut then further checked Daphne's dates etc. 12 months on, i forgot where I got the original idea from and sent to Peter the editor of Cinderella Australasia in September last year.

I am going to do a follow up article on the Blue Shield 10's I can offer my acknowledgment to Daphne there.

Here also: I would like to thank Daphne Wiles' who's talk appeared on page 3 of the August 2004 edition of "The Granville Guardian" published by the Granville Historical Society Inc.

Great to see to many of these things, that I had not idea where out there in such a range!

Martin, and others - as all can see in the "members online" grid below we have a google and Yahoo 'spider' literally glued to this site 24/7, (no other stamp site has this or anything close) adding such threads here offers an instant top of page result whne anyone now seaches for Australian Trading Stamps - this thread is already match 1.

So others with these now have a ton of info, and who knows, may even be able to add to the data bank above.

Glen

http://www.google.com.au/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGLL_enAU305&q=Australian+Trading+Stamps

Dave seeing the owner had fully completed the card, I wonder why on earth they did not redeem it?

A $7 saving 20 years ago, is like a $15 one today, so odd they diid not turn it in.

Not sure glen maybe because it has been filled with the smaller version when the sheetlet allows for the large ones, it may have been presented and refused, but who knows. The Greens books i show above are packed with the 6d stamps these also were never used to redeem goods unless time ran out.

Had not thought of that.

Yes maybe they ended up in a check-out chick's till after discount as given, then back office for a few months as proof of the discount in case anyone asked, and then maybe given away or sold or reoved by some staffer?

Bit like Telegraph cancel Roos .. NONE should be on the market! But many 1000's are.

And from having not seen them before 20 of them arrived in an estate lot today!

Let me know if there are any new collectors of these.

Glen, I have a few of these but not this type.
Are you going to list them?
Cheers