Armand Rousso Businessweek Magazine

  On Sept. 30, investors will be able to buy and sell rare stamps that way they trade securities-by computer. Collectors used to be limited to catalogs, dealers, and auction houses. But soon they can tap a new electronic market, run by the International Stamp Exchange Corp. in Miami Beach that will feature up-to-date prices and bids.

Using the market requires only a computer with a modem and 60 cents a minute for line charges. Traders will have access to data on more than 800,000 stamps, plus the services of at least 200 stamp dealers acting as brokers. The brokers will share a 6% sellers’ fee and a 3% buyer’s fee that the exchange will charge traders using this service.

Rousso, a leading trader of rare stamps who is chairman, president, and founder of ISE. Anyone with a computer and a modem can contact ISE, get a password, and call in. The service will also be available via MCI International Inc.’s “Insight,” a 24-hour news and information service. The wholesale and retail market for stamps worldwide adds up to about $470 million each year. Now Rousso predicts the exchange will enable the rare-stamp market to “at least double” by 1990.