thoughtless beyond belief

It's hard to believe that there's a credit crunch on when eBay dealers think it's okay to send stamps like they have above. I received this this morning. The contents were fine but what possessed the 'dealer' to use a white label?? If they were taking it to the PO in any case why not ask for commemoratives? The worst thing is this was for £1.08 - exactly the price of the strip of three Poppy stamps just issued - and currently selling for £3-£5 used per strip on eBay.

I of course use these for nearly all my sendings - they also get fine used cancellations.

Needless to say I'll never buy from this 'dealer' again - and will be giving them zero feedback for post and packing on eBay.

post & go

Many of you may have missed the issue of a new set of GB definitives. They are like a longer format version of the 1st class Machin and they are currently ONLY available in two POs in the whole UK - and NOT available from the Philatelic Bureau or philatelic counters. Luckily for me one of the locations of these stamps is in Bristol so yesterday I went down to get some. Unfortunately I wasn't totally successful - the machine I used was only issuing 4 of the 5 values, the other machine was out of order. An hour later both were! So although I have five 'sets' of 4 values, they'll be little use to me until they fix the post & go machine(s).

Who knows what I'll do with 'em. I'm not keen on listing them on eBay even though they are selling at double face or more. I'll probably use them on kiloware parcels, giving them genuine postal (and possibly very rare) use. With the scarcity of machines and their seeming ease of breaking down, this may become a very scarce issue indeed ...

Yousuf Karsh

Canada has recently issued a miniature sheet, single stamp plus 2 booklet values to celebrate the centenary of the birth of photographer Yousuf Karsh. All are currently available on the website.

More about Karsh here.

new issues

I've had my first batch of new issues to add to the site. The intention is to eventually stock all new issues as they come in, but I'm starting small with a few popular countries - Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Switzerland, China, Macau and Hong Kong. New issues will be stocked in unmounted mint only. Remember that these often sell quickly and can be very difficult to replace once sold!

malta

Probably the best of the lot from the small Malta collection I'm currently putting on the website - the 1956-58 Definitive set in mounted mint, at my normal 1/3rd catalogue - £120 catalogue for just £40.

COGH revenues

Some more revenue stamps have recently turned up which I've put on the website today.

rare chance

Just listed - the hard to find 1968 definitive set from the Falkland Islands, all values unmounted mint.

swiss blocks

Just loaded today - superb blocks of 6 unmounted mint 1956 Pro patria set, at just a third of catalogue value!

classic commonwealth

I've just obtained some lovely Commonwealth material, which I'm starting to put on the website this evening.

British Library Philatelic Collections

The website of the British Library Philatelic Collections has been relaunched. To view some real philatelic gems just click here!

progress

The website is really beginning to take shape now after several months of serious listing! There's a good range of GB, Switzerland and some Commonwealth single stamps and sets. The packet range is expanding, also the 100 gram kiloware lots.

Plans for the next few months are to continue listing and building depth of stock in most of the above categories. I also plan to list collections - I've loads here which I'd planned to break down but the task is HUGE!

GB and World kiloware lots are still the biggest sellers.

what a relief

From the ridiculous to the sublime! After the horrible monochrome and un-British Cathedrals stamps we now have the superb, colourful and totally British Carry On and Hammer series. I will really enjoy using these on my Parcelforce lots.

fine used

Fine used GB is getting rarer all the time though we do our bit by using nice stamps on all our sendings, wwith Parcelforce lots getting CDS postmarks.

Just on the website - a fine used block of the 2008 insect stamps.

more kiloware

Just on today - a 100g lot of USA commemoratives. I tend to add material every day now, a really wide range to suit most tastes!

something different

Just putting these on the website - some Jersey revenues overprinted Specimen, values from £1 to £50, unmounted mint. I've just founds loads of unusual stuff in a desk drawer - all of which should go on over the next few days.

856 not out!

Amazingly the above is the 854th listing on the website. After a slow start I've been really powering through adding a huge and varied range of stock from the cheap to expensive, the regular stuff to the unusual!

If you haven't taken a look for a while why not do so now and see how we've come on!

100g lots

It's always been my intention to include a range of my famous 100g lots on the website. Up till now they've only been on eBay. Hopefully I'll put several a week on, though I suspect they'll sell more quickly than I can put them on!

wow!!

Today's eBay gem is this lot of 8 stamps, described as 'a collectors piece'. The picture is so blurred that it's impossible to tell where they are even from! A magnificent example of how not to sell on eBay. Oh, and the price - an incredible £15 using buy it now. And, typically, post is ridiculously over the top too. £1.50 for 8 stamps?? Why do they bother?

packets - at last

I used to be a director of the UK's top supplier of packets, and they were always a very popular line! At last I've started stocking them again, and hope eventually to offer a full range of countries and themes. They are a superb and inexpensive way of starting a country or thematic collection, and the packets I have sourced are particularly good as they include many many better stamps. Check the website for the latest additions!

more stamps

If you haven't visited the shop for some time you'll see a lot of changes. I've added loads more items, ranging from fine used Europe, revenues, Commonwealth and some GB.

today's eBay hopeful!

It just keeps getting better. Star hopeful today is the character offering this philatelic gem. It's a magnificent average used copy of the exceedingly rare 14p Wedding stamp - sold as seen! The price - a mouthwatering £1.99 buy it now, plus 50p post and packing of course. I can see potential bidders just queueing up to get their hands on it ...

new website items

I'm putting some more revenue stock on today including the above nice set of NZ unemployment relief stamps.

wow - eBay bargain!!

Today's classic 'bargain' on eBay is this gem. It appears to be an ordinary Machin 3 1/2p definitive. The hopeful poster doesn't say whether it's mint or used, and the magnificently blurred picture doesn't really give a clue.

The price of this classic - starting at 99p. Post and packing is an amazing £2.00!! What are they packing it in - 24 carat gold??

australian antarctic territory

I'mcurrently putting some nice AAT material on the website, found at the back of a rather bland Australia stockbook! (There are also some very nice OS Australian stamps and postage dues to follow).