Iceland

Today I've started listing Iceland on the website.

peru

I'm starting to fill in the gaps on the website, with lots of new countries getting their first stamps listed at last! It is very difficult trying to cover everything, not because I don't have it but because the physical task of listing does take a long time! mind you, once something is listed, at least at the basic level, it will always be on there.

If you do see something you need it's always a good idea to snap it up right away because items often sell within hours of going on line - and often I'll only have the one in stock!

I'm currently listing Peru.

Afghanistan packet

Just listed is our first Afghanistan packet. Afghanistan is of course a country very much in the news and the primitive early issues are always fascinating.

To order just click on the title link!

new range of packets

I've been busy putting on a whole range of non-Commonwealth packets over recent weeks. These are particularly good as they contain a far better range of stamps than most packets and are consequently very good value for money.

The best advice when starting a new collection is to buy the largest packet you can of the new country. Hopefully by the time the listings are finished we'll cover about 90% of all countries!

website filling!

We are not far short of 10,000 listings of individual stamps on the website now. Recently added are many Middle Eastern stamps, also GB fiscals and Scout Post stamps.

sweden

I've found a very nice supply of Swedish stamps, both mint and used, so the Sweden section of the website is beginning to fill out nicely!

getting cooler

This is what we should be doing to increase interest in stamps. The ethnicitee company (click on link above for website) produce a range of quality tee shirts using stamps as inspiration and covering serious social/economic issues of our times, particularly those affecting the developing world.

If stamp collecting was in decline a decade or so ago it certainly isn't now, and this is about 99% due to the Internet. Stamps are the ideal subject for webpages and e-commerce, light but valuable they always were the perfect mail order product, now people are realising both the information and artistry that each and every stamp contains. This really is an interest for the 21st century!

Falkland Islands blog launch

Another country blog is launched today with the Stamps of the Falkland Islands blog. As with all the blogs it is intended to eventually become a one-stop resource for collectors of this area. Bookmark today!

new blog

We have now started a blog specifically for the stamps of Greece. To view please click on this post title.

cyprus on paper

One of the hardest mixes to put together is Cyprus and this is the first half kilo lot I've managed to list!

launch of cayman islands blog

Launched today - the second of our country blogs. This is for the Cayman Islands.

losing the plot

First an apology. Sorry for using the Album Cover stamps to post your stamps.

Let me explain. A year or so ago a few stamps started appearing with an unsoakable gum. This was being introduced, together with slots, as a way of disrupting the mythical trade in reused GB stamps. Fact is this gum isn't unsoakable and in fact, for the postage trade, it's made no difference, in fact after using Stamplift or WD40 not only do the stamps come off safely but they even have the decency to stay sticky!

When the muck was used on Christmas stamps the PO explained that Xmas stamps are actually definitives, but that this new gum would NEVER be used on commemoratives.

So what have the morons done? Gone and used this muck on the Album Covers stamps! No way can these be described as definitives. So well done, PO. You've just created modern rarities because I can't see any way of safely getting these off paper, and no sensible collector is going to start collecting stamps on paper.

So for all those customers who have had these on their packages once again I apologise. My usual buy back offer won't apply because these stamps are simply unuseable. I won't be using any more, or indeed any more PO self adhesive issues, until this idiotic policy is reversed. You can still get the stamps of course, but from the mini sheets or prestige booklets, which will have a different SG number. Genuinely off paper used self adhesives are going to be far rarer than Penny Blacks!

half kilo kiloware lots

Just on today - various half kilo kiloware mixes, including for the first time MIDDLE EAST. These are very hard to get hold of and this is the first lot I've been able to make up! I doubt this will stay on long!

Bermuda

I've just started the first of what will ecome dozens of country blogsites. First up is Bermuda.

The idea of these blogs is to provide a one-stop resource for collectors of a particular country with basic details, bibliography, articles etc etc. They will be more like websites than blogs in as much as the information will be permanent.

As I list more countries more and more of these blogs will appear and each will be announced both here and on the e-commerce site.

miniature sheets

Two issues I'm really looking forward to this year are the miniature sheets being issued for the London 2010 Festival of Stamps. Perhaps the appeal is that they draw mainly on stamp design from King George V's time.

But these issues both heighten some real concerns I have about the PO in the UK. Most of these stamps will simply not be seen by the general public. They'll be available from the Bureau of course, but how many will see actual postal use? I'll use plenty of course, but the average person in the street won't even know they exist. My village PO doesn't even publicise new stamp issues any more, and that's with my influence. The fact they are in mini sheet form makes it even worse.

I'll use the sheets and the stamps from the sheets. The £1 values are particularly attractive.

So my first point is that to really push stamps they need to be widely available, widely publicised and easy to buy, from all POs. My second point is that Stanley Gibbons is complicit in this whole process of pushing certain stamp issues as purely 'collectables'. These stamps will not get a full listing in their catalogues, only the sheets will be listed. So no catalogue number for the individual stamps. This is crazy.

When listing stamps I often get single stamps from miniature sheets that have been used for a proper postal service. This doesn't only apply to British stamps but stamps from many countries - France and Austria spring to mind. Again no SG numbers for these.

People come to collecting from seeing stamps every day in their regular posts. By forcing commemorative issues into the background the PO is basically reducing its future income from collectors. Stanley Gibbons are making this process worse by regarding miniature sheets at least as purely collectables, when in fact they are often very useful when broken up to stamp mail! Stamps should first and foremost exist to stamp mail. Selling mint issues as a sideline is fine, but used stamps should always be the backbone of stamp collecting as it's a cheap and easy way of getting into the hobby.

9kg!

In the back of the car after collecting from the charity - Tuesday.


9kg lot being weighed up - Wednesday.


Weighed up boxes take over the living room! - Wednesday.


Boxed up and ready for stamping - Wednesday.

Nice stamps ready for the outside - Thursday.

Stamped up and waiting in the hallway - Thursday.

In the back of the car - Friday.

The walk to the Post Office - the reason boxes are 9kg and no heavier! - Friday.

Filling up the post office - why it's done in two runs over two days! - Friday.

The postmarker and sellotape - the final touch ensuring the stamps used for postage are nicely postmarked and protected on their journey to you - Friday.

A lot goes into your 9kg box! There's a 200 mile round trip to pick up from the charity. Normally I pick up 300kg of GB and 50kg of World.

The next day I start weighing up the 9kg boxes. The raw material comes in 10kg sacks and I normally make up the 9kg lots from at least two 10kg sacks and also include the smaller donations from about 25 other charities that come in on a daily basis.

It normally takes two days to make up all the boxes and label and stamp them up.

As they go to the village PO (to get the good cancellations!) it normally takes two trips - on Friday and Saturday - to clear the lot. This is due to space limitations in the car but, more importantly, at the PO.

With luck the boxes should arrive with the customer from Saturday onwards.

Austria on line

I've almost completed putting all my used Austria on the website. It's mainly recent material with an excellent range of used commemoratives. many of these have shown considerable price increases over the last few years. The site is now pretty complete from 1970 to date, for used at least. I do have a couple of excellent mint Austria collections that should go on at some time over the next few months. Austria here.