Thai surprise

Another kiloware just in is Thailand. It's supposed to be a general charity mix but it is so packed with commems that I had a job finding definitives for the sample photo!

more kiloware

Our range of kiloware is expanding all the time. We've tracked down some really classy mixes, all at reasonable prices. Just in is a superb Scandinavia commemorative only mix. This is a clean and very modern mix and includes smaller countries like Faroes etc. Price is only £41.25 per half kilo!

eBay hilarity

I've started looking through eBay for sale items again as I'm looking for classy items for stock.

One little side interest is discovering the daftest listings. This gem was today's.

Why anyone would bother scanning and listing tat like this I don't know - perhaps because it's now free to list on eBay if you're an amateur. But even if it's free to post surely there are better ways of wasting one's time?

The funniest bit with this is the blurb - and this is TOTALLY genuine -

quite truly amazing! exhibit quality. line engraved, PERFS - unperforate. 4c.delicate postmarked. amaranth purple.

Yes, EXHIBITION quality!!!!! That delicate postmark, the sheer rarity of this stamp, the neatly scissor cut right hand margin - what philatelic exhibition could afford NOT to display this classic gem?

(Needless to say it remained unsold at a start price of 99p)

country kilowares

I've had a huge response to adding individual country kiloware lots with orders coming in every day. Prices are very reasonable and the list includes some very unusual countries. Check out the website here.

yet more on the web!

We've started listing catalogues on the website, starting with Stanley Gibbons of course. Almost all of their catalogues are now listed. I am offering a discount on all of them, so why not add a catalogue or two next time you order stamps?

catalogues

I've just started building the catalogues and books section on the website. I'm starting with pretty much the whole range of Gibbons catalogues but hope to add specialist and foreign catalogues (including revenues etc) as well as specialist books as time goes by.

website update

If you haven't had a look at the website lately have a look now - you'll be pleasantly surprised! We've now listed almost 5000 individual stamps and sets, from all over the world. We stock about twenty countries' new issues in addition. I still have thousands upon thousands of stamps to list, it's a never ending job!

I'm also now gradually listing a vast new range of kiloware and packets. In kiloware almost all countries will be available, in packets there will be a full range of Commonwealth. I have found a source of foreign packets but it may be a year or so yet before they appear.

I'm also now stocking a full range of Gibbons catalogues, though these haven't made it to the website yet!

If you're interested in GB kiloware we now have a pre-booking system as these lots are so incredibly popular. Next supplies will be at the beginning of June.

GB fine used

I've begun buying back the stamps that I use to send my kiloware out with. 90% of them reach the customer superbly CDS used. It is incredibly difficult to find genuinely used GB material these days - but this is the real thing. My postmaster Pete does an excellent job postmarking really carefully.

I am happy to buy back all the miniature sheets, complete sets and high values that you receive from me, for 50% face for cheque/Paypal payment or 75% face for exchange. They obviously need to be in perfect condition with the Pensford postmark as above. All issues are wanted ...

St Helena new issues

Also added to our New Issue stock is St Helena, starting with this excellent 2009 sheet.

New Issue

We've now added a 'New Issues' tab to the website, and the number of countries we stock as new issues is increasing. The new countries include British Antarctic Territory. New issues are only stocked in unmounted mint condition. However we are happy to provide ANY format through our new issue service - please email for details.

More Norfolk Island

More from the Norfolk Island collection currently being added to the website.

Norfolk Island

I've been busy breaking down a fairly comprehensive Norfolk Island collection with quite a few better items. Check out the website - these probably won't be around for long!

unintended consequences!!

There's a bit of angst in stamp dealing circles over the so-called SecUrity Machins. The worry is that the apparent inability to source 'mint no gummed' in the future may damage the whole GB kiloware trade.

This is a difficult one. The existence of 'unfranked' is really a result of over-mechanization. In the past when post was hand postmarked this very rarely happened. Now a lot of larger packages arrive unpostmarked or, worse still, wrecked by biro cancellations. This is particularly annoying when the stamps already have light CDS postmarks!

I do however suspect that a lot of unfranked in kiloware comes from unused stamped addressed envelopes. These stamps have NOT fulfilled a postal purpose so it is still legal to use them.

I suspect the new Machins WILL be soakable. If they use the same gum as the 'unsoakable' recent Xmas NVI commems then they will come off paper with difficulty.

But if they're not what may this mean?

It will take a long time before these appear in large quantities in charity collected GB kiloware.

If collectors find that they are soakable (with difficulty) then the price will fall by around 10%.

If they are unsoakable then kiloware prices may fall by 50%.

This will definitely affect the viability of some charities to continue to deal with stamps.

And what are the unintended consequences?

Well I spend £6000+ a year on postage sending out kiloware. The MARGINAL extra cost of delivering my parcels probably cost the PO less than a pound. The price of a parcel is £12.24 postage. If it's no longer feasible to sell GB kiloware at a profit all this income will be lost to the PO, as will the cost to the charities of sending the stamps to me. Oddly, the vast majority of us in the kiloware trade NEVER use mint no gummed!

By announcing the SecUrity Machins the PO is signalling to the UK public that it is possible to reuse stamps! How many times have you received a letter with a stamp clearly cut from an envelope and sometimes even just stuck on with sellotape? I can see this hapening a lot more in the future!

If the stamps are unsoakable then they'll simply be cut from envelopes and reused.

If this idea takes off will the PO spread its use to more and more stamps, perhaps even commemoratives? This will reduce the number of collectors taking an interest in GB material, eventually materializing as less sales to the Bureau.

What are the extra costs of using these security features? Is it less than the (totally estimated) loss to the PO of reused stamps? Or the loss of the kiloware trade? The loss of goodwill if charities can no longer raise money this way?

Because the real point isn't unfranked material, but franked stamps. If these are no longer collectable in the normal way (ie soaked off paper) will collectors abandon GB stamps in droves, affecting the profits of Tallents House?

It is particularly below the belt for the PO to imply that current GB stamps can be cleaned of their postmarks. This is an urban legend and simply isn't possible. Security features have been used since the Penny Black, most have been dropped eventually as they are not worth the bother. I suspect that that will be the case with these SecUrity features!

So don't worry!

New Zealand show issue

I do like this new miniature sheet from New Zealand which celebrates the Tarapex exhibition which contains 2 definitives within a stamp-like frame. I have just five available on the website.

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.