Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
One possibility is to buy a bag of kiloware every so often and spend the time sorting, soaking and stashing the stamps. But how to keep them? By country, and regardless of the date of issue? In some sort of loose leaf album, so an extra page can be added whan I fill the first? Surely not just randomly regardless of the country??
How do other SOR people manage this?
Up to now I've collected specific countries, and stamps are arranged in date order. I've bought the relevant catalogues to enable this. But I don't think I could face getting a complete all world catalogue.
BTW, I've noted earlier posts on this - pointing out the possibility of getting lots of duplicates, or masses of v low value stamps, so the packet is worth less than you pay for it.
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What I started to do is attending/investigating my local auction houses.
Some list their lots on the internet, others don't.
My nearest is 14 miles away, I can browse their lots on the internet, I can go the day before the auction to view, ( I can travel free by bus). If there is something of interest I can attend on Auction Day. If there is nothing of interest I have spent a few enjoyable hours looking at stamps without buying any!! ( I have seen some lovely collections that are outwith my price range)
Sometimes the prices are too high other times I come away with a lot or two. Lots can go for as little as £10.00 and as much as £1000.00.
Sometimes I have found stamps and catalogues in the local charity shops. For nearly up to date catalogues I take them out from my local library, normally one at a time as they are heavy!!
I am fortunate to be able to attend a couple of dedicated stamp auctions in Edinburgh, on average one every two months. There you meet like minded people as well as being able to spend a few hours browsing 400-500 lots, from mixed boxes to individual stamps. At one of them there is a bring and buy sale where you can pick up some nice lots at very good prices, as well as putting in some lots for sale (I normally sell enough to pay for the fuel to get there and back!).
Finding good quality kiloware is a trial. I have yet to find a decent supplier. May I suggest that if you go down the kiloware road you buy off paper, that way you do not have to do the soaking!!
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Are you keeping it for your collection or to possibly sell at some time?
I soak off stamps and keep them in country envelopes until I am ready to mount or sell.
For this I tend to reuse envelopes that come with bills or advertising. At local household auctions I can pick up boxes of unused greetings cards and those envelopes also get used, the cards generally put in recycling.
Buying kiloware is the greatest problem, I have unsuccessfully tried on a number of occasions to purchase from Postlynx, direct and through Delcampe but after 2 years I'm still waiting on an invoice and get no response from emails.
As Brechinite says purchasing bulk lots off the internet auction houses can be good but you can also end up with a load of junk like the dunes states. Especially when you only see maybe one image.
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Like yourself OP, I'm on a budget since I've a young family and I'm new to this. I decided to stick to collecting countries I've an interest in and my collection has been growing rapidly thanks to trading, I bought a few kiloware packs on eBay and Amazon, separated out what I want to keep and been trading off the rest for countries that I do want. Only costs the price of a small package and people have been very helpful in the trading department.
I plan on using stock books, and damn they are pricey, so far I have splashed out on two with some countries added, those that are not are in envelopes waiting for later.
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Stockbooks are great for storing duplicates, but you can use second-hand ones (that can be had on stamp shows and swap meets) for these. Since the stamps in kiloware are usually used ones anyway, and you won't need to bother about the gum any more, it may be cheaper in the long run and perhaps a more flexible approach to use stamp hinges and make your own album pages. There are some online "album smiths" (I believe there was even a website going by that title), or you can easily design your own pages and print them on good, preferably heavy office paper. Some recommend archive quality, at least it should be acid-free. Use three- or four-ring binders.
-jmh
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stock pages that go in a standard 3 ring binder are excellent for storage since they can be rearranged as you get more stock in different countries.
In the USA, the Hobby Lobby chain stocks Showgard pages. I've bought several different variations, S1 with one large pocket, S2 with two pockets (good for covers, both US and European varieties), and S8 which has 8 rows. These are two sided pages.
They come 5 pages in a pack for $4.99. It gets better! Hobby Lobby has a perceptual coupon on their website, for 40% off any one item. So that package becomes $2.99 plus sales tax.
I go into Hobby Lobby on a regular basis for my car models and supplies. Anytime I'm likely to walk out empty handed, I'll grab one of these Showgard packs and buy it with the 40% off coupon. I keep it showing on my iPhone.
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My collecting has also been dealt a budget cut, but I'm still collecting and have focused on varieties of common workhorse stamps that are so prevalent, but readily available in mass and not very costly.
For my WW duplicates I use country specific envelopes only for pre 1940 material, and glassines for any with high catalog value. Then all post 1940 going into boxes, as I just don't have the time to organize them any further, and other collectors seem to like the mish mash WW trades I do with them.
I believe in trading as much as possible and try to keep my duplicates on the way out, even giving them away at times.
As for a catalog, a 1999 Scotts Classic forms the backbone along with a more recent 2013 US Specialized, since my US cuts off at 2000 and my WW cuts off at 1930, these are all I really need in the way of catalogs, along with a couple of dog eared Minkus WW catalogs from the 70's, I'm good to go.
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I'm expecting my already pitiful stamping budget to shrink in the near future - I think my part time retirement job has decided to retire me. So, how to still have fun with stamps for less cost?
One possibility is to buy a bag of kiloware every so often and spend the time sorting, soaking and stashing the stamps. But how to keep them? By country, and regardless of the date of issue? In some sort of loose leaf album, so an extra page can be added whan I fill the first? Surely not just randomly regardless of the country??
How do other SOR people manage this?
Up to now I've collected specific countries, and stamps are arranged in date order. I've bought the relevant catalogues to enable this. But I don't think I could face getting a complete all world catalogue.
BTW, I've noted earlier posts on this - pointing out the possibility of getting lots of duplicates, or masses of v low value stamps, so the packet is worth less than you pay for it.
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10:58:06am
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re: How to keep kiloware
What I started to do is attending/investigating my local auction houses.
Some list their lots on the internet, others don't.
My nearest is 14 miles away, I can browse their lots on the internet, I can go the day before the auction to view, ( I can travel free by bus). If there is something of interest I can attend on Auction Day. If there is nothing of interest I have spent a few enjoyable hours looking at stamps without buying any!! ( I have seen some lovely collections that are outwith my price range)
Sometimes the prices are too high other times I come away with a lot or two. Lots can go for as little as £10.00 and as much as £1000.00.
Sometimes I have found stamps and catalogues in the local charity shops. For nearly up to date catalogues I take them out from my local library, normally one at a time as they are heavy!!
I am fortunate to be able to attend a couple of dedicated stamp auctions in Edinburgh, on average one every two months. There you meet like minded people as well as being able to spend a few hours browsing 400-500 lots, from mixed boxes to individual stamps. At one of them there is a bring and buy sale where you can pick up some nice lots at very good prices, as well as putting in some lots for sale (I normally sell enough to pay for the fuel to get there and back!).
Finding good quality kiloware is a trial. I have yet to find a decent supplier. May I suggest that if you go down the kiloware road you buy off paper, that way you do not have to do the soaking!!
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re: How to keep kiloware
Are you keeping it for your collection or to possibly sell at some time?
I soak off stamps and keep them in country envelopes until I am ready to mount or sell.
For this I tend to reuse envelopes that come with bills or advertising. At local household auctions I can pick up boxes of unused greetings cards and those envelopes also get used, the cards generally put in recycling.
Buying kiloware is the greatest problem, I have unsuccessfully tried on a number of occasions to purchase from Postlynx, direct and through Delcampe but after 2 years I'm still waiting on an invoice and get no response from emails.
As Brechinite says purchasing bulk lots off the internet auction houses can be good but you can also end up with a load of junk like the dunes states. Especially when you only see maybe one image.
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03:00:46am
re: How to keep kiloware
Like yourself OP, I'm on a budget since I've a young family and I'm new to this. I decided to stick to collecting countries I've an interest in and my collection has been growing rapidly thanks to trading, I bought a few kiloware packs on eBay and Amazon, separated out what I want to keep and been trading off the rest for countries that I do want. Only costs the price of a small package and people have been very helpful in the trading department.
I plan on using stock books, and damn they are pricey, so far I have splashed out on two with some countries added, those that are not are in envelopes waiting for later.
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re: How to keep kiloware
Stockbooks are great for storing duplicates, but you can use second-hand ones (that can be had on stamp shows and swap meets) for these. Since the stamps in kiloware are usually used ones anyway, and you won't need to bother about the gum any more, it may be cheaper in the long run and perhaps a more flexible approach to use stamp hinges and make your own album pages. There are some online "album smiths" (I believe there was even a website going by that title), or you can easily design your own pages and print them on good, preferably heavy office paper. Some recommend archive quality, at least it should be acid-free. Use three- or four-ring binders.
-jmh
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re: How to keep kiloware
stock pages that go in a standard 3 ring binder are excellent for storage since they can be rearranged as you get more stock in different countries.
In the USA, the Hobby Lobby chain stocks Showgard pages. I've bought several different variations, S1 with one large pocket, S2 with two pockets (good for covers, both US and European varieties), and S8 which has 8 rows. These are two sided pages.
They come 5 pages in a pack for $4.99. It gets better! Hobby Lobby has a perceptual coupon on their website, for 40% off any one item. So that package becomes $2.99 plus sales tax.
I go into Hobby Lobby on a regular basis for my car models and supplies. Anytime I'm likely to walk out empty handed, I'll grab one of these Showgard packs and buy it with the 40% off coupon. I keep it showing on my iPhone.
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07:13:39pm
re: How to keep kiloware
My collecting has also been dealt a budget cut, but I'm still collecting and have focused on varieties of common workhorse stamps that are so prevalent, but readily available in mass and not very costly.
For my WW duplicates I use country specific envelopes only for pre 1940 material, and glassines for any with high catalog value. Then all post 1940 going into boxes, as I just don't have the time to organize them any further, and other collectors seem to like the mish mash WW trades I do with them.
I believe in trading as much as possible and try to keep my duplicates on the way out, even giving them away at times.
As for a catalog, a 1999 Scotts Classic forms the backbone along with a more recent 2013 US Specialized, since my US cuts off at 2000 and my WW cuts off at 1930, these are all I really need in the way of catalogs, along with a couple of dog eared Minkus WW catalogs from the 70's, I'm good to go.
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