Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Buying Stamps at Wholesale Prices - Stamp Kiloware and Stamp Mixtures


When I first began collecting stamps I bought all of my stamps in low-priced mixtures. Either on-paper kiloware or off-paper stamp mixes, I didn't care which. Most of the time, those stamp mixtures I bought as a kid didn't have much in them that had any significant value, but I always hoped that there might be a nice find or two. And even when all the stamps in a particular mixture were pretty common (which didn't always happen, sometimes I did find some nice stamps worth a few bucks each), they sure did fill in a lot of holes in my stamp collection.

Filling in the "missing links" in a stamp collection is one of the main purposes of buying wholesale-priced kiloware and stamp mixtures. Sometimes those pesky holes are very common stamps that should be very easy to find, but just aren't. And sometimes you'll find nicer stamps even in a low-priced mixture: one or two of these can more than pay for the whole bunch.

If you collect used US or used foreign stamps, there's no cheaper alternative than buying stamp mixtures. Generally you'll get better mixtures when you pay more per ounce, but even high-priced mixtures are far cheaper than buying stamps individually.

Compare the mixtures you receive from different dealers - good stamp dealers will provide good quality and a lot of variety at a reasonable price. There are stamp mixtures being offered today that have good stamps in them, so shop around. When you find a stamp dealer that sells mixtures that you like, buy more from that dealer.

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