Good Sources For Kiloware?

I am a new collector, who recently purchased a Canadian album/small collection at a yard sale. My next purchase was a worldwide album on ebay ;-) I am looking to build a small collection and see where I might want to specialize. Canada will be one area.

I am wondering if anyone knows of good sources for kiloware? I will be checking ebay, but would appreciate any recommendations or advice folks here have.

There is a feller on this forum by the name "Somebody Smart". He may know something about kiloware.

Peter

I've never bought from them, but this company in the UK seems to have a lot: http://www.nordfrim.com/

Look up seller ricarmic on ebay. He always has some interesting kiloware (plus he's located in Canada).

Thanks for the great leads! I will check these sellers out and see what I can find!

The disadvantage of kiloware us that you will often get substantial duplication, and may well have to spend hours in soaking stamps to remove them from paper. An alternative is to look at the cheap end of stamp auctions, which will usually have mixed lots ideal for a new worldwide collection, and at low prices.

I was wondering that as well GeoffHa. I am keeping my eye on some on some end of auctions and some mixed lots too. I do like the idea of having some stamps to sort through. I am hoping to be able to trade some of the duplicates I would receive for other stamps in an effort to grow my collection. Maybe that is not realistic?

Depending on how big of a lot you buy, kiloware does usually come with a lot of duplication. If you buy a kilo, for example, some of the most common stamps may have dozens to even hundreds of examples. The nice part about this is that you can pick the best one(s) for your collection, and of course you can sell or trade the duplicates. If you like to collect postmarks, for example, there is no better source than kiloware. For some collectors, the duplicates you get from kiloware are a feature rather than a bug. It all depends on what you're looking to do. I've been collecting for a few years and I no longer need the majority of the most common stamps for most countries but I still like sorting and soaking kiloware on occasion. You never know what'll turn up, and the cost of the "entertainment" of sorting and soaking is pretty minimal when you break it down to how many hours spent vs. the cost.

I like your thinking TheArtfulHinger, that the duplication of stamps are a feature rather then a bug. You make a good point that duplication allows you to pick the best variety of a stamp, though I may need some help with that. I guess that comes down to things like centering, lack of damage, heaviness/type of cancellation? The cost of kiloware seems pretty minimal for enjoyment of the hunt and here we are expecting a bad winter and I fully expect to be storm stayed and sorting stamps ;-)

I purchased a small (2000+ stamps) from philozero on ebay. I am pretty happy with it. He currently has a 10,000+ mixture for ~$100 (US), which at 1c/stamp is a good value (YMMV).

Thanks for the information dkabq8. I will have to check philozero out on ebay. At a penny a stamp it is hard to go wrong!

dkabq8 - I also recently purchased a mix from philozero last week. Just waiting for it to come in the mail ;-)