Where Do You Buy Kiloware?

Newbie here, from USA. Please share any relevant experiences, sources, USD pricing, number of stamps to expect, by the lb or kg, on/off paper?

A) Kiloware is best bought from auctions - not necessarily ebay - though that's a possibility. Personally I'd suggest you attend an auction in person - better prices and no massive shipping charge.
B) It comes by specific country and world.
C) It comes on and off paper - most often on - but is almost always specified. Mind you I've sold mixed on/off from time to time.
D) Watch for the note "minimum paper" - O/W you are buying high chunks of envelope.
E) Other key phrases: "clean," "non smoking" and "minimum xmas" and "low duplication."
F) obviously the number of stamps varies by the amount of paper, size of stamps and possibly other factors. But if you buy "5 kilos - clean - minimum paper" you should have a barrel of fun.

Personally I love kilo lots. They IMHO contain stamps that have never been examined cl,osely for postmarks and variety.

If you're new to buying kiloware, follow CanadaStamp's advice. If you're new to stamp collecting, I shouldn't start with kiloware. Better to look for an interesting worldwide collection/boxed lot at an auction, which will avoid a lot of the duplication and removal from paper that tends to accompany kiloware.

The formula I use for buying and selling kiloware.

Most mixes have around 4,500 stamps on paper per KG.

Off paper mixes are around 12,500 stamps per KG.

With kiloware numbers dropping dramatically as less and less people use the letter mailing system and also are not using stamps on their envelops.

Good unsorted kiloware is very difficult to find in this day and age.

Sadly it has been very common for people to try and soak the cancels off the stamps to sell them and this I believe has destroyed a huge amount of modern kiloware over the last 6 years in particular.

Biggest issue I come across with kiloware buyers is that they have had bad experiences in receiving lots of kiloware that had all the good stuff taken out only to leave stamps with very poor cancels. These comments come as I am thanked for the quality of our kiloware we sell mostly on eBay. It really is a stand out. Sad really!

My charity contact is telling me that in coming numbers for their kiloware has fallen around 50% on last years numbers. But the year is still young and some donators could very easily have just not sent their stamps in to the charity as yet.

Working with kiloware as it grinds to an end. Have sorted kiloware most of my life. The one and only charity contact that I still have could supply me with around 300kg per month 10 years ago now 5kg per 3 months is all I get of the very recent stamps on paper these days and sometimes as little as 2kg per 3 months.

To me stamping is all about kiloware. All my stock comes from kiloware. Kiloware stops so do I.

where?¡ still looking for a new Great Britain kiloware dealer, all my dealers passed years now...too sad

It's very hard to get decent kiloware now, from whatever source.

Even a lot of the charity stuff I have bought from real charities has been bad -- they either have someone at the charity going through it, or collectors have donated their leftovers. Nothing worse than getting a lot of recycled kiloware!

Never buy anything without a picture of the actual lot, and try to determine if it has been heavily faced.

Does anyone know of any USA sources for kiloware? (Besides EBay & Swan) There used to be several kiloware dealers - have they all gone out of business?

If recommending buying through auctions, which auctions carry this type of lot?

Again please - USA sources only. International shipping is crazy expensive.

THANK YOU for your recommendations! Greatly appreciated!

stampboylife and others: See the SCF advertiser Nordfrim linked above.

Also if of interest, on eBay there is a regular seller of 100 different Faroe Islands, off paper, neat and clean. Some with FDC cancels but some sets as well, with stamps going back to the 1975 issue. I found Faroes hard to find in kiloware and tried this very recently and was very pleased. Shipping looks ridiculous but I think the lot is well worth it.

philatelia7, KGV collector's supplier problems are the same as in the US, for all the reasons noted.

I have an 80% Canada, 20% world - with same percentages for off paper / on paper in one lot. Good quality with very minimum duplication. *** Edited by Staff - Please Review the rules that you agreed to when you registered. ***

Nordfrim

I am EU based, and always order at Nordfrim or the Dutch version, Collectwereld.
They have a reasonable variety of Kiloware, although I am also looking for more suppliers...

Did anybody tried buying accumulations form Kelleher Auction?

https://db.kelleherauctions.com/php/home.php

I've been eyeing a few, but with only a picture or two to go by, unknown shipping charges, and who knows what other fees, seems a bit risky.

I still buy mine from a charity here in Ireland.
I usually go twice a year but obviously I have not been this year.
Usually I spend about 60 euros (ie about 30 euros on two different mixtures)
1...Irish commemoratives/Stamps on a Roll. As I am always looking for different SOARs (issued annually from about 900 post offices) then almost every SOAR is useful to me. The commemoratives will rarely be more than 10% of an Irish mixture but I include duplicates in my collection.
2...world mix....well its a case of dimininishing returns especially as I buy mixtures twice a year. But on the last three occasions, I have added 1,000 different stamps from about 120 countries/colonies. Obviously USA, Germany, France are the most common and theres a lot of duplication but theres always some pleasant surprises.....notably small countries.

Britain is sold seperately and next time I will get a mix of them. Seemingly good valuue.
I am not necessarily convinced about "cherry picking" de-valuing the leftovers as out of the 1,000 stamps I will use from a world mix, maybe only 20% are "one only". I used to give the leftovers to a different charity based in Scotland. But now I just burn the leftovers.

Kelleher Auctions don't sell Kiloware . If they have Kiloware material it is included in much bigger lots . I get lots at auction that have Kiloware included and it is sold mixed in box lots as bedding to fill out the box instead of using stuffing around the purchase .

My partner will take out 4 or 5 of a type and use them in country lots,most of it is of little interest to us .

Here in UK real charity kiloware is rare as hen's teeth these days.

Lots of it offered on eBay, but I think 90%+ is fake or rubbish -- described as 'ex-charity', meaning the seller got it from a charity, and then took out anything that was worth anything at all.

Even genuine charity kiloware (bought from eBay from a registered charity) can be rubbish -- sometimes full of envelopes, rubbish old albums, picked kiloware that has been re-donated by some 'helpful' collector etc.

But kiloware still has that cachet amongst collectors, so usually attracts a lot of bidders, and non-stamp people are after it for all the unfranked.

I still find some good stuff from time to time, but its really a lottery. Better follow the advice above and buy a large general collection.