Ebay Realisations Are Hot

or, How to Be a Constant Underbidder!

I buy most of my Ebay items from the UK and US, so most items end in the wee small hours when beauty sleep is trying it's best to work it's magic.

I use Gavel Snipe to place my bids for me, and I've had a spectacularly unsuccessful week, with prices heading upwards for the Silver Jubilee material I'm constantly seeking.

Here's a few examples:

First, a cheap stamp. Straits Settlements Silver Jubilee 8c, SG257, with a clear strike of Changi, Proud D2, although no year is shown. I collect the postmarks of the small post offices of the Straits Settlements, and I have no Changi in the collection

The stamp has a CV of £3.25, and Proud rates the postmark as 40, or £4. The stamp sold at double CV, £6.50!

Marcophily - The Study of Postmarks - Part 2

When The Postmark Makes ALL The Difference - GB Used Abroad

The postmark on a stamp usually indicates where the mail originated from, and is typically found on a stamp of the relevant country.

When the stamp and the postmark don't originate from the same country, the stamp is known as a "used abroad".

British colonialisation presented a multitude of reasons why stamps were used abroad, including the establishment of British postal agencies in foreign countries by means of a commercial treaty, satisfying the postal needs of colonies with no local stamps yet produced, and carrying military mail during foreign military campaigns.

These stamps are in my collection, and, again, all were found in bulk lots and not purchased for what they are.

This stamp is Great Britain SG94 4d vermilion Plate 12, issued in 1870. It bears a part duplex A25 of Malta. Although Malta issued stamps in 1860, Great Britain was responsible for the external posts until 1884, hence the use of British stamps until that time