» Stamp Exchange

Stamp Exchange

Hi,

If you are interested in exchanging stamps with me, you have come to the right place. The following six sections lay out the terms I’m willing to make some stamp exchange with anyone. PLEASE, READ THESE RULES THOROUGHLY.

If you are an experienced exchanger and want the short version, then here it is… Sent me any number of used worldwide stamps. I’ll pick what I like and replace them with mint/used worldwide stamps. No wantlists or similar wishes as this is worldwide stamps exchange. A public summary (with photo’s of exchanged stamps) of each exchange is prepared by me … A more verbose (and detailed) version of exchange rules can be found below and I highly recommend everyone to read it trough. It will only take 10 minutes of your time.

Part 1: General

The goal of the exchange is to be fun, fast and very simple way to swap unnecessary duplicate stamps to possibly something more useful.

As I want to keep this stamp exchange as lightweight and open as possible, it has a set of very specific rules that I hope all participants to follow.

Part 2: How the stamp exchange goes

1) Send me any number of USED postage stamps.

These can be worldwide stamps or single country stamps. Terms relating to stamp quality can be found on “part 3″ further below, but as a general rule I can say that any damaged stamps I will return “as is” .

My mailing address is :

SCB / Keijo Kortelainen
Raiviontie 1
FI-44280 SUMIAINEN
FINLAND

Please include a sheet of paper with following details:
- your return address
- if you prefer used, mint or mixed stamps in return (by default I will send both used and mint stamps).

Make sure the above information is typed/written clearly, so I (or the postman) don’t have to do any guesswork.

2) I will pick up the stamps I like from your sending, and replace them with worldwide items from my duplicates stock. The stamps I have no use, I will return untouched “as is” with the new exchanged stamps.

As a generalization I will try to follow the “1:1 of the same kind” rule meaning a large (commemorative/pictorial) stamp is worth a large (commemorative/pictorial) stamp, a small (common definitive) stamp is worth a small (common definitive) stamp etc.

As my wish is to get unwanted duplicate stamps on the move with minimum fuss, I have a list of simple DO NOT’S I wish all exchange partners to follow:

Please, DO NOT ask me to sent any specific countries or topics.
Please, DO NOT sent me want lists.
Please, DO NOT sent me anything truly valuable (unless you are willing it to give away against common stamps)

The above “rules” exist for simple reason: I like to keep this FUN and SIMPLE “stamp for stamp” exchange (without catalog value staring) for worldwide collectors.

To see what kind of stamps move in these exchanges, please see the images on “exchange summary table” (further below on this page).

3) Sending stamps back to sender

I will mail the stamps back to their sender using normal (unregistered) mail with some Finnish commemorative stamps on the top.

Please, DO NOT ask me to use specific Finnish stamps for postage. My local P.O. has a really limited postal services.

Please, DO NOT ask me to send registered mail unless you are willing to pay for it (I can accept IBANN or PayPal payments). As international registered postage from Finland to abroad is very expensive (from 7€ upwards for normal letter) I find this to be waste of money for stamps worth only few euro’s.

Part 3: What I want

I’m looking for USED, OFF-PAPER WORLWIDE STAMPS from ALL ERAS that would add to my collection.

I don’t have a separate wantlist (as most likely you will use a different catalogue than I), but please take a look of what my stamp collection contains. I accept small stamps, large stamps, definitives, commemoratives, m/s, CTO-used stamps etc.

Stamps I want MUST BE IN GOOD CONDITION (= NO thins, tears, missing tooth,folds,grease etc). I accept unobtrusive (graphite/HB) pencil markings on the back of the stamp. However, ink (and other colored) markings I will count as faulty stamps.

Please, DO NOT send on-paper (also known as kiloware / unsoaked) stamps.

Part 4: What I Offer

In exchange I OFFER UNSORTED USED AND MINT STAMPS AROUND THE WORLD from all eras. Most of the duplicates I have, are from 1960-2008 era, but I also have few misc. boxes of older material.

Please, SPECIFY IF YOU PREFER MINT OR USED STAMPS (OR BOTH). . If you don’t set this preference, I will send You mixed (both used and mint) worldwide stamps.

Stamps I offer will be IN GOOD CONDITION (= NO thins, tears, missing tooth,folds etc).

Used stamps may have writing / inscription (like catalog number) on the back – but it’s always unobtrusive and made with pencil.

Mint stamps may vary from mint never hinged to lightly hinged or heavily hinged. If you prefer only a specific condition, please specify it with a separate note/ letter with your stamps.

Part 5: Disclaimer

Though international (and national) postage is usually very reliable, I want to highlight that I will not take any responsibility of lost covers or stamps under any circumstances.

Part 6: Closing words

Thanks for reading everything… I know this page has a lot of details and rules, but I believe good and clear “terms of trade” make stamp exchange more fun for all participants.

If you have any questions, just leave a question using the form below. And don’t be shy; there is no such thing as stupid question

Best,
-keijo-
30.12.2009 (entry updated 10.2.2010)

Summary of exchanges

Here’s a quick summary of stamp exchanges in 2010 so far:

ID	Date received	Sender	Total number of stamps	Exchanged stamps
#1	2010/01/08	Gerd, Germany	200	107
#2	2010/01/08	Jacques-Marie, France	33	14
#3	2010/01/11	Klaus, Germany	200	127+12 CTO
#4	2010/01/18	Kristin, USA	60	33
#5	2010/01/20	Gerd, Germany	350	159 + 5 CTO
#6	2010/01/22	Aivars, Latvia	100	49 + 12 CTO
#7	2010/01/29	Julius, Germany	160	70 (14 defins/small)
#8	2010/02/01	Steven, USA	60	41 (14 revenues)
#9	2010/02/02	Brad, Canada	408	98 (15 CTO, 7 small + 32 old, 44 large)
#10	2010/02/03	Tsung Fei, Malaysia	74	15 (12 large,2 defins,1 old)
#11	2010/02/05	Shrikant, India	54	38 (31 large,7 small)
#12	2010/02/12	Moses, Israel	50	45 (all large)
#13	2010/02/19	Marco, Italy	152	134 (11 CTO,3 small, rest large)
#14	2010/02/24	Saurin, India	28	5 (1 small, rest large)
#15	2010/03/01	Graham, USA	100	47 (9 old, 9 defins, 2 CTO, rest large)
#16	2010/03/01	Ben, UK	300	35 (4 CTO, 11 defins, rest large)
#17	2010/03/05	Saurin, India	24	5
#18	2010/03/11	Rolf, Norway	102	34 (25 large,8 (mosty large) defins, 1 old)

65 Responses to “Stamp Exchange”

Shia wrote:

Can i send an aerogram to you?
Keijo wrote:

Hi Shia,

I’d prefer a postcard / letter with stamps on top as I don’t collect aerograms, stationary, FDC’s or similar. It’s only the stamps that interest me

Happy New Year!
-keijo-
Carol Ligda-Wong wrote:

The redesign of your blog is excellent, and your stamp exchange rules are very helpful. May your stamp collection thrive and grow in 2010.
Keijo wrote:

Thanks Carol,

I’m very happy to hear positive feedback about the new look as well as for the stamp exchange rules

Happy new year!
-keijo-
Gerd wrote:

Hi Keijo,

I’ll post a letter with a stamp packet tomorrow. I hope we’ll can do some stamp trades in future.

Bye

Gerd
Keijo wrote:

Hi Gerd,

and thanks. I’ll be looking forward to my mail

-keijo-
Miguel wrote:

Can I send you some US stamps?
Keijo wrote:

Yes… I’m open for any country as long as the stamps are used (=cancelled with some kind of postmark) and in good condition.

For U.S. my collection is about 41% complete meaning that I still have a huge number of spaces to fill. Especially era from the 1990s onwards is very blank, but smaller gaps are in all eras and in all (catalog) value ranges.

-keijo-
Keijo wrote:

Today’s (Jan 8th) mail included two exchange lots (from Gerd and Jacques-Marie); please see recent blog (or archive) for more details about these.

Looking great so far
Keijo wrote:

One more exchange lot (sent by Klaus from Berlin, Germany) arrived in todays (Jan 11th) mail. A summary will appear in the blog soon.
Gerd wrote:

Hello Keijo,

an other stamp packet is ready to be posted at Monday.

Have a nice weekend

Gerd
Keijo wrote:

Re: last nights blog entry about some re-organization…

This page now features a summary table with information (and pictures) of exchanges. I will update the table contents as I receive new lots.

In addition, I’ve tried to make the exchange rules more compact.
Jayne Grenon wrote:

I really like to be able to view the stamps exchange
of what was kept and what was returned, so if I send you a selection of stamps hopefully it will be some that you can keep. This is really helpfull. THANKS
Keijo wrote:

Today’s (Jan 18th) mail brough stamps from Kristin (USA). Some very nice stamps from Japan and Canada

However, there is no return address included… So Kristin, would you please send me Your return address (just type it in into comment/reply box, and I’ll pick it up). Thanks.

best,
-keijo-
Kristin wrote:

I am glad you liked the stamps. I was worried because I sent them a while ago. I did have a return address sticker on the envelope but I guess it came off.
Keijo wrote:

Hi Kristin,
and thanks for the address. I’ll mail the stamps today. If all goes well they should arrive US in about 2-3 weeks time.

best,
-keijo-
Keijo wrote:

Hi Gerd,

your sending arrived today (Wed 20th Jan). Plenty of new stamps once more
Gerd wrote:

Hi Keijo,

glad to see some nice nordic stamps reach my collection soon.

Have a nice week

Gerd
Keijo wrote:

Today’s (Jan 22nd) mail brought an exchange lot from Aivars, Latvia. Very nice selection of Slovakia, Czech Rebublic, Poland etc. (mainly eastern) European countries… If all goes well, Aivars should receive my sending early next week as I’ll mail it today.
phil bruno wrote:

Hi Keijo, its true, i would be looking for stamps from a certain time frame…but at some point in time i can see myself sending you a “fun trade” of 100 worldwide..as i trader i could use current stamps to exchange with others!! Nice to visit your site !!! phil
Keijo wrote:

Hi Phil,
sounds like a good idea to me
Brad Fallon wrote:

Hello Keijo,

I have spent the last couple of days reading through your blog and also picking out a selection of stamps to trade with you. I will be sending 400 stamps, mostly used but there are some mint never hinged from Moldova and Cote D’Ivoire – all more recent issues. I am also sending some earlier Canadian stamps, Jamaica, Maldive Islands, Kenya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania (both early and recent), Macedonia and Nicaragua. I tried to keep it ecletic in order to make it interesting.

I have really enjoyed your blog and have started following your lead, by getting my stamps out of glassine envelopes and boxes, and getting them into stock books. Tomorrow I hope to get out to a stamp store and hopefully buy some used stock books, as mine are filling up fast.

I like your attitude about the trading. This will be the first time I have ever traded, but you seem friendly, honest and relaxed about it – so it will be fun.

I will mail out the 400 stamps tomorrow – I hope you enjoy them.

Best regards,

Brad
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Keijo wrote:

Hi Brad,
and thanks. That sounds like a lot of fun However, please send ONLY USED stamps as stated in my wants. I have no use for mint stamps and I will return them “as is”.

As you are a first timer, here are few practical tips to make sure things go as well as possible:

- If sending more than 150/200 stamps, please consider sending stamps in larger envelope (like C5 or C4), or sending them in multiple envelopes. This way the cover will remain somewhat flat… Thick covers WILL jam sorting machine and get “squeezed”. They might also get into “special treatment” of customs (if sending outside EU-area).

- The cover CAN/WILL receive some very handling. Please, pack the stamps properly. Place stamps into sturdy stock cards, or if using pouches place postcards or similar on both sides of the cover to prevent from bending.

- And finally… DON’T PANIC… Lost international mail is very rare, but sometimes covers take the “long route” to arrive. Most of the covers arrive within 2 weeks from sending, but sometimes they can go missing for month or two. If the cover doesn’t show up after 6 months, then it’s a goner.

As for other notes…. I’m happy You are liking the blog contents

Used stockbooks can be cheap, but be aware that they might contain fungus/mildew spores etc. substances that you don’t want to get anywhere close to your collection.

best,
-keijo-
Keijo wrote:

Today’s (Jan 29th 2010) mail brought an exchange lot from Julius, Germany.

It contained a total of 160 stamps, of which I took 70 stamps (14 small defins, rest large commemoratives or defins). Some very nice Czech republic and (West) Germany to add my collection.

My response will leave on monday’s mail towards Bad Schwartau.
Brad Fallon wrote:

Hi Keijo,

Sorry, I already mailed the pack with the mint stamps in it. No problem if you have to send those back. Or, you could always consider using them to trade for other used material. I am not looking for any special “trading rate” because they are mint. The choice is yours.

The stamps are well packed in a large envelope. I used to sell on Ebay, so I got pretty good at the packaging.

That is a good point about old stock books. I have some pretty ratty looking ones myself still. I will be sure to have a good look at them before purchasing.

Sorry about the mint stamps!!!

All the best,

Brad
Keijo wrote:

Hi Brad,

and thanks for response. Very likely all the mint one’s will come back to you untouched.

But anyway, as for future reference (and to ALL readers)… I wish everybody wanting to exchange with me, would read the rules IN FULL before sending anything. It’s only about 2 pages and will take less than 10 minutes of time to read.
Kristin wrote:

Keijo,

I received your sending a couple of days ago. Thanks for the nice stamps and I loved the stamps on the cover. I am preparing to send some more stamps soon. I am glad you posted a picture of what you took, so I don’t send the same ones again. I see you liked the Canadian and Japanese stamps in particular. I also wanted to know if you wanted to take part in the Forever Stamp Exchange. I have gotten some good stamps from it. I know some people don’t like these chains, so I will only send it to you if you are interested.
Keijo wrote:

Hi Kristin,

and thanks for the info. It’s good to know that the cover arrived in good condition (as the international mailing CAN hammer covers quite badly sometimes).

Yes, the Canada and Japan you sent were nice and did add to my collection. And based on the stats on “my stamp collection“, I still have plenty of missing stamps for both of the countries.

I know the Forever stamp exchange (and I’ve been even invited/asked to take part several times), but right now it’s not in my interests.
Swapan Chandra wrote:

hi kEIJO
I SEE YOUR website for stamp exchange e ,I am interested in exchangig stamps with you .I am from India.My name is swapan chandra.If you are interested I will tell you in details about what I want to offer & what I want to get from you.I am very much interested in your offer of Mint stamps .I am interested in your stamps if they are any left.I can offer you a lot of stamps from India Bangladesh Bhutan & oTher small Asian Countries . I am also interested in small European countries like Luxemburg Island Andora & others
Waiting for your reply.
swapan chandra
Keijo wrote:

Hi Swapan,

After reading your comment, I’m pretty sure You have (unfortunately) not read the guidelines / contents of this exchange. Please, do read them first.

best,
-keijo-
Keijo wrote:

Feb 1st 2010 mail brought a letter from Steven, USA. It contained 60 stamps of which I took 41, including some older US stamps and revenues (and nice Malawi). They will add to my collection very nicely. Thank You.

Hope you will enjoy the stamps I’m sending to You in tomorrows mail.
Keijo wrote:

Hi Brad,

your sending arrived in todays (Feb 2nd) mail. That was one SPEEDY delivery (only 4 days) for cross-Atlantic mail.

Anyway, I took about one fourth of your sending and replaced them with used worldwide.

I’ll put the return covers (two covers, as it will be cheaper to mail this way) to mail today. Hope you will like the stamps I included.
Keijo wrote:

An exchange letter from Tsung Fei, Malaysia arrived in Feb 3rd mail. It contained 74 stamps of which I took 15.

As usual, the return envelope is already in the mail with exchanged stamps (as a side note, the image of stamps I sent in return is missing one stamp – I accidentally forgot to place it on the stock sheet while taking a photo).
tsungfei wrote:

Thanks Keijo! I am pleased with the exchange. I am quite surprised that the letter reached you in about 9 days? I was expecting something like two weeks .
Keijo wrote:

Hi Tsung Fei,

I agree that this time the mailman was exceptionally fast. But I’m not complaining I hope the return cover reaches you equally fast.
Keijo wrote:

Exchange cover from Shrikant, India arrived in Feb 5th mail.

Plenty of very nice Sri Lanka. Thank you my friend

The return cover will start it’s journey back to India on monday (as it won’t make in today’s mail).
Saurin wrote:

Hello Keijo!

I have taken over stamp collection from my grandfather and father, was wondering what do I do with the duplicates and happened to bump into your blog.

Since the time I have been handling stamps it’s my second love, you have motivated me to reach higher altitudes in my hobby.

Have read the terms of trade and shall shortly send you my very first stamp collection (used stamps) overseas! Hope it shall help build your collection.

I am excited!

Cheers from India!

Saurin Yagnik
Keijo wrote:

Hi Saurin,
sounds great and I’m looking forward to exchange
tsungfei wrote:

Hi Keijo! Your mail reached me safely today on 11th February. According to the cancellation mark, it was processed by the Finnish post office on the 4th of February, so it took eight days to reach Malaysia. Interestingly, my local post office told me that it would take TEN days for my normal mail to get to Bangkok, very strange indeed.

I particularly like the 50 years celebration of the Max-Planck Institute stamp that you sent. Last year, I had the good fortune of visiting one of their institutes in Ploen, a beautiful town about an hour away from Hamburg.
Brad Fallon wrote:

Hi Keijo,

Your stamps arrived here in Toronto on February 10th. Thanks very much. I really enjoyed the selection. I will try and put another pack together for you this weekend. It will be all used stamps though!!

Best regards,

Brad
Keijo wrote:

Thanks for letting me know Brad. I’ll be waiting for your new sending

Anyway, lots of stuff in Feb 12th mail… First an exchange cover from Moses, Israel. Most of it was very useful (as my Israel collection was very anemic before this) And as usual, a response cover is already on it’s way.

In addition the mailman dropped few (other greeting) covers from the readers of the blog. Jacques-Marie: the Obelix and Idefix stamp on top of the cover were SUPER!!! Christoph – You’ll be getting a response soon. I loved the m/s you used for postage
Zukn wrote:

Cheeky question, do comemerative stamps we put on the sending envelope count. ie. do you return the envelopes with recent Finnish commerative stamps?
Keijo wrote:

Simple and short: I don’t count them.

Personally I include commemoratives or other large stamps for the postage always. But these may be older stuff (from the markka era) or newer issues (euro era), or their mixture. It depends on what I have available and what are the total postage costs.

But here’s a catch I think many non-Finnish collectors don’t know (or realize)… If I use only very recent (euro-era) stamps for postage, then response cover usually will contain just single large stamp. Yes, just one lousy stamp. That’s what it takes to pay the full postage to most countries for average sized letter….If using older (markka) issues, I need to use about 3 or more large stamps (possibly even a complete m/s or booklet sheet) to make correct postage.

But no – I don’t expect people to use special stamps or similar for postage. Actually only about half of the exchangers have used large commemoratives only to pay the postage, rest of the covers have had a mixture of small and large stamps, or small definitives only.
Marco wrote:

Hello Keijo, with some days of delay I posted my letter, you should receive it soon
regards, Marco
Keijo wrote:

Hi Marco,

your sending arrived in todays (Feb 19th 2010) mail. I had lots of fun while picking up almost every stamp you had included

The response cover will start it’s journey to Italy today. Hope you will like the stamps I’m sending.
Saurin wrote:

HI!

I have sent my mail to you on Feb 16th 2010, hope you shall receive it shortly!

Kind Regards,

Saurin Yagnik
Marco wrote:

Hi Keijo,
good to hear that the stamps arrived safely and that most of them were useful for you! I’m looking forward to receive your letter. In the meanwhile I will look among my other duplicates to see if I can find more for you
Keijo wrote:

Saurin & Marco,
all I can say is
Keijo wrote:

Saurin,

your exchange cover arrived today (Feb 24th). I was able to pick up few useful items from your sending, but unfortunately a large part of the included stamps were in very appalling condition:

I know. I’m making this particular case a public example of bad trade. And I feel more than sorry that I have to make so. But I fear that if I don’t strongly disallow this kind of behavior publicly, it will continue time and again.

Anyway – return cover will be sent back to India in todays mail.
Saurin wrote:

Dear Keijo,

Please accept my sincere apologies for this bad trade, it was never intentional trust me. As informed earlier since this was my very first experience of trading stamps I stumbled upon and you have helped to correct me.

I respect your position on this and shall ensure that such error is not repeated from my side. Second exchange is ready from above lessons and have taken extra care to avoid bad trade.

Cheers!
Keijo wrote:

Hi Saurin.

Apology accepted…. I know everybody makes random mistakes, so let’s not stick to them but move on
Saurin wrote:

Hi!

My sending is on it’s way with few commemorative stamps on the cover!

This reminds me of a short story: A boy used to daily cross the mexico border on bicycle and check-post authorities used to frisk him and found bag of sand on his back seat. They were puzzled by this boy daily crossing the border for a bag of Sand!

Any Guesses what actually the boy was doing?

Cheers!
Keijo wrote:

My guess would be smuggling bicycles. LOL.
Zukn wrote:

Well my first swap is underway, I sent a package, 2 days ago. Unfortunately my local post office have changed thier tellers from the the last time I was there.
The package got taken away from me as soon as I said I’d I’d like to send it to Finland , and got a printed postage paid stamp stuck on it.
I’ll be more careful next time and ask to know how much it would cost and then buy approiate stamps.
Saurin wrote:
Keijo wrote:

Highly efficient postal services. LOL.
Keijo wrote:

Exchange lot#15 from Graham, USA arrived March 1st 2010 with some very nice Egypt and Southern America stamps

Response cover will start it’s way towards Medford today.
Keijo wrote:

And another exchange lot (#16) arrived today as well. It was sent by Ben from UK.

There was a pile of approx. 300 stamps (to quote Ben, I didn’t count) of all sorts. The 35 stamps I picked were mainly British commonwealth.

Response cover will start it’s way towards Powys, Newtown today.
Keijo wrote:

Saurin,

your second sending arrived today (March 5th 2010). It was notably better than the first attempt, but please – do continue to enhance quality / condition. One fourth of the stamps had some faults (mainly thins).

Stamps on top of the cover were very nice though

I’ll put a return cover on the mail today.
Saurin wrote:

Hi Keijo,

Thank you for the feedback, I did send you a self adhesive Mahatma Gandhi stamp size sticker hope you liked it and have retained!

Swiss Aviation is celebrating 100 years this year and I bought a souvenir having 04 mint stamps in it from Swiss Post online philashop. They are simply fantabulous!

My # 3 sending is ready and have taken into consideration of your feedback. This swapping is turning out to be really exciting and shall make extra efforts to be more quality conscious in our future swapping!

Cheers!
Keijo wrote:

Hi Saurin,

I agree. Stamp exchanges are usually lots of fun
Carol Ligda-Wong wrote:

I’ve always wondered about “thins.” I’ve been given a couple of collections recently, and I now know why/how thins happen. Well-meaning people who do not understand how to collect used stamps try to peel them off of the packages, envelopes and postcards they receive. No, no, no! Tear/cut the envelope leaving a margin around the stamp, then separate the stamp from the paper by soaking in water for several minutes. Keijo, you say and illustrate the process beautifully here…

http://www.stampcollectingblog.com/how-to-soak-kiloware-basics.php
Saurin Yagnik wrote:

Hi Keijo,

Conincedentaly your sending received yesterday (05th March), this was the first International mail hiting my place. We all were excited to receive your cover and the wonderful stamps on and in the cover.

Cheers!
Saurin Yagnik wrote:

Dear Carol,

Thank you for the tip, have taken print of what Keijo has explained step by step and from now on shall follow to enhance my collection and future swappings!

I must admit here that hobby like this takes lot of character in you to build the collection and relationships.

Each day I am learning over here, a big thank you Keijo.

God is in detial!

Cheers!
Keijo wrote:

March 11th mail brought exchange letter (#18) from Rolf, Norway.

It contained a 102 stamps around the world of which 34 will fill some spaces in my collections. It contained some very nice stamps, like Libyan Arab Rebublic “battle commemorative” and few Fiji definitives