About us
Karelia Stamps is a Finnish stamp company established in 1991. We specialize in Finnish and Baltic countries providing stamps, covers, booklets and postal history. Besides semi-annual auctions (online, print or combination) we have mail sales as well with both national and international audience.
KK Mediat is the technical service provider behind Kerailija.net and this auction. We are a small but spicy Finnish consulting agency specialized in Internet solutions and technologies. Since 2001 we have served over 500 business customers from small to Forbes 250 companies in Finland and worldwide.
Karelia Stamps and KK Mediat have worked together since 2005.
Register as a bidder
Registration is totally free and does not bind you to use our services. Acceptance of registration requires that all form fields are filled with precise and correct information. Giving false registration information knowingly is a felony and can lead to further actions.
We handle all personal information received during registration and auction in a manner specified by our privacy report (also available in P3P format). Karelia Stamps reserves the right to store user registration information for their customers database. No sensitive personal information is stored permanently or in a manner that endangers users privacy. Administrators of this website have a right to pass information to authorities if the user breaks the legislation or terms of service in a manner that requires further actions.
Note! All registrations undergo a validation process. Depending on situation this can last from few minutes up to 48 hours. After validation process You will receive an email about registration status. While waiting for the email, we recommend You to browse the auction and sign up / bookmark interesting lot numbers. This way you can later find them easily - either using search functionality in our site or using your browsers bookmarks.
Lot pricing and bidding
All bids are made anonymous. Lots where You have the highest bid are represented with green background color. You can also see your bids and wins through My Pages section.
All lots are priced in Euro (€).
The price against each lot is not an estimate, but the reserve bid. We don't accept bids below reserve prices.
All bids are binding.
Bidding increases
| Min.price | Max.price | Bid Increase |
|---|---|---|
| 0.10 | 19.99 | 0.50 |
| 20.00 | 49.99 | 2.00 |
| 50.00 | 99.99 | 5.00 |
| 100.00 | 499.99 | 10.00 |
| 500.00 | 999.99 | 20.00 |
| 1000.00 | 1999.99 | 50.00 |
| 2000.00 | 4999.99 | 100.00 |
| 5000.00 | 99999.99 | 200.00 |
Example:
Lot X has a starting price of 46€. In order to get the item, You make an bid of 75€.
If You are the only bidder, the lot will be sold at the reserve bid (starting price).
If another user makes a bid to the lot, the auction will raise your bid to the specified maximum value using the increments specified in table above. E.g. The other user bids 50€, so the auction engine raises your bid to 55€ and keeps you as the current highbidder..
Manual bids may be made by every 1 EUR.
Images of lots
All the lots in the auction contain at least one photo. If you wish to receive more specific images or new images, please contact info@kareliastamps.com. Remember to mention lot item number.
Lot preview images are not color balanced, so the colors You see on Your screen MAY NOT match reality. If item color is of any importance, it is usually noted either on lot title or description.
Billing
Billing is performed after the last day of auction. The bill is presented under My Pages in section "Billing". Under any circumstances we don't send email invoices - all such invoices are hoax attemps and we ask to be notified of them.
Preferred payment methods are online banking transfers (both IBAN and SWIFT code is available).
Also all major credid cards are accepted. You can pay either directly or use PayPal.
A 22% buyer's commission will be added to the bid price. Commission covers postage and value-addedd tax. Please note, that for non European Community country buyers the commission is only 18%.
Foreign buyers will receive Pro Forma invoices, payment to be made within 14 days of the invoice date.
Lots to be returned - for what ever reason - must be sent within 7 days of receipt. Collections, mixed lots etc. are sold "as is" and they may not be returned for any reason.
Some translations and notes about lots in general
| aito | genuine |
| ala | lower |
| arkki | sheet |
| blokki | block |
| epäselvä | unclear |
| erikoisleima | special postmark |
| eril | different |
| erä | lot |
| etusivu | front |
| haalistunut | faded |
| hammas | teeth (perforation) |
| harvinainen | rare |
| heikko | weak |
| HN | imperforated |
| hyvä | good |
| jälkipainama | reprint |
| ilman | without |
| iso | large |
| juhlamerkki | commemorative stamp |
| kansio | binder |
| kapea | narrow |
| kaunis | beautiful |
| kenttäposti | field post |
| kevyt | light |
| kirje | letter |
| kokoelma | collection |
| korjattu | repaired |
| kulmataite | corner crease |
| kuori | cover |
| kuvakevirhe | plate error |
| kuvioleima | figure postmark |
| kärki | tip |
| laatu | quality |
| laskos | paper fold |
| lausunto | certificate |
| lehtikääre | wrapper |
| leijonamerkki | lion stamp |
| leike | on piece |
| leima | postmark |
| lievä | light |
| liimataite | gum crease |
| lisäpainama | surcharge |
| lunastus | postage due |
| mapinreikä | filing hole |
| mielenkiintoinen | interesting |
| merkki | stamp |
| neulanreikä | pinhole |
| n:oleima | number postmark |
| ohentuma | thin |
| oikea | right |
| paljon | plenty |
| pari | pair |
| pieni | small |
| PR | Red Cross stamp |
| pystytaite | vertical crease |
| päiväys | date |
| pääasiassa | mainly |
| reuna | edge |
| reijite | perfin |
| rissi | tear |
| rivileima | line postmark |
| rosohammastus | rough perforation |
| RW | marginal watermark |
| säiliökirja | stockbook |
| siirtymä | misplaced |
| tahra | stain |
| taite | crease |
| takana | on reverse |
| takuu | guarantee |
| takuuleima | experts mark |
| tarttuma | set-off |
| TUB | Anti-TubStamp |
| täydellinen | complete |
| vaakataite | horizontal fold |
| vaihteleva | variable |
| vaikea | difficult |
| vasen | left |
| viallinen | faulty |
| vihko | booklet |
| vika | fault |
| väliöpari | gutter pair |
| väri | color |
| väärenne | forgery |
| yhdistetty | joined |
| yleismerkki | definitive stamp |
| ylä | upper |
| ylösalaisin | inverted |
Catalogues:
Finland = LaPe & Norma
Scandinavia = Facit
Europe & Overseas = Michel
Abbreviations
| ** | mint never hinged |
| *(*) | lightly hinged |
| * | hinged |
| (*) | without gum |
| oL | superb used |
| oLL | extremely fine used |
| oEK | very fine used |
| oK | fine used |
| oS | average used |
| oKL | machine cancellation |
| mr | ink cancellation |
| 2-l | double cancellation |
| -X | 1 tooth missing |
| -x | ½ tooth missing |
| -hv | perforation faults |
| 4lö | block of four |
| 6lo | block of six |
| r | block |
| rlö | strip |
| s | set |
| e, eril | different |
| kpl | pieces |
| K | photo |
| VK | colorphoto |
Abbreviations used mainly with postal items
| L | air mail |
| R | registered |
| E | express |
| S | censorship |
| P | printed matter |
| V | insured |
| TL | arrival postmark |
| ek | stationery card |
| eku | stationery cover |
| pk | postcard |
| osk | parcelcard |
| peosk | c.o.d. card |
| poosk | postal order card |
Postal items are covers, if not written otherwise.