Stamp Collecting - The Hobby Is Dying

I guess in this digital era finding information comes boiling down to this:



I definitely agree that it leaves those new to hobby adrift

Back in the 1970's and 1980's if you wanted to buy a Stamp you actually had to physically go out and get it. Whether it be an old Stamp shop, auction , flea market, or Stamp club, these Social requirements are no longer there due to e-commerce. One can simply sit in their basement and shop internationally for Stamps without even getting out of their pajamas. This makes a lot of the collectors less publicly visible and therefore makes it appear as if there are less people, but look on ebay alone, at any given time there are over 500,000 auctions to be bid upon.

I don't live in Canada anymore but how would you compare Stamp collecting's move to the WWW in comparison to other hobbies like Trading Cards and Comics?
Back in the late 80s, early 90s, there were still a few Comic Book stores and shops really focused on cards.
I didn't collect stamps that much back then but probably nowadays there's just as much if not more transactions in the past. Lazyness plays a factor and internet shopping has opened the door to more consumers then before (or, in the case of those less lazy, more consumption - at the tip of your fingers).

Hello

Because too many people collect mint stamps T

he Postal Office go for business than service and make "trivial" issues with a lot of stamps, blocks/souvenir sheet/FDC for collectors. For example a very nice Bird issue this year have 4 little stamps worth US$0.25, so US$1.00 but they (Post Office) has a brilliant idea and make a block with two more stamps worth US$1.50 each, then a US$4.00 (with no a FDC US$7 more). try to collect all year 20-30 issues (a nice year), do you have US$80-US$120!! a full year.

Now tell to a kids, have to spend that money for obtain this very nice/sweet/spectacular/amazing stamps, "shrug and go for Yu-Gi-OH"

So we have the hobby not dying, collect used stamps and play with Machins

Fernando Moscoso
Ecuador

Hey Fernando, I like used stamps..i will trade you glassines of machins when you get your 50 posts...as far as the hobby..Am I just becoming more aware or are collectors becoming more "original" or imaginative...creating their collections along topical lines or themes that interest them, rather than based on a picture on an album page ?

I think a lot of new collectors especially younger ones are leaning toward topical collecting or niche collecting. I know I have switched gears to topical over my general US collection. Don't get me wrong though, I still add to my US album- just not at often.

I agree with stamperdude and philb that there's much less of a feel that the only way to collect stamps is by single country in date order - that's how I started, but now I collect by topic, following my whim - so I have one collection called "Numbers" that includes stamps from very early Bavaria and other early German states, through the Weimar hyperinflation to modern stamps like the Argentine 1976 numerals definitives.

From what I keep reading in the stamp magazines ..i would say that for those of us making under $250,000 a year..the hobby is not getting any better...if you can afford to build a fine exhibit type collection...the hobby is going great guns...you would think that the common stamps would really come down in value !!

Maybe common stamps sold individually are coming down in value. However, I've noticed over the past 10 years that albums containing low value stamps have been climbing steadily in price in my local stamp dealers, typically from £8 - £20 to £20 - £40. So there must be a market - and it can't only be me!

I am no business man but it looks like the dealer buys and sells with a pretty good spread for himself

I tend to buy older albums David but not from dealers. You can pick up albums from pre 60's which I am interested in from <£5 upwards.
They often have the same sorts of stamps in but every now and then include some nice gems.
This at the end of the day is what this hobby is about.

Absolutely cut out the middle man when ever possible..i don't think I am alone when I say..at times I pay too much to a private collector..and I know I am paying too much..but I still feel better than buying from a dealer !!

Hello

Buy, sell? why? try trade better.

A good point about stamps is make new friends, then try to trade more, sure do you have many not needed stamps, why you don´t go away? trade chains is a good start to move that stamps and make new friends, and more people can afford obtain stamps.

OK, for definitive stamps, go for kiloware

I don´t like the topical stamps collection, do you receive so much CTO and dead countrys stamps, but a topical in the usual countrys are very nice, I was follow a thread in other forum about "people on the stamps", he make a list about all stamps in his country and start to post the stamp and the history about that person. I enjoy and learn a lot on that.

If you go for a topical collection, do you know about each stamps, not only collect and collect.

OK, back to my Machins on envelopment :)


Fernando Moscoso
Ecuador

Novato, trades can be great...i have tens of thousands of stamps available..the only problem is to find my opposite number..some of my friends purchase only what they need and have no duplicates...others can be well a bit difficult..every so often I have found trading partners and with good ones I have traded for 1 1/2 or 2 years until we had nothing left to offer one another !!

Did anyone read about the resurgence of stamp collecting in China (just published today in NY Times)?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/19/f...agstamp.html