Specializing Is Too Much Like Shopping

I hate shopping. It's not buying things. I just hate going from store to store, finding things out of stock or not quite right, the hunting, looking for the right price, waiting, trying again, waiting some more, etc. Stamp collecting sure seems like a bad hobby for people that don't like to shop. I think this is the reason I gave it up years ago. It was easy enough collecting world wide, just getting what's easy to find from each country, moving on to another country, taking whatever comes in some kilo-ware.

I wonder if this kind of thing influences how and what people collect.

I've been collecting DVDs of science fiction and horror movies. It gets frustrating at times when I go through every title at every major retailer and can't find anything I want. Once a year, I break down and order 50 or 100 filler movies. But the good ones are few and far between. To compensate for all the research, I actually volunteered to maintain a list of new releases for a horror film message board. This way, I find out about most of the new titles before they become available. And, since I have to do the work, at least this way others benefit from it, not to mention that they contribute and help me out, too.

It seems that specializing in some area of stamps, or picking out an obscure topic or theme, is similar. You can't really go to the local store anymore and expect to find anything you want.

Do you end up buying stuff that's available? Do you tend to avoid specializing because it's frustrating and you don't like those aspects of shopping?

I collect in two ways. I have some specialty collections (Panama, Spain, US (including Canal Zone)) and I have a worldwide stamp collection (mostly classics). I will be adding Greenland and Iceland specialties soon.

I would admit I am at the point now especially with my most advanced collection (Panama) that I do not go out of my way to look for stamps. I let them come to me. This requires great patience, but make finding them more rewarding (and usually more economical).

I started specialising in the Indian States at an early age, back around the early '60s. I knew then that it was going to be rather quixotic trying to find Indian States stamps here in a very parochial Melbourne.

I fairly early cleaned out the stocks of interesting material held by the few local dealers who had anything at all for sale. Then it was on to haunting auctions, and corresponding, by airmail, with dealers and collectors overseas. Two to four weeks to send off an enquiry - and get back the usual reply that, 'Sorry we don't have one in stock at the moment'.

One learnt patience.

I don't particularly enjoy the shopping around part of specialisation, but it's a price worth paying. The upside is the chance of making finds, and of making a serious contribution to knowledge ... even if the contribution is only of interest to half a dozen other people around the world

To my mind, collecting all world just seems rather directionless and short on challenge. Again, to my mind, the real interest starts where the catalogues end, and it grows greater the further you get from the catalogue listing, until you're in really unexplored territory.

Stamping to me is a life style and to specialize is like having a baked dinner with all the trimmings and sometimes it comes with a flash dessert as well.

Collecting one of each stamp from every country to me is like having the ingredients for a baked dinner but do not have a fire to cook it on.

Love my baked dinners. A hungry KGV.

I buy what I want, but I make sure that what I want is a large enough category that there's always something I can find when I want to buy. I really hate having nothing to buy because you can't find anything on your want list.

That said, my interests are not so wide that I have no chance of ever completing a collection. I want a lot, I just don't want everything.

Best thing about stamping is we can collect however we choose too.

We do not have to be anybodies clone.
Collecting is just so nice and personal!

Always Happy Stamping. KGV

SiBurning
Generally i'm not someone that like to shop around for things other than stamps. I tend to go always to the same stores, often the closest ones. For stamps for the past years I shop mainly on the internet (Ebay, Delcampe, Stampwants and on dealer's website too. All these website have search engine that makes it fun shopping from home at any hour off day or night you want. I don't see where is your problem. When i'm on the buying mode(that is usually when I have money to spend) I spend allot of time looking for good deals or interesting auctions. It's a big part of the hobby for me. And believe me I bought about 400 times on the internet and only one time I didn't get the stamps, one order from Latvia took a long time to reach me and one small order I got different stamps that I order. So it's not even 1% of the orders I had problems. Enjoy the hobby and you are at the right place on SCF to get help if something go wrong. Daniel

It really does not matter....i specialize in a couple of areas...but when that becomes a temporary wasteland I like any kind of postal history that appeals to me..even postally used postcards..i always find something !!

I'm still kind of a rookie collector and love all stamps. What I have learned though is to work on one thing at time.

I started by organizing my US collection cause I found an album that was affordable and I had lots of stamps to go through. Then I found a great site where I could print album pages at a reasonable price and the rest is history.

I now have 35 albums and counting. I have kept the same philosophy throughout. I work on one country at time and move on. I don't worry about what stamps I am missing cause I alway's have a country that I can move on to.

Dianne

I collect the stamps today that appealto me today!