Is Scott Doing A Disservice?

Scott does not list all stamps issued by a country. Some countries they ignore all together. Are they doing a disservice by doing this? Should they list all stamps and let the collectors decide if they want to collect them?
Overall I think Scott is doing a good job I think it would be better if they included all stamps.

Two major hurdles, the cost of the broadened catalogues, would collectors support the increased costs involved? And secondly, is it right to tacitly support emmissions that may be dubious or even illegal?
I'm with you, I think they should, especially for those who collect dune stamps,and others, and would like to see them catalogued, a lot of beginners start with these types of labels, as they are voluminous, cheap, and easily found, it is always a disappointment then, not to be able to see them in some sort of regulated order in print.

Actually Scott's "Catalogue listing policy" does state (and this is a quote):

It is the intent of Scott Publishing Co. to list all postage stamps of the world in the Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue...It is up to each stamp collector to choose which items to include in a collection".

I also have to wonder if Amos is re-thinking the whole marketing strategy of Catalogues -- if not, they should be. We all know the cost of printed materials is ever-increasing.

How would selling individual countries impact their sales revenue? Should a collector pay $79.99 (retail) for Volume 6 when she only needs Tuvalu? Assuming she does not, Amos gets no revenue, but if she could buy only Tuvalu, they might get $5 or $10 from her on a regular basis.

In another thread, someone mentioned loose-leaf and/or spiral bound editions of Scott. And of course, I've asked several times about the CD/DVD Edition.

I think Amos' present marketing strategy is doomed. I can't imagine any collector repetitively purchasing an annual set that retails over $400. Add to that what I believe is a decreasing number of collectors and fewer still who collect modern issues, and the market must be shrinking. It would be interesting to internal sales figures for the last couple decades.

Anyway, just thinking out loud...

KirkS

You can, on occasion, find someone selling individual countries from the latest Scott catalog on ebay. It certainly doesn't serve everyone, but they can be found that way.

You're right Modern. We discussed that in another thread somewhere, but I forgot to mention it.

I still think Amos should consider selling individual countries. Obviously, some (like the U.S. or Germany) would be more expensive than smaller countries. And of course, they could give discounts on 'bundles' of countries like all the Germany or South America, etc.

KS

Some 20 years ago I wrote a letter to Scott's suggesting that they sell loose-leaf copies of various countries, even themes(topical) that could fit within the already existing Albums and/or traditional 3-ring binders to reduce cost to collectors but increase potential income for Scott's.

Unanswered.

Currently, I still would like to see that happen. But they could sell CD's with capability of pulling/downloading all updates yearly at least & daily possibly.
It could be free with original purchase for a stated numbers of years. fees later on. Consider this if you pay full retail for a catalog free updates for life.
Another optioned if they would set up a server, create a website, charge a fee for access yearly, monthly, daily or life. On a site like this they can acquire additional income from ads.
They likely wouldn't respond to these ideas today either!

I think most of you all already know how I feel about this.

Until Scott rethinks its business strategy, we're just kicking a dying horse...

They are living off their past reputation, dealer bondage to the numbering system, and the facade of "increasing stamp values". None of the aforementioned will stop the downhill slide. Scott needs to rediscover innovation.

Good ideas, warrehouse.

I hope you're wrong, KHK, but you're probably right.

KS

Scott MUST change with the changing world or they may find themselves one step beyond "a dying horse" sooner than they thought.

Personalized online purchases that can be downloaded immediately without shipping costs has already shown itself as at least one way to go to increase sales. I would buy single country pages. I will not buy even one volume just to have one country.

Marty

I'm not concerned with CTO stickers being left out...especially from Dunes countries. It might help if a secondary catalog was produced--perhaps reflecting lower prices and spelling out the situation.

I tend to stop collecting countries past dates when CTO's seem to be the dominant issue although there's probably a gray area and continuum between stamps issued primarily for postage and those printed almost exclusively for collectors.

Stamps like my avatar seem more like stickers than postage stamps.

Making money on catalogs and album pages is an interesting business model. The only catalog I own is a 1994 Scott series of catalogs I purchased used for minimal cost. I want the new color catalogs but won't buy until it's cheap. I get all I need from current catalogs using the library. I simply can't justify the cost of new catalogs...especially annually.

Perhaps a modest annual subscription to an on-line site with the latest issues and catalog pricing would be interesting enough for me to subscribe...especially if there was more detail on some of the variations and stamp identifiecation.

Single country pages seem pretty available on ebay (although as cut-outs).

I heard a rumour that Scott is, in fact, working on an on-line version of their catalogue that would be available for an annual subscription fee. Good idea, it seems to me.

Which, of course, Stanley Gibbons is already doing. The SG online catalog, however, leaves a lot to be desired.

If Scott would do more than be a copy-cat, but actually produce a better online catalog, I think there is great potential. I am admittedly not too optimistic. While the Linn's online is nice and the interface much improved over the initial offering, the interface still ranks in the bottom 10 worst all-time on my list. I know a number of savvy computer users who are stamp collectors, who don't bother with online Linn's because it is so Neanderthal.

Scott really needs to overcome this protect my copyright mentality that is pretty meaningless for online material. One day it will occur to Scott that when people print out Linn's, they are also printing out the advertisements. That's when they'll really be able to tap into the internet.

I would not be surprised as both Michel and Stanley Gibbons have issued online catalogues for several years.

But they are not cheap I can say... Michel online catalog has an annual fee of approx. 100US$, Stanley Gibbons MyCollection is about 50USD/year. And both are of notably lower quality than their print counterparts :(

Michel does also provide "customizable print catalogs" (where you can pick countries and timelines), but they are IMHO somewhat expensive solution :(

I completely agree. They are geared more for doing a search, assuming you already have a working knowledge of the stamps for the particular area/country. A lot of the detailed production/description/varieties info is left out. It's significantly simplified. I see it currently as more of a seller's tool to get pricing info.

I think there is opportunity here if Scott is willing to gamble... but they will definitely need to rethink their "protect my goods" mentality to leap-frog Michel and SG.

Yes, I think they should include all stamps.

Perhaps what is need though, to throw them a bone in a way, is to separate the 'postage' stamps from the 'non-postage' stamps that look like postage stamps.

There would be a great market for the non-postage stamp types of catalogues or single pages or countries (great idea!) from the beginner or even the advanced collector if they printed only a few of each.

And the perusal of those catalogue pages (with ads of course, telling collectors about other interesting stamps in other areas and countries) would lead to collecting other stamps and sales of other pages / country page sets. And stamps. Specialized targeted advertising like Google does. Everybody wins.

Wait, I hear my phone. It's Scott catalogue, they want me to fly down and fix things up for them.

Even Cinderellas and Personalized stamps. They too need a cataloging system that would 'normalize' or 'legalize' or legitimize them to a greater extent than now apparent. I know if a 'stamp' is cataloged in a 'big' catalog then I am more likely to consider it as a collectible.

Even Scott's decision to put airmail and express etc etc stamps in the 'back of the book' demotes them somewhat. I disagree. Put them all together by order of issue like I hear Stanley Gibbons (and perhaps others do), that makes them all collectible and desirable.

The big guys are not only missing the boat here but the whole ocean.

Maybe it's time stamp dealers got together and made a catalogue or two. They know what sells and what people are interested in. They hear it every day (or should) and if they don't listen it leads to their demise.

But, to say a nice word about Scott and others, I have always liked Scott catalog and have always appreciated their great work in putting it all together. It's a massive and ongoing work.

maybe they should open it up to additions (editable) by collectors? A Wiki catalogue of sorts?