Proposed Merger Of The APS And Asda

Has any poster identified themselves as an ASDA member? Often organizations try to get something to fit how they want it to work rather than take advantage of how it is currently working since the change can be hard.

If most sales are online then the focus should be online. If the goal is to prop up brick and mortar and show dealers then it is an effort in declining environment.

I don't think it really matters at this point. Given the data that we have, the ASDA is going under whether anyone likes it or not. The real question is whether the APS ought to be saddled with the ASDA and I don't see the point. Besides, it isn't like the ASDA is the only stamp dealer association out there. You've got the ISDA, the NSDA, the IFSDA, etc. The ASDA might be the oldest but they also have a terrible reputation and they've done it to themselves. Good riddance, I say.

However, I have to question whether we need any of them at all. It's great to say "we hold our dealers accountable", but that only matters if people look specifically at dealers that are covered by these organizations and, increasingly, nobody cares. If I get on eBay or Hipstamp or Delcampe or whatever, do I ever look to see if these dealers are members of some trade association? No. Do I look to see if they're members of the APS? No. All of the places I'm going to make mundane purchases already cover me, and any financial instrument I'm going to use, they already have consumer fraud protection. If I'm making major purchases, then I'm only going to deal with people who my lawyers can go after if they try to defraud me. I don't care about what initials you have in your ads. I care if I can legally hold you accountable.

I really think the time of the *SDA associations is over. It's great to say "you have to adhere to this strict code of ethics", but when it's a) not enforced and b) nobody cares about membership, what's the point?

When I was a civil servant, I found it helpful to deal with trade associations - whether or not they were entirely, or even largely, representative, they were useful interlocutors. These were, in general, organisations representing a somewhat more important constituency than stamp dealers. As an individual, I don't think that even the key ones have ever impinged on my life. They rather exist for their benefit rather than mine. "People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment or diversion, but the conversation ends in conspiracy against the public", as rodgcam or one of those other Scottish enlightenment guys said.

Regarding ASDA, I most appreciate it for the annual show it puts on in the NYC/North Jersey area. It is the largest show I can easily attend, and was my introduction to a whole level of collecting beyond attic finds and ebay.

I very much hope that show continues in some form. I prefer to go through actual dealer stock rather than online scans.

Merger is off. Some reorg / revised committed for.dealrrs announced.

Https://www.linns.com/news/us-stamps-postal-history/proposed-merger-of-aps-and-asda-will-not-happen

What was the other 1/3 of the responses?



What in the world would the other 15% be thinking? 'Gee, we want less working together' or 'working together is overrated'?

Don

Don --

Thirty-five percent had no opinion on the merger at this time.

For the dealer and collector question: 12.6 percent neither agreed nor disagreed. Only 2.4 percent disagreed or strongly disagreed.

Scott

I would expect APS members to disagree dealers and collectors should work together to create more ethical practices in the hobby, 8-)

Dealers and collectors can work together without having one group absorb another. I want to see the plan of what they will actually do before supporting a merger but then I do not get a vote. The stated goal is soft meaning whatever is done is not likely to be measured in any meaningful way. The only hard aspect is one ASDA employee works for APS, some additional dealer members who are not already dealers, and another publication APS has to produce. Then some dealers may go off and form a NEW dealer organization.

The merger is not really an issue to consider, as I laid out in my statement.

Great news.

There's already multiple other dealer organizations out there. I don't know how much I trust them either.

This is why there are other stamp forums or variations of the Protestantism or versions of the New Testament.. It is often about control or dislike for one specific aspect. I am sure some dealers do not want to be under APS's control.

The future of the APS lies in it remaining a collector focused organization with a strong, well enforced code of ethics for both collector and dealer members.

The APS operating income budget for 2022 is almost $3.8 million against expenses $3.7 Mil. Dues contribute only $1 Million. In looking at income sources, the APRL accounts for $367K (assume more an internal expense allocation) and there is a $241K for general and misc income (not sure what is in this). Internet sales is list as $307K. There is $118.5K expense for recruiting and promotion (equivalent to dues of 2000 members).

Clearly APS relies on income from services and believe the move to hipstamp was to offset internal costs as well as the desire to increase sales. Other negative budget items are: expertizing, education, and book sales.

The move to hip was to avoid the expense of upgrading software they let get out of date. If it also generates higher sales rates, that is a bonus.