Stamp Show Observation

Al E. Gator, I joined the APS a few weeks back, and I have the current magazine. I will look more carefully at the listings from now own. I have a somewhat small budget, but the more I can learn the better. I may check out the Nashville Club.

I appreciate the feedback on my concept of a more "techno-friendly-up-to-date" kind of stamp show. Wifi, a power strip, and a laptop are all that would really be necessary for a demo.

The stamp hobby is woefully far behind in the technology category, and I agree that some really snazzy, useful tech tools could really shake things up. Thing is, it takes real money to develop a really good, robust and useful app. People outside the hobby probably wouldn't understand it well enough to A) be interested in the first place and B) see the profit potential in it even if they were. So that leaves existing companies in the stamp market to fill that void, and most of those folks are older, having spent their entire lives built around "traditional" collecting. Most of them likely don't understand either A) the technology or B) the younger collectors who they might attract, or both.

Being the non-business owning, non-stamp dealer, non-stamp publisher that I am, this should be taken with a mountain of salt. But man, I could see how a few of the big companies (Amos, Mystic, Lighthouse, etc*) could kind of start a joint project to really develop some good tools that would benefit them all. An integrated, online searchable catalog and album creation program would be the ultimate pipe dream. Scott could sell subscriptions to its online catalog and/or get royalties from the app, companies like Mystic could sell stamps, binders and supplies, etc. Imagine searching for a subset of stamps, say penguins on stamps in the 1960's, and it creates album pages, a want list, and directs you to the nearest dealer who sells them!

*It could be any companies, I just picked those because they're among the biggest names in the hobby. I say companies (plural) because it would be a big enough project (by stamp hobby standards) that I doubt any one company would stick it's neck out far enough. They likely could use existing tech tools to create this, or if they had to customize much of it, they'd be very smart to make it adaptable enough to where they could potentially license the underlying software engine to publishers in other hobbies. A lone hobbyist or two is probably not going to be able to put something like this together in any reasonable amount of time.

Not only do many non-collectors see us in that light but, I'm afraid, the big companies like Scott and Mystic have that same image of their customers. Until their image of us changes, I don't see a lot of innovation forthcoming.

Dan

I couldn't agree more.

If you view Linn's as the "top tier" publication, at least in the US, there are some serious issues. Now, their new editor has done a good job - I see more social media activity, the videos, etc., but the publication is still difficult at best to read on a mobile device - tablet or phone. The Scott Catalog and Gibbons' magazine have nice mobile apps for tablet.

If you are looking at an app, what would you be looking for?

Did the Nashville show charge admission? If so how much was it? Sounds like a nice show.

I quit going to some stamp shows (which were really only stamp bourse since they has no exhibits) due to admission being charged. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind paying admission if there are educational presentations or exhibits. But to charge people to simply come in and spend some more money just doesn't sit well with me.

I understand that the costs of putting on shows is considerable but if we want to attract more people to the hobby it might be good to think about admission costs. I currently don't have any trains setup in my basement and don't see myself having any in the future. But if I came across a great train show, and I could get into it for free, who knows?
don

Admission was free. Off the top of my head, I can't recall a stamp show where I was charged admission.

My God if it ever came to that. I'm not old fashioned in the least but that sounds like no fun at all.

Let's all give up and go home !

In 2011, after a 22 year hiatus, I resumed attending the Rocky Mountain Stamp Show in metro Denver. The main draw was the presence of a dealer; one of the few in the country who actively deals in Portuguese colonies. Attendance seemed OK and the fact of it being in a "cavernous hall" didn't really detract. I browsed a few other dealers and finally "coughed up" money to join the Mexico Elmhurst society. Attendance is helped by an active presence from the Rocky Mountain Philatelic Library. The exhibits; I can take or leave.

I forget which year; I think it was 2011; I saw an exhibit that had a few German inflation covers, which Floortrader doesn't like. But they were part of an incredibly fascinating exhibit on the philatelic life of Paul Von Lettow-Vorbeck.

Few know who he is. He is the widely acknowledged "father" of 20th century guerilla warfare. He was the World War I field commander in what was then German East Africa. His was the only German colonial army still in the field on Armistice Day in 1918. He pioneered the classic hit & run style of modern warfare. And he commanded near fanatic loyalty from the native solders. As late as the 1990s, the then West German and German governments still paid pensions to surviving solders and widows in what is now Tanzania. All in all, he has a fascinating story which was brought to life by the exhibit.

I see the new law in Colorado is starting to effect readers here .LOL.........What I posted was German Inflation RATE covers. Not German covers tied to a famous person. There has been many different and a steady reshowing of those RATE COVERS by time period at shows all around ,just tired of them at all the exhibits .

Trouble is, many shows are held in hotel banquet halls, "where wifi (and cell) signals go to die"

I've been to several shows across North America over the years, and I've had mixed experiences with dealers at these shows. One thing I have found is that dealers at U.S. shows tend to be more flexible on pricing than they are in Canada. They also seem a lot more friendly.

I was at a show in Toronto a few years ago, and visiting a dealer while looking for a couple of specific stamps. While I was at his table, a customer came up, looking to sell some fairly inexpensive souvenir sheets that I would have been interested in. The customer had several sets to sell, and when he offered the customer a particular price (maybe $10) for them, I told the customer I'd give him $12 for one of tje sets. The dealer rudely told me that I wasn't a dealer, and I couldn't buy from another customer at the show. I then asked the dealer to sell me one of them for $12 and he refused, saying his price was $20, plus tax, and it was firm. He wanted a 100% profit for doing no work at all. I left without buying the sheets (which I found from another dealer for $10) from him, and without buying the other items I was looking at.

At another show, I asked a dealer who was selling (fairly common) Irish stamps from one of those dealer "red boxes" what discount below catalogue price he was offering on those stamps. Other dealers at the show were offering 40% to 50%. He said, "we'll talk when you're done". I started going through the boxes, and took out my first 102 card. He asked what the Scott number was, and proceeded at that time to update the price he was charging, ignoring the price that he had marked on the card (which was about 2 years old). After about 100 stamps and 20 minutes, he added up the purchase, then offered me a 20% discount. When I told him everyone else was offering at least twice that, he said I could buy from them instead. I did, leaving my stamps stacked on the table for him to put back.

On the other hand, the last show I visited was Chicagopex, a few months ago. I found the dealers friendly, willing to offer better prices (maybe the size of the show meant competition), and very accommodating. In one case, a customer wanted to use a credit card to pay for a large purchase, and the dealer said he'd have to charge tax, unless the purchase was being shipped out of state. The customer was from another state, so it wasn't a problem. The tax on the purchase was over $50, but the dealer said his shipping charge was $1. He then took an envelope, put the stamps in it, and asked the customer to drop it in the mailbox on the way out.

I must agree with the earlier comments about technology though - I too was amazed at the number of dealers who keep "snail mail" lists.

The Southeast Stamp Expo held about a month ago charged $3.00 admission. I didn't mind too much as I was planning on spending some dollars before I went there. Actually, I went a little over my budget so the admission fee was quickly forgot.

Art

There's no excuse for that in this day and age when a Google Spreadsheet can be created in seconds, for free, and shared with anyone in the world. I know it takes time and effort to create a good website, but those dealers that have them must do a lot more business. I know ordering online is my preferred purchase method and I know I'm far from alone.

On another note, I recently did some mail-order business with a dealer who didn't take credit cards and only begrudgingly took PayPal. I mostly ordered a bunch of common items, but he had many stamps on his price list in the hundreds of dollars. I don't like paying for much of anything that costs that much without some sort of electronic paper trail and the purchase protection that credit cards offer. PayPal and credit card fees are just a cost of doing business; nobody likes them, but it's getting harder and harder to do business without them.

Stamp exhibitions and shows seem to be venues that had their origins in the 1920s and 1930s, and they probably haven't changed much. Given the electronic technical advances since then, it is a wonder that they are still held. I enjoy going to shows, taking a look at exhibits, and buying a few things, but they are not my primary source of acquisition of either stamps or knowledge.

It does not take long and I am tired of sorting through boxes of covers that are packed too tightly, or having other customers reaching in front of me for one of the "red boxes," or waiting for the dealer to tally my purchase while talking to one of his/her long lost friends. I can view hundreds of covers and stamps online in a fraction of the time it takes to look at an equal number at a show, and enjoy a cup of coffee or a glass of wine while looking. As for knowledge given, most dealers I encounter aren't the experts they are sometimes portrayed to be. The larger shows have more knowledgeable, full-time dealers, but they are there to sell stamps and covers not instruct buyers.

The shows I have been to recently were well organized and well attended and I will continue to go to them. To me, however, they are not the best sources of philatelic items or knowledge.

Don

True and true. Email addresses can be gold, so I'm still shocked nobody in Nashville or at the AmeriStamp Expo last month asked for mine.

The credit card thing is nonsense. There was at least one dealer I purchased from who didn't take credit/debit. The kids who cut my grass can run my debit card, so there's no excuse for a dealer to not take the cards. Literally, these kids - I think they are about 15 - swipe before they cut. It is not expensive and it is not difficult. The biggest challenge might be weak wi-fi signals in a exhibition hall.