Phillatelic Spam Mail ?

I recently joined the American Philatelic society and must confess that I did not read through the "terms & conditions" section, heck I'm not even sure I saw it.

I've started to receive Junk mail from sellers trying to sell me stamps! What I find kind of humorous is the image of a stereotypical Stamp collector mindset regarding snail mail versus email and that I'm receiving the 1950's equivalent of spam mail.

Yeah, it will subside after a couple of months.

Stalzer,

That surprised me too! After the brouhaha on SCF about the value of an APS membership, I decided to see for myself and join. (For the record, I'm on the plus side of the ledger so far. I've renewed for 2015)

I have been getting all sorts of unsolicited mail, what you call philatelic spam. It has ranged from an invitation to join a specialist organization to the ones that irk me, the unsolicited approval that I have to return.
Most have been the old-fashioned list of stamps for sale. No email address, no web site. I haven't seen one of these since the 1970's before the Internet. I didn't think business was done this way any longer. I guess that indicates that a lot of collectors aren't computer savvy. They wouldn't be doing it if they weren't making money. It was surprising.

Dan

danstamps54,

You are under no obligation whatsoever to return approvals that you did not request, if they send you anything you didn't ask for, consider it a gift and keep it. It's the only way to teach these people a lesson.

I've been an APS member for over 60 years. You can indicate that you do not want your name and address shared. I don't know if this is a check box on the application or not. If you are getting this kind of spam, complain to Ken Martin, the executive director and make sure you are on the "do not contact" list.

The best way I have found to get rid of junk mail is to write "not known at this address. Return to sender" on the envelope and put it in the mailbox. If this fails, put them in an envelope, address it but don't put a stamp on it. This will definitely cure the problem.

@Cephus. I agree with what you said. Generally, that's what I do. But, like Stalzer, I didn't read all the fine print. As a newbie to the organization, I don't want to get cross-ways with the APS board over a technicality about what I did and didn't agree to.
I've made a couple of interesting contacts. One contact said he didn't get my address directly from APS but found my address on line. That's not something the APS can control. I know I did agree to have my name published.
I expected advertising. I just didn't expect approvals. If it gets out of hand, I'll have to visit with the APS. I don't think that will be the case. They seem to be mom and pop types of businesses.
The most surprising thing to me wasn't that I got advertising but rather the type of advertising. Much of it is a throw-back to the pre-Internet era. That I didn't expect. I think that says something about the technical sophistication of many collectors.

Dan

This is just getting silly. I receive at least one unsolicited letter per day and now they are sending me approvals ? I really can't see myself renewing my membership if this is what it's about. Received this today stating "Buy for $7"



Don't even collect Duck stamps....

I joined the APS in 1974. I do recall getting solicitations from dealers and auction catalogs. They stopped coming after a while. The advice to ask that your address not be shared is a reasonable ask. Otherwise, you're a new member and if one hasn't opted out, one will get these solicitations. Mom & pop; maybe. Throw backs to the 1970s with no web site or e-mail listed? Maybe, but what's the big deal?

danstamps: I don't see how any "newbie" would get "cross wise" with the APS board. After all, you're just one of 30,000+ members. And I for one am glad you have joined. Thanks and welcome aboard.

As previously stated, you have no obligation to return unsolicited approvals. Sending unsolicited material to you, resulting in a loss if you keep it without paying for it, is a marketing expense that these dealers have elected to incur in the hope of acquiring a customer. Every business has customer acquisition costs.

Look on the bright side. The printed dealer sales lists, and auction catalogs, provide useful data points showing the market price of various stamps. They can help you evaluate the reasonableness of an internet purchase, in conjunction with catalog value.

I joined APS a year ago, and for me, these solicitations have largely ended, but still arrive on occasion. I appreciate having the data, and the senders often use interesting stamps on cover. And there can be spectacular material in the auction catalogs that is wonderful to look at even though I may never see it in person or own it.

I guess I really haven't made my gripe very clear. I am not upset about the actual mail but more about the fact that since it does show up every day I can only imagine that the APS sold / gave my contact information to many people. Like I stated in the opening post I know I didn't read the 7 pages of terms and conditions but I still think it's tacky and unethical.

On the APS....
YES...they have "sales lists".
A dealer can buy a list of names of potential buyers.
When you signed up, you stated your collecting
interests. Your name went straight to those lists.

I've been a member of APS since the early 1980s. Occasionally, I will receive a letter inviting me to meet with a traveling rep of one of the larger auction firms to talk about selling my collection. Never have I received approvals of any kind.

The occasional invitation to sell my collection is not annoying to me, I just trash it. Probably the easiest way to stop receiving these letters is to let the rep see my collection!