Will Stamp Collecting Survive?

While my experience with the nuances of philately may not approach the level of experience many of you have achieved,
I think my observations and marketing background point to a more positive near future for stamp collecting.
A few points:

> I was a young lad when I first got the bug to collect, but my love of geography and interest in other peoples and nations,
Euro colonization, world wars, military conflicts, and my affinity for beautiful graphics were what appealed to me then.
As they still do now 50 years later.
> Stamps are tied to history like old baseball cards, old comic books and old collectibles that appeal to sports fans (signed
hockey jersey in my doctor's office), signed lithos, or antique toys. Stamps will always appeal to people who are interested
in the world back when written and printed mail hadn't been replaced by cable and satellite and Internet.
I don't think the study of history will disappear.
> Today I see global stamp auctions, global manufacturers of albums and software that continue to get better, and a huge online
marketplace that allows me to chat, buy, sell, or learn with folks from other states and countries. This is SO much better
than when I was a poor isolated kid stuck in rural Florida waiting for a delivery of Kenmore stamps. I love interacting in
this forum and am sure to make new friends right here who share my interest and passion for stamps.
> Things are improving in other ways -- not just getting worst! Palo was founded as a fairly recent album maker by a collector who
wanted something better than the old traditional albums sold by most publishers. Now Palo covers every country with beautiful albums.
I am considering the Palo Premium Hingeless with full color stamp images for my own US collection!
> Also, as a marketing pro for some 40 years, I have witnessed the demise of whole ways of doing graphic design, printing, advertising,
photography, animation, photo retouching, and video. These areas are no longer as they were in the predigital age back when I began my
career. Neither will stamp collecting remain as it was when we were kids.
> And for the collector who enjoys the valuation of their collection -- here we have seen significant changes as well
and not all bad either:

US Scott #1 used 2014 SCV = $425 / in 2010 SCV = $550 / in 1965 SCV = $40

US Scott #124 no grill used 2014 SCV = $800 / in 2010 SCV = $425 / in 1965 SCV = $40

US Scott #241 Columbian $1 used 2014 SCV = $650 / in 2010 SCV = $500 / in 1965 SCV = $65

And in case the USPS goes belly up...existing stamps -- not just clssics -- will all increase in value.
Just as baseball cards did after most were thrown away rather than collected.

Maybe you can tell that I'm not a pessimist.
Cheers,
Dan Carazo
Syosset, NY

Dan, that's pretty much the way I see it, too. And I agree 100% with this:




History, geography, and culture are always going to be fascinating to a certain segment of the population, and stamp collecting is always going to appeal to them. Really, attempts at at creating new collectors should be targeted at people who already have those interests.

I think people will always enjoy appreciating beauty, if not in art (stamps) then in collecting cards or figurines or art of other types or even in properties or anything really.

Collectors and accumulaters and investors alwys like stamps because they can, with sales skills or not, sell or dump their stamps for more or a perceived gain or loss, depending on their wishes.

Confusing right?

That's why being a dealer of stamps is such a draw to people, whether selling 5 stamps a year on ebay or 1 big one at an auction. The fun level is basically the same, because the idea that it is fun and exciting is what draws people and keeps them coming back.

Only when they think they have lost somehow do they lse interest.

What has been lost over the last years?

Changes in income tax law maybe have caused a decline in investments but the surge in internet sales sites, replacing actual bricks and mortar store sites, has allowed everyone, almost, to have the excitment of buying and selling, learned and practised skills allowing of course, and of just having an appreciation of something they can have and appreciate now.

I am noticing that there are so many ways to collect stamps and cancels or postmarks or postal markings like airmail or registered or others and types of ways to send letters and parcels and meter stamps (or labels) and new FRAMA and ATM labels (or stamps) and personal stamps (or labels) (boy oh boy) that I am thinking why more people do not collect.

What are they missing? What are we not selling to them, the idea that we are not conveying or seeming to appreciate ourselves even?

Do we need to be so at peace and so bored and all that, that young people seek out stamps to have access to different and exotic and exciting topics to collect. Here the electronic age enters and shines as a replacement for new excitement.

I know the feeling of just trying to collect one of every stamp received on mails to the house or even local businesses. It is exciting, after a while, to even imagine you have a new thing to add to your collection.

The cost of this new thing pales before the excitement and the fun of the hunt and of the effort and of the accumulation amd of the building collection.

Maybe it is needed in schools at a young age (mentioned in another thread on Stamp Community) to inform young people about the rest of the world around them and the many many stamps that do exist. Not to overwhelm anyone or anything like that but to let them know there is something out there for them as well in all those available items to aquire.

Something to have as their own story instead of all these other stories owned by others portrayed by electronic devices and movies and games.

Oh, by the way, do any of you have the new mineral stamp from Mars colony?


Or, you know, those naughty Moon Luna stamps? Who said that?

Interesting question......will interest in stamps/philately be motivated by today's stamp issue..or will it be generated by stamps of the past 100 years? Personally I'm a collector of "images"....i.e. stamps, poscards, photographs, magazines etc. For me collecting imagery through stamps is affordable and doesn't take up too much space.....and something at the end of the day gives me a lot of satisfaction. I attend a monthly stamp bourse in Ottawa where I live and I always come home with "wonderful" things to add to my collection...without putting a big dent in my wallet. I even buy a fair amount of older Canadian mint stamps to use as postage.....and it's great to hear comments from the recipients of my posted items..."Cool stamps!...where did you get them?..didn't know you could still use them...Boy!..those stamps bring back memories....etc. Will this turn them into collectors..for the most part I doubt it...some may even remember they have an old stamp album from days gone by.
As long as it's fun...I will continue to collect stamps.....and affix those "cool" older stamps on my mail.

lithograph,

I don't see why the end of snail mail would cause a decline in stamp collectors. The number of stamp collectors may decline for other reasons -- some see the number declining now, even with the continuing existence of mail service -- or may hold steady. Who knows, it might see a resurgence or renaissance. It might be more productive to think about what motivates collecting; I doubt that the existence of the mail service itself is high on the list. I think the various comparisons to other kinds of collecting remains insightful.

And who knows, maybe the death of the mail system might create an interest in collecting, as a way of preserving an important part of history. As long as there is an interest in history, there will be stamp collectors.

One would think that the decline of postage stamps would actually make them more collectible. The problem though is the competition Stamp collecting has with youth and the electronic age.

In the 60's, & 70's Stamp collections were advertised very heavily in comic books and other media aimed at children. I can't recall ever seeing Microsoft insert a Stamp collection opportunity included in their Xbox packages.

I find myself very fortunate in that both my Children have taken interest in Stamps and I think it's a great hobby for children.

1) Count me among the qualified pessimists.

The disappearance of stamps from everyday life (eg incoming mail) reduces us from the mainstream to a niche. That's done.

Our former, larger niche in the time-burning eco-system is now occupied by other species - "... games were "the single biggest digital life category, measured in both time and money spent ..." - and we will not be getting it back.

Everybody has a smart phone, nobody sees stamps, and we ain't changing that.

There were a lot more cigarette lighter collectors back when 'everybody' smoked.

There were a lot more bridle & saddle collectors back when 'everybody' rode a horse.

My daughter has advised me to stop sending DVD movies to her kids. They prefer to click-about on YouTube, and cannot be bothered to find & load a DVD. So that's done, too.

The kids say that they enjoy when I send them philatelic items but, when asked, can never remember anything specific about anything I've sent. I may be ringing their bell, but my hobby is not.

2) Count me among the qualified optimists.

We are a great niche and, as many have pointed-out, we have before us today more & better tools to be a flourishing niche than ever before.

I would like us to pay more attention to self-publishing, which is what we used to call 'preparing an exhibit'. Preparing an exhibit for an IRL competition you are certain to lose is not going to be fun for a lot of people, and trying to convince then that they win by competing (at all) can sound pretty hollow.

But self-curation of your own little museum (self-publishing) is fun; we all do it already (in our albums, on our shelves), we just need to do more of it in a way that others can see & appreciate it.

If you want to get a young person interested in your hobby, ask (entice) (bribe) them to help you put some bit of your collection onto social media (photo-sharing site, blog, whatever). They will enjoy helping (human nature) and they might even get hooked by your 'content'. You will get a little mini-museum, all your own, but one that is open to the public 24/7.

If you want your local stamp club to attract steady attendance & participation, perhaps a continuing social media workshop would do the trick; none of us want anyone hinging our stamps for us, but cropping & uploading & annotating our scans? Why not?

Lastly, I would like to repeat an earlier thought: adopt one (or more) small town history museums. There are thousands of these in every country in the world, and every one of them needs a postal history exhibit, and every one of them drags the local schoolchildren through on a guided tour every now & again.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

This is probably true and it may well be applicable to stamps, if one is collecting them for their own sake. Stamps are basically a medium to convey history, culture and geography. That's really what I'm collecting, not stamps. A thirst for those types of things will likely never go away, and there's no reason that stamps can't continue to be a medium to collect those things.

I think it's probably fairly likely that stamp collecting will eventually diminish, and it will certainly change. But it's unlikely to go away completely, and I'm sure in 100 years it will still be around and it won't just be a couple people left doing it.

Seems like most here are quite optimistic about
our hobby's future which is great.

But all I see is a steady decline down to a tiny niche.

Just look at the numbers.
When I subscribed to Linn's Weekly during the sixties and seventies
circulation was almost up at 100k.
Now its down to 40K but the US population went from
180 million in 1960 to 308 million in 2010.
OK, I realize that people don't read papers anymore
especially the younger generation but still what
a drop.

Same with stamp shows. The national CAPEX here in Toronto
were well attended in the Eighties and then no more shows.
Why? What happened? I guess the organizers noticed a
drop in attendance and figured why bother.

We still have the Canadian Stamp Dealers' Association
shows here which is good but last couple of times
I've been it looks to me like more dealers than show goers.


Stamp collecting does have a future in India and China
perhaps even in South America.
They seem to have the same enthusiasm about stamps
as I/we had in the fifties/sixties.
So maybe there is hope after all.

If you were a serious stamp collector 40 years ago you almost *had* to subscribe to Linn's, belong to the APS and attend stamp shows to find people selling the stamps you wanted. There's no real need to do those things anymore. Enough knowledge and available stamps can be found without getting off the couch. There are still benefits to Linn's, APS, shows, etc, but there's not a real need for them today, which is exactly why those things are declining. It may not be the most savory comparison, but it would be like looking at a porn shop closing up house and drawing the conclusion that not as many people are looking at porn today, when we all know that the delivery mechanism just changed.

All of you missed a major point ----All the governments and central banks are working overtime printing money and issue more debt and I.O.U's than ever before. All the time people all around the world are increasing their standard of living .When you start to understand that there is a fifty-fold increase of money since the 1970's and 1980's and that was a time of record highs in Gold,Silver , Diamonds ,Coins and Stamps .
Just wait for the next monetary crisis.

So floortrader, will this be good or bad for the hobby?

I realize that the price of gold usually goes up
in turbulent times but stamps?

My last CAPEX show I was able to get to was 1996.

Chimo

Bujutsu