Will Stamp Collecting Survive?

I've only been a member of SCF for several weeks, but already I am very impressed. There is a nice mix of collectors of various knowledge levels, general kindness/courtesy, and a willingness to share. Long live Stamp Community Forum.

I have recently been interested in Philately because my father (90) sent his collection to me and said he wanted to give something to help finance my daughter's education. It is a hodge-podge of 2500 stamps thrown into stock books, postal stationary, covers, and a promotional gold plated silver set of USPS stamps in a leather case ( for purposes of discussion Stamps, etc.). I went to the net and found pages of sites and information on the hobby. My background is in marketing so I figured I would need some education to sell the collection.
I researched and found that Stamp Community to be the best source. SC has made this a very interesting way to find knowledge, wisdom, and entertainment for me. I listen to the SC family and I bought the Scott #1 and a few other pieces of equipment to help me organize. During the last 4 ½ months of membership this has become fun for me. I haven't tried to sell one stamp…. but will in the future.
Now to my point. I see that philately is a supply and demand driven hobby that has been trending down. The number of issued stamps etc. is finite and the number of people interested is dwindling in my opinion. Finite supply with less demand means lower values on average. Stamps etc. cost money to collect so money values are a gauge. Stamps etc. are traded or bartered but bottom line is that money values are a big factor. The Scott catalog pricing guidelines may be some benchmark for people but if they buy around those prices they may find a significant loss if they would like to sell or valuate the collection. The offers/final sales on ebay mostly seem to discount from Scott. I keep hearing/seeing/reading that educated buyers are buying stamps etc. at 25-50% discounts (and more) to Scott pricing. A person wanting to start collecting should realize the commerce side of collecting is an art not a science. Money isn't the only thing to consider in the hobby but makes a difference. That all being said, some factors can reverse the trend such as a better economy, a resurgence of interest created by related Philately media events, collectors passing on the established collections to their multigenerational heirs, more people taking an interest in history to mention a few.
Floortrader (and others) have some good points about the clubs. Many of the clubs here in south Florida that I see are in retirement communities, adult communities, or assisted care facilities. Not the best environments for attracting the younger collector. I went to meetings at 2 clubs and felt like an outsider on top of having to listen to political ramblings of the members that lived there together. Many of the conversations had nothing to do with Philately and were somewhat petty. I am 60 and was the kid in the room. I think I'll stick with this group who are interesting, entertaining, and have significant expertise as a group. I like reading and participating on the site and find it a good experience. Just some thoughts….

For philately to survive, it needs to be readily accessible.

Kids these days are being raised in a world where everything is instantly at their fingertips. I have seen children who can barely spell master the use of an iPad to find songs and videos from their favorite children's movies.

To have a well-designed app that is FREE to users would be the first step towards reaching a more youthful market.

I recently took a survey offered by Linn's, and in it they proposed having a "subscription model" to an iPhone/Android app version of the Scott catalogue. I think this is an awful idea because it keeps philatelic information behind a monthly pay wall that would be separate by country. We need to make this information available to more people, rather than to people already interested in it.

Bill Steiner's pages do it somewhat right. You pay a flat fee and you get access to every country's pages. It's easy to pay for, easy to access, and does not limit you. Personally, this has made collecting 100x easier because I do not have to invest several hundred dollars into an album. I can pick and choose, and fill pages with my loose stamps from various countries.

The thing is, it took weeks of researching how to collect to even discover Steiner's pages. And I still had to invest $100 into a Scott catalogue, $100 into mounts (I refuse to use hinges), and then the cost of the stamps. The barrier of entry to the hobby was just so high that I can't imagine kids these days being willing to go down the route of building albums. (I recognize that there is far more to Philately than creating an album, but I feel like those who are dedicated to the study of stamps are those who will show commitment in such a fashion) Information on stamps needs to be readily available and for next to no cost.

But technology is only half the battle. The fact of the matter is, it is hard to get stamps! I live in Washington, DC and I do not know of a single philatelic store in the city outside of the National Postal Museum. Attending stamp clubs is intimidating (everyone is way older than I am, and they all have known each other for years) and attending an auction is often out of the question for casual collectors.

ebay is available, but it is overwhelming with how many options and sellers there are. A new collector probably wouldn't know where to begin. (they'd likely get ripped off on a picked lot of worldwide stamps and give up pretty quickly)

The idea is that we need to get information about how to collect into people's hands, and then we need to make philatelic merchandise easily purchasable. I really think this could be handled seamlessly through a well-designed app and webstore.

I think that the future of philately relies on people's ability to market to the youth. The current appraisers and dealers need to serve as mentors to youth before they pass away, so that knowledge does not fade. But interest in the field is something that needs to be raised, and pronto.

Q/ Do we still have the social skills to run a local stamp club?

Not that many decades ago, you could hardly put ten people in a room without someone knowing how to play the piano, everyone knowing the songs well enough to sing along, etc.

Smoochy nostalgia makes my teeth hurt, but I'm wondering how many of us still have the social skills to run a local stamp club. How to make a presentation. How to encourage other folks to make a presentation. Here's a hint: I can't even make a complete list!

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

" I live in Washington, DC and I do not know of a single philatelic store in the city outside of the National Postal Museum."

You are way ahead of most of us. Even in bigger cities, most of the philatelic centers in the PO's were shut down years ago. They want us all to order from the caves.

Google this "washington dc stamp dealers"

Stamppaige, your recent experience mirrors my own. Joined this Community, and love the friendly astonishingly knowledgable folks I have chatted with.
While by no means am I an expert, I know enough about ebay to answer some of your questions. I'm pleased with ebay stamp buying -- that's how I've been growing my own collection, and I'm still figuring out selling on ebay although I have sold some of my dupes.

This weekend I visited my first stamp show. Fortunately very near me in Long Island, NY. I spoke with 4 dealers, all significantly older than my 65 years. Like you, I felt like the kid in this venue. They were all friendly chatty guys and I enjoyed my morning...and purchased two stamps for my collection!

In thinking about this discussion which began with the question, "Will stamp collecting survive?", I see a need for some changes.
I'm also a marketer and it is apparent to me that the stamp "business" is so tied to traditional approaches and ways of doing things that it doesn't even try to appeal to younger generations.

Example: Weeks ago I applied for membership in the American Philatelic Society. I'm raring to go, however, APS bylaws call for my contact info to first be printed in its newsletter I guess in order to allow members to identify me as a pin head or bad apple. I have asked that organization why I can be approved for a new car lease in an hour but it may take months to join an organization that should beg for new members.

Example: Shop for a TV and you'll find every specification, color choice,and model available + buyer reviews. But in the stamp world, I have visited every manufacturer of hingeless US albums that I could find online. Most provide very limited, partial descriptions of their products. I have had to ask a series of questions to every maker. And in most cases a buyer can't even view PDFs of sample pages to determine what the album layout is like. Really? This lack of customer information isn't tolerated in other areas of the global economy.

I have found few local stamp clubs using online search, but yesterday I bought some stamps from a fine dealer who started his company in 1972 (the year I graduated college). Today I wanted to invite this dealer to come to first meeting of a start up stamp club I will try to form. But the dealer has no email address on his card. His company also lacks a website. I guess I'll have to phone him to invite. But how can his business draw in new collectors in order to grow without a website in 2015?

My answer is not yet formulated. I'm still learning much of the basics. But I already see opportunities for fresh ideas.
It will take fresh thinking to introduce stamp collecting to "kids" who are not retired. Stay tuned!

I fear the dealers going away more than the collectors. While people will always be able to buy stamps on ebay and elsewhere, all those old-time dealers have a ton of knowledge and one can usually buy stamps from them with confidence. That's not always the case when it's "Joe Collector" selling his extra stamps. Nothing against the Joe Collectors of the world selling their stamps - I'm one of them myself. But when it comes to scarcer and more valuable stamps, long time dealers have seen dozens or hundreds of a stamp that a collector might only see one or two of in his lifetime. I know which one I'd trust to make the correct ID and spot the forgery.

Whether now, past or future, to attract new customers and collectors, whether young or old, the skills of winning friends and influincing people, anger management or life management and also sales success are the ones needed by one and all, all of them based on being friendly.

The more that these skills are practiced the more everyone will enjoy appreciating what they came for in the first place . . . beauty.

Beauty of art, history, geography, philosophy, collecting staamps, cancellations, postal markintgs and labels, envelopes and lettres and covers, emphemera, signatures, money, the hunting of these things, teaching others about them by example and that the original people are enjoying the hobby so much, and the idea that enjoying collecting, small or large, is available to all, in varying degrees.

The perceived cost of something is not really a stopper to stamps or collecting, as persons of different peoples may appreciate museums or collections online and off of others, and small ideas that remind you of these collections are spurs onward toward your own enjoyment of the largest hobby in the world.

If you cannot buy the original ship then a stamp with a picture of that ship is still close to the heart.

What an important question by Mr 'lithograving' -like the Hamlet-question of our hobby; to be or not to be....
So many good replies and thoughts have already been offered, which I can do no better. The future is surely about catching the affection and recruitment of young people. Dear Puzzler - I think you hit right at the essence - beauty and friendliness! But how to get this message across to the generation more interested in getting 'likes' on facebook? I am starting with my own kids, of whom the two boys are interested. And I have also gained the interest in some friends of them, trying to get Puzzlers message across to these young lads, about beauty. My hope is all of us can make a small impact where we live, keeping the hobby alive after us.

Terrific observations and thoughts posted over the last few weeks!
I'm returning to this discussion because it encapsulates the fears of long-time stamp collectors, as well as provides challenges more recent collectors such as myself should ponder regarding the mortality -- or at least the future popularity -- of our hobby.

THE FEAR ASPECT

Lithograving got us started by voicing his fear of "the decline down to a tiny niche".
TheArtfulHinger mentioned his fear that dealers face their demise. And stallzer showed concern that stamps face so many competing interests especially among our youth.

I would like to counter if I may with a large dose of optimism.

If stamp collecting is dying why do we still have 76 stamp events scheduled between April and August in this month's "American Philatelist"?? The AP's magazine also listed 88 advertisers, over 32,000 current members, and 151 new members names listed including mine. Judging by the sheer number of dealer ads, buy / sell offers, auctions, and scheduled stamp events, I am actually impressed with the vitality of our pastime. Reading through The American Philatelist, Linn's Stamp News & Mekeel's & Stamps, I see dozens of dealers, auctions, buyers, appraisers,and more events than I could possibly visit.

FEAR THAT KIDS HAVE LITTLE INTEREST IN STAMPS

I am not sure that youth involvement is absolutely critical to the future appeal of stamp collecting any more than kids drive the action in wrist watch collecting. My observation is that stamp collecting in this digital fast-paced age is better suited to mature adults rather than our kids. It is adults who enjoy some of the key psychological attributes of stamping. The peacefulness, solitude, focus and serenity that are a big part of stamping is very appealing to some adults.

I don't mean to say that we should ignore presenting stamp collecting's virtues to kids. Not at all.
Feoen suggested making available a free stamp collecting app for handheld electronic devices which is a great idea. It's also great to see how much the APS is doing to provide schools and youth with stamp-related materials. I just think that by generally promoting what stamp collectors like most about our hobby, SCF involvement, or APS membership, we should expect a percentage of adults to seek out stamp info and consider collecting. But as we've discussed, future collectors will drawn primarily from folks who love history, reading, cultures, graphics, art, and spending contemplative time alone doing detailed organized tasks. Stamps are not for everybody. But I see a pretty vibrant stamp world out there beyond our Community.

Dan Carazo
Syosset, NY

dcaraz49 inquired why the APS takes so long to approve a membership. I think it is for safety reasons. Couple years ago, I bid for the first time in a mail auction operated out of Arizona. The vendor did not invoice me to pay up front. Rather, he sent me the stamps immediately on the strength of my APS number; about a thousand dollars worth; with the invoice to send back with my check (which I did the next day). Stamping is not the same as buying a car or TV.

Welcome to the process of learning the basics. This web site is a good place. I've collected continuously since age 10 in 1960; and joined the APS in 1974. I'm still learning.

Yes, back in the Good Old Days, hundreds of thousands of kids received, at some point in their childhood, a 'starter' pack of stamps, a pair of tongs, an album ...

Q/ Are 1% of them collecting today?

Q/ Why do we count the 99% as having ever joined the hobby?

Several of y'all've spoken to targeting better audiences than the youthiest youth, and I think y'all're spot on.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Kids like stamps. I liked stamps when I was a kid (8-10), and I still do, and I am still a kid at heart.

Kids like to figure things out and discover things.

Kids like mysteries they can solve.

They like Princesses and Castles and other stuff.

So do I, and I like adbentures.

Off to ebay and Delcampe now . . .>