What If Stamps Had No Value

My collection is chock full of stamps that are so cheap they might as well have been free, on a per-stamp basis. I like the cheap ones just like the more expensive ones and I don't buy stamps thinking that they're a store of value. I know full well that my collection will, in all likelihood, sell for less than the total I paid for it. I sometimes look at it as paying rent on the stamps. I paid $x, will eventually sell it for $y (which will probably be less than $x), and the difference is the rent I paid to have that stamp in my collection.

But if stamps had no value, it would take much of the fun out of it. I don't mean that I try to get them at a bargain price or take pleasure in getting stamps at X% of catalog or that I'll somehow make money off of them. But if stamps had no value, it would essentially mean every stamp was free. If I wanted Russia in one fell swoop, there it is. Then what?

Part of what I like about collecting is the chase, the plotting out my next purchase and seeing the collection progress. My want list is split up into fairly manageable chunks and it's exciting to see that want list dwindle. There are a few areas where I'm closing in on completion and will probably get there within the next year or two. The anticipation of achieving that goal is palpable and is something that drives my acquisitions. When the goal has been completed, there is a sense of pride and accomplishment, and not just because it cost a lot of money. If I could suddenly get every stamp on my want list at once, well, it would be good for a few days while I mounted the new stamps and spent some time admiring them, but then what? I'd get bored and have to get something else, but since those would be free, it would be the same process again. Just speaking for myself, it would probably become a more boring hobby for me.

If stamps were free, it would imply there was very little demand, which would mean anyone who was collecting would be doing so almost by themselves. I wouldn't find it much fun if I did it entirely without contact with others.

To me a person that see stamps as having no value

is a person who is definitely not a stamp collector.

Even though I collect purely for the fun of it and never
considered my stamps as an investment I still like the fact that
they are worth something.

I totally agree with ronv when he says





and with TheArtfulHinger

I really don't agree with you here.

So everything one collects has to be worth something?


I collected matchboxes when I was very young before
I even started stamp collecting.

I liked those boxes because of the coloured designs
pictured on the covers.

Got them for free and traded some of them.

They had no value but they were valuable to me
and I had lots of fun just looking at them.
So was I a matchbox collector or not KGV Collector ?

Same when I started collecting stamps at around six or seven.
Some given to me by my grandfather and most I got off letters.

Again they weren't of any real value and I had no idea
the meaning of value but I loved collecting those little pieces
of paper.

The true value of a stamp is its personal value to a collector.

It is more than OK litho I know where you are coming from.

If stamps have no value it would be an economic disaster.
Many small countries like Mauritius, Tonga etc. Have and had income from stamps.
For banks it would be a disaster too.

I collect kilowarelots. For the next generation.
If I buy $50, 00 kiloware. I have fun for many hours.
Thats a lot of fun and adventure!
I sell kiloware.. I have to or I have to move to a bigger house!

Stamp of no value ----It is Sunday morning and time for a story-----I started collecting at a early age because the older boys in the public housing projects were collecting stamps . In a home of nine children there was very little that was mine . I shared clothes and even a bed with two other brothers. The only thing that wasn't shared or they had no interest in was my stamp album .
The album contain stamps that were received on mail or sent for from ads in Boys Life magazine like 100 stamps for 10 cents . Was it valuable yes it was ....to me because it was MINE .

I really enjoyed reading the answers to the question asked of the stamp community forum. The conclusion that I can make is there is no greed and the vast majority enjoy the hobby. Although I feel I can say it is a hobby that doesn't attract the amount of people it should.

I may be a little late to this thread, but here's my $0.02

I would be on the "collecting for fun" side of the ledger. I've spent a lot of money on some stamps because I wanted them for my collection, not what their resale value might be. I really don't care. My stamps are all priceless to me, even the ratty old common stamps I have.
Sure, I look up the catalog value and shop when I am buying a stamp. I don't want to pay $50.00 for something I could get for $5.00.
I have no clue what the market value of my collection is.
This is one of the few hobbies/recreational activities I've seen where people are concerned with the market value of their collection. People don't usually buy equipment or things for their hobbies with an eye to resale, they buy them for the enjoyment they will get out of them. That's how I view my stamp collection.
Dan

Greed attracts some people to stamp collecting, but most of those folks (sensibly & correctly) leave soon enough.

Many fields of human endeavor attract people for reasons that are not the motivations of the people who persist.

We can only give the misguided souls a warm, wet kiss ... and move on.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Plus side: If stamps had no value I'd be able to buy them for nothing.

Negative side: All the good ones would already be bought up by someone else.

Neutral side: I could always collect cars.


-IBFS

Dan of Danstamps,

Are you married?

Not all hobbies/recreational activities involve "collecting." I would think where collecting is involved, interest in market value is common.

I have three hobbies: guns, radios, and stamps. I'm very aware of the market value of my guns and radios. So was my late wife! I don't collect guns or radios, but I have a bunch. But I don't buy them for investment purposes, but for their utility. It is nice that the guns hold their value. The radios not so much.

However, stamps are "collectibles," which are more or less by definition bought and sold on the basis of value, not utility. I can't shoot a stamp. Well, I could, but that wouldn't do much for its value.