Scott Catalogue Survey

Just got this email from Scott/Amos:





The survey is here: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/22910...ector-Survey

I got it also. Here is the chance to let your wishes be known. Although nowhere did I see the option of pages on the web!

Peter

No, this a paper catalog survey. I used the free-form fields to give them an earful.

I got that as well - Not happy with this.

It is a harbinger to more volumes equating to more money out of our pockets.

I guess we'll have to just wait and see what will be our collective demise.

Regards,
Stampalotapus

Well, firstly, Scott's hands are tied. Countries keep issuing stamps at an alarming rate and the bindings on the catalogs have reached their practical limits. Secondly, depending on how they do it, it may not actually mean more catalogs are published every single year. The option I voted for was the regional option where they print popular regions yearly, but others only every 3-5 years. This could mean that the actual annual volumes printed wouldn't increase, although I think it's likely that it would. Also, if they split it into 8-12 volumes, in theory the smaller volumes should be cheaper. Yes, if you want a full set every time a new one comes out, it'll probably cost you more. But that's bound to happen anyway, with catalogs getting bigger and bigger every year. Plus, this could be a boon for many country collectors, who may end up with a cheaper volume since it won't be shared with as many other countries they don't care about.

I gave them a few options:

1. Make a database and an app.
2. Offer print on demand, so people can pick the countries they want and have a single bound volume sent to them.
3. Take a survey of catalog owners and what countries they collect. Offer the top 20-30 countries in print and make the less desirable countries available as ebooks only.

Your thoughts mirror mine, though as a specialist in collecting Haiti, the idea of treating a "less desirable" country like Haiti, which really is the only specialty that matters - you'll all catch on one day - makes me sad. :-)

I understand their print predicament, but it really is an opportunity to develop a robust digital business.

I also recommended the "print on demand" option sine I buy yearly updates for on,y the counties I collect though a vendor on ebay that breaks the catalogs up and sells country specific pages.

With the sheer volume of stamps being released yearly, it's pretty much hit the point where printing a paper catalog is next to impossible, without charging so much for it that no one will be willing to pay for it.

I think continuing to print the Scott Specialized has value. But printing a complete world catalog is pretty much out of the question.

I do the same thing. I take those pages and scan them to PDF and OCR them.

Most listings only get a thorough review every 3-5 years, anyway. Expensive stamps that sell at auction get regular updates, but the bulk of the 25-cent to $100 or so CV stamps don't get looked at that closely, year to year, except when the editors are doing a thorough review of that country. Plus those types of stamps usually don't change significantly in value that quickly, either. For countries that don't get published every year, I hope they put out some kind of annual new issue update, other than the monthly one they put in Linn's.

Even the monthly update in Linn's isn't that great. For 2 years they didn't put out a single Ukraine update, either in the catalog or in Linn's. I emailed them about it, and in the next monthly update they suddenly listed a whole mess of Ukraine stamps.

I think they take too much on at times. Why should they deal with things like England and Germany. Stanley Gibbons does a fine job of cataloging English stamps. Why not cut a deal with them to share stamp data. Same with MICHEL and Germany. Accept a data dump from other catalog makers quarterly and let them then have a dump of your US numbers.

Heck, they could easily carve up the world and pool efforts. At the rate things are going, all the catalog makers are going to get overwhelmed very soon. Even using groups like the Eire Philatelic Society and Ukrainian Philatelic and Numismatic Society which are dedicated to certain countries to help at least provide images and details.

I would think my fellow UPNS members would love to hop on some Scott portal and enter stamp information, including a scanned image, in exchange for a donation to the group. Outsourcing can seriously be your friend in their endeavor.

Valid points TheArtfulHinger.

Regards,
Stampalotapus

I got an email with the survey as well

Chimo

Bujutsu

Giving a little more thought... Since Linn's publishes a New Issues Section Monthly, a possible alternative would be to publish an 'Update Annual' in January of the following year, then every 3-5 years publish a new edition complete catalog, for an all inclusive reference source. The yearly annual could be published in 2-3 issues for a nominal fee and be set as for example: Vol-1, US, Canada, UN, UK (&territories), and other top popular countries, then other volumes (2-3 most) inclusive of other countries. This would allow for a current reference for new issues and the 3-5 year publishing cycle to provide for updated market pricing, variety identification, & possibly other postal authority issues (such as stationary, revenue, BOB etc. of major popular countries.??? I answered the survey but not with the open field for this brain storm. I would most certainly be interested in an annual New Issues volume for US.

Would these annuals only include new issues,or value changes also? Cause Scott always claims "thousands of value changes" every year.

All I really care about is catalog numbers.

And what I really want is some kind of standardized international free numbering system.

Heck if ebay was smart, they could aggregate their stamp sale data over the last year and generate a catalog of values using a couple of simple scripts. Same with bidStart.