State Of The Hobby Today

Postal History dealer Jim Forte sent out an email with the following comments. What do you think of his observation?

"It is quite common to bemoan the state of the stamp and cover collecting
hobby. It is true that stamp shows, stamp clubs, philatelic societies and
philatelic publications are hurting to one degree or another. On the
internet, the hobby is strong. The only online weakness is that many
collectors collect very narrowly. I have sold covers to over 2500 collectors
in the past 12 months, but the vast majority have bought only one or two
covers."

I am new to the hobby, so my reflections may not be as deep as others.

I imagine that stamp collecting as a hobby is experiencing the impact of overall trends today. The internet has changed society for better or for worse. Membership in clubs and community groups are dropping in most categories. Many organizations are struggling to remain active. Those that seem most successful are those adapting and creating an engaging online presence. That is why a forum like this is an important and vital part of the future of the hobby. I am not sure any exist, but I think there is a place for an online stamp club. I have looked and have not found one, but again in some ways a forum like this is one.

Brick and mortar stores are closing in lots of hobbies. There are no stamp stores anywhere near me, but our only pottery store closed last year (another hobby of mine). Imagine the shipping charges on clay! I think it is hard for specialty retail stores to survive when most things can now be purchased online, but it also makes finding items much easier.

I think the future of the hobby is tied to the ability of the hobby to adapt to the online reality and how effective it is in developing a community there.

I have read a lot on here about what seems to be the glory days of collecting and stamp clubs, and I do feel I have missed something. There is something to be said for face to face interaction and I am sure stamp clubs provided mentorship opportunities for newbies. How can those opportunities be created online and is there a way develop connections and friendships that developed at clubs? I think there is and forums like this contribute to that.

The one concern that has entered my mind is how the vast knowledge and skills of experienced collectors will be transmitted to the next generation. Making sure that is preserved may be a challenge, considering that seemed to be a primary function of stamp clubs.

For me, your question brings more questions. I think the hobby is still as fascinating as it ever was. Will growth in collectors come from the segment of those retiring and picking back up their old collections? Or will it come from younger people getting into the hobby new? In order for the second one to happen I think a stronger embrace of the new online reality needs to happen.

oceanguy: there is an online stamp club; the Virtual Stamp Club and it is an affiliate of the APS. It is centered with the other SCF. I'll get a link to add to this note. Brick & mortar stamp stores have closed. When I moved to Denver 35+ years ago, there were several. Now I know of just one. But, a lot of attention has been paid paid in the past few months to a new stamp store that opened in Portland, OR.

I don't participate with any stamp clubs, and never have over 50+ years of collecting. So, I can't comment on that. I do see a thriving philatelic library in the local community; the Rocky Mountain Philatelic Library. It's one of maybe a dozen such libraries in the country (USA).

I think a lot of attention is paid these days to trying to interest young people; I applaud that, but also say don't ignore retirees who, with more time and money, are getting back into their collections. You raise a good point about the internet. It really is the place to be in these times. But while one can find all sorts of references on line, how does one get things explained to them if they aren't sure regarding what they have. For that, specialist philatelic societies fulfill an often overlooked role.

I might be looking at things through rose colored glasses, but I think the internet has uhered in a "Golden Age" of stamp collecting. Were it not for the internet, I'm not entirely certain that I'd be collecting at all. I can say with certainty that what and how I collect would be very different without the internet. The fact that I can find almost any stamp and almost any information without leaving my couch has allowed my collection to progress much farther and much faster than it would have otherwise. It's impossible to state with certainty how the "state of the hobby" compares to 10, 20 or 50 years ago, but it's pretty healthy today, in my opinion, and I think it'll stay healthy for awhile.

I couldn't disagree more. I collect 5 countries actively, plus a postal history topic. I have searched Forte's site regularly in support of my postal history interest and his problem is pricing. He offers common covers for $10-$15 that I can get at shows from dealers like Coverman for $2-$8. I buy from Forte when I spot the much less common item and have $25 to spare for it, but that only occurs about once a year.

For me the "online weakness" is that there are many dealers who purport to have online sites, but do not update them with any regularity. Search interfaces are different on every site and produce different results from the same search query. Payment, shipping cost, and return policies vary widely and must be inspected closely.

One of the great services that leading organizations like ASDA, APS, RPSL, and the Collectors' Clubs could provide would be to spec, review and endorse (not necessarily build--someone else could do that) a standard dealer website template, probably with a cloud hosted database back end, that any dealer could license, brand, run and update without having a BSCS in Computer Science. The hobby is moving to the internet and buyers desperately want an alternative to ebay with its useless rating system, mis-descriptions, and outright fraud but the typical dealer online system is limited. Maybe the organizations are holding back out of fear of cannibalizing attendance at shows.

That's a great idea, actually. My pipe dream is that I'd be able to go to any dealer's website and view their entire inventory and add items to a shopping cart and check out with a credit card. While many dealers would probably like to sell this way, most of them probably have no idea on how to make it happen. If there were a simple template where they could just plug in their inventory and pricing, it would make it much easier for them.

Hey ClimberSteve! I did a quick google search for 'Virtual Stamp Club' and the site I found appears to be a blog. I could not find any information on the actual 'club' or how to join. The closest stamp store to me is about a 10hr drive. So I believe you when you say they have closed.

And I agree, don't ignore the retirees or the young people. The hobby needs us all. You hit the nail on the head when you said:




Online resources are very useful, but I don't think they are great for helping people out as much an experienced person can.

TheArtfulHinger, I am in the same boat as you. I do not think I would be able to collect without the internet. It certainly makes the hobby more accessible to people. I like your optimistic viewpoint.

LOL, you are kidding right? APS is not even able to supply a snippet of code for existing membership/chapter websites to place on their sites. This simple snippet of code would send new members inquires to APS and credit the sending website with the new member. I could write this piece of code in 10 minutes but frankly I am done with trying to help APS move into the digital age. And I am not alone. I have talked about this topic with other several other tech suave people and they too have tried, and given up on, helping APS move to a more forward looking technology vision.

On the other SCF forum I opened a new thread discussing how the APS could be supporting mobile devices. It also included a CMS solution (content management system) which is designed to put a foundational web page code hidden out of reach but offer a great methods for 'office folks' to do frequent web page updates.

The feedback I got, aside from the personal attacks such as I was being 'obnoxious', was that APS serves its EXISTING members. Period. And since the GUESS is that the existing members don't use mobile devices than it is a disservice to suggest technology based improvements. Just last week I had one stamp related vender tell me that almost 80% of his current sales are now coming from mobile devices; yet in the other forum just suggesting APS a mobile capable website solution was met with negative pushback. Apparently APS, and many other stamp organizations, continue to bleed members apparently not noticing that the loss of membership concurs with the rise of the internet.

Given the strong pushback it appears that the current APS priority is to its existing membership; the only viable discussion are those which include how to split up the existing membership 'pie'. There is little tolerance for discussions regarding how to bake a bigger membership pie. So I have given on trying to promote and contribute to APS on the technology level. We can better serve our hobby by going off on our own, independent directions.
Don
APS #094826

If you ask me ---but you didn't .There is a lot of things wrong with On-line stamp collecting . First a lot of experts and experience collectors after a year or two come on here and then quit coming --WHY ?
First there is too much beginner questions and it is the same stuff week after week ,then after a year you start to stay off .
Second too many collectors think they are experts because they know how to read the two main worldwide catalogs .I like to call these people -CATALOG QUEENS .
Third ,many experience collectors and specialist stay off because we now have a new type of expert who hang out on the internet . These are reference experts ,they have no collections of their own and have no reference library of their own ,but they can find and reference stuff from different websites and they are great searchers of the internet ,so they come across as philatelic experts too.
One of the most aggravating people to most serious collectors are those who take pictures off the internet and claim them as their stamps ,this frustrates us serious collectors because it is from people who you never see at shows or stamp auctions ,they just like to brag thinking they are impressing a group of more advance collectors .
Any kind of on-line club or chat room will lose their more experience members if there is not a continuous discussion at the advance level and a sharing of ideas or displays of new information which they can use .

The biggest issues with online stamp hobby is the lack of vetting of the information. Anyone can start a web site and fill it with misinformation. Far too many threads even in this forum contain misinformation. And I would add that in addition to Floortrader's point about the misuse of other's images, we continue to see too many 'enhanced' images.

But these issues can largely be overcome with education. I am hopeful that over time much of the bad content will slowly be weaned out and competition will kill off the poor sites.
Don

@theArtfulHinger
I would agree with you... Internet is helping a few of us who still collect while running around all day. Saves a lot of transportation costs, which again goes back into the hobby..

My hobby went into a coma 18 years ago, when I moved to College (in INDIA - no internet for us back then) .. It came alive again a few years ago and I am catching up.. Emails, ebay, SAN and SCF are now vital tools for me... I even mail the dealers and they ship me the stuff back.. So its much faster and easier now...

Some try to cheat, but with paypal and credit cards, I get covered. Now I got a good number of trustable dealers to work with.

Sometimes, before bidding online, I ask my dealers/friends in the stampshows/events, on their opinion if it is worth going after... Often times, I get an interesting perspective, which is not available online :)... So Internet is helpful but it doesnt stop there for me.

51studebaker - That is really disappointing to here about the APS. It sounds very political and resistant to change. That is unfortunate. I have seen that with other organizations that say want new members or volunteers and when new people join or get involved they don't like it when they have new ideas or ways of doing things. Hearing this does not encourage me to want to join. I think more and more people are tech savy in all age groups and mobile is pretty much a MUST for any business or organization that wants to remain relevant. Mobile e-commerce transactions are at/just over 30% of all transactions, and that number is growing.

I think the internet has helped stamp collecting immensely. I used to go to shows all the time (at least once a month), and rarely did I leave with something new to add to my collection. Dealers were not interested in stocking material that I needed for my collection, saying there was no demand, despite the fact I asked these same dealers every show. With the internet, I have more than tripled my collection. For years, it was rare when I didn't add a new item to my watch list on E-bay with the intent to bid every day. Now, it is more like once a week instead of once a day, but I am still able to find items I need. I plan on going to my first (and only) show (Sacapex) of the year in November, and I am 99% sure I won't find anything. I have skipped 3 shows that were in my local area (Sacramento, CA) this year, and didn't go to Westpex, simply because it wasn't worth the effort.

Don, Scott English of the APS has seemed to be fairly responsive in the specific APS forum on this board. This is the only example I know of where someone from the APS, Linn's, or one of the other stamp collecting biggies actually seems to be aware of -- and paying attention to -- what people are saying here. If it has already happened and I missed it, I apologize, but I am wondering if you have specifically brought up some of these suggestions and issues with him. It seems to me that moving the APS into the 21st century and having Linn's cover important collecting stories (like fraud on ebay) would be great helps in preserving and improving the state of the hobby.

Rusty,
Yes, I have communicated Scott and Michael Bloom over the last several months. They both seem to be working hard to move in the correct direction but I think that the existing culture and funding are issues.

The last two published APS strategic plans outlined an strong embrace of technology; so there seems to be recognition at some levels. But it also sounds like there is no budget, resources are very scare. They have a new multi-million dollar building and library; things that in my opinion are great resources. But there has never been any kind of technology commitment that comes close to this. I have asked many times; 'what percentage of annual the budget is earmarked for technology'.

I have also asked repeatedly for some APS web site statistics. These are available, at virtually no cost, and should be made available to at least the membership. APS continually tracks and publishes membership numbers; why not do the same for the web site traffic? Has the APS site grown over the years? How do we know if the site is attracting visitors? How do we know if the money being spent on it is worth it? This lack of quantified metrics leaves the door open for Luddites and others to argue that no new money needs to be spent.

I think that Scott and others are trying in the background to find some funding to at least publish a 'opening page' that is mobile friendly. Unfortunately this would not solve many of the technology issues. For example, APS also has a very large dependency upon PDF technology, and this is also about to undergo sweeping changes that will outdate their existing investment.
Don

Oceanguy,
Please consider APS membership despite my negative technology picture. It has a huge amount of value but note that the value is 'old school'. Do not join for their online resources or their technological direction; join because of the other good services offered.

Good Example; the APRL, one of the best philatelic libraries around. While you can power your way through an online search of its holdings, you cannot buy and download the resource in real time. Another example, they have an APS Store which affords buyers a high level of confidence. But the online interface is very poor if anyone just wants to browse the offerings.

Mobile is here to stay; the balance was tipped early in 2016. Over 50% of all internet traffic is now from mobile devices.

I love my desktop, and do not even own a smart phone. But I am heavily invested in re-designing Stamp Smarter web site. It sucks eggs, this is costing me huge amounts of money and time but it has to be done.
Don