Renewing With Linn's- Boy They Make It Hard

I was on Linns website today trying to renew. Everything was fine until I hit the checkout.They have one of those absurd 'prove you're not a robot' thingies that I absolutely could not get by. It was the type where you are supposed to click on an image that matches some description. I did so then kept getting more and more images to click on. After several pages I figured the program was wacky.

So, I called. Never got to talk to anyone and was on hold nearly 30 minutes when I gave up. Left a message that I worry will not be heard.

I had a similar experience trying to renew my subscription to the ASDA magazine. They never called me back. Guess I won't be renewing that one.

Maybe one reason readership keeps dwindling for stamp publications may not be the shrinking collector base.

Hope you have more luck with the ASDA than I did. I signed up for their magazine at their booth at the World Stamp Show in NYC, but didn't hear or see anything for quite a while. When I finally reached them after several attempts, they did start up the subscription but I had missed a few issues which they had no interest in sending to me, even when I offered to pay extra. Subsequently, they never responded when I inquired about obtaining other back issues or when I inquired about attending their fall stamp show since I was going to be in NYC anyway. I realize that I'm not their main constituency as a collector, but one would think they would welcome the opportunity to encourage a collector who has reached out to them. Perhaps their staff is only part-time with limited resources to respond to inquiries?

I agree with you, Stamps as I've had the same problem myself. Part of the problem is that "images" are not clear. You can't tell sometimes if the image contains a "storefront" or not.

Jack Kelley

Yeah I have to wonder if someone at the ASDA has decided to revert the magazine to one for dealers only. What a shame. I have a near full run of them for the past several years and treasure them all. Great stuff about Us Philatelic history.

Sometimes you get a gut feeling that someone isn't all that interested in you. It's sort of like dating. That's how I feel about the ASDA. I suspect their 'staff' consists of perhaps one person.

Hint- if we have anyone on here who is part of the ASDA by all means jump into this discussion. As to Linn's I think I will probably hear back from them and get renewed. They seem at least motivated usually.

I got my renewal to Linns to go through today, sometimes you need to step back and wait a day.

Whomever maintains their site has the security settings way high. I had to go through six pages of pictures to click on before I got past that point. Probably they feel that is necessary but they may be losing potential subscribers by forcing them to jump through all those hoops.

Continuing my lucky streak, I got the ASDA magazine sub to go through as well. If anyone else had the same issue as I did- problem getting the site to accept the password for your digital issues- disregard what it says about a eight character minimum. I had to use a thirteen character password before I got past that. They need to fix that, not that it will do any good to let them know.

They ought to set up a seperate checkout for collectors who are not dealers to use for subs to this I was asked for my business name specialty, etc. Possibly nothing can be done about that. Next step is getting the actual publications..

An editorial recently observed that the magazine had been created as a way to write about, remember and honor the dealers of the past. A significant portion of the content is backward-looking stories about the glories of dealing in the 1930-1970 period. The phrase "Nassau Street" seems to appear multiple times in every issue--there could be a drinking game based on that.

Still, the observations about past and current market conditions are useful. I tend to focus on those. I recognize that it's mostly intended for dealer-to-dealer communications with collectors as an adjunct.

Back to website security annoyances - there's also the jumbled up number question where you have to decipher a long number to prove you're not a robot. I usually fail the first one or two times.

As for Linn's and ASDA, they're both living in the past, organizations of aging men (like me!) that often can't see a way forward so keep repeating the "glories of the past" thing about when collecting was all the rage, etc. Yes, it was wonderful but probably not quite as wonderful as they claim. I went to Nassau Street as a teenager in the early 1960s when there were still stamp shops there. I didn't find them very appealing, I have to say, mostly run by old men with not very friendly personalities operating out of tiny shops. Or maybe they didn't have time for a mere kid? Sentimentalizing the "glory days" is what dying institutions do. It's a bad sign.

I can say I have been to Nassau street in the late 60's a few times. They had a stamp bourse each weekend.

OK, I'll bite. Where is Nassau Street?

Jack Kelley

You will have to buy the book to find out (P. Herbst). A street in lower Manhattan where most of New York's stamp dealers had offices, from early in the 20th century until they couldn't afford the real estate any longer....then along came the internet.

Amazing is that there is now only ONE retail walk in shop in NYC, Champion Stamps.

Wikipedia excerpt

Nassau Street is a street in the Financial District of New York City. It is located near Pace University and City Hall. It starts at Wall Street and runs north to Spruce Street at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, located one block east of Broadway and east of Park Row, in the borough of Manhattan.

Stamp collecting

As early as 1915, Mekeel's Weekly Stamp News contained many advertisements for stamp dealers in Nassau Street.[2] In the 1930s, stamp collecting became very popular and Nassau Street was the center of New York City's "Stamp District", called its "Street of Stamps", with dozens of stamp and coin dealers along its short length.[3] While the stock market did poorly during the Great Depression, stamps kept their value and were "negotiable assets."[3] The Stamp Center Building was located at 116 Nassau Street, and the Subway Stamp Shop (now in Altoona, Pennsylvania) was located at 87 Nassau Street.[3] With the dispersal of most dealers in the 1970s, a process that accelerated with internet trading, the street no longer has this character.[3][4]
Nassau Street was also the title of a book written in the 1960s by Herman Herst Jr.[5] that described the "golden age" of the stamp collecting industry.[3]

Spelling of the book author is Herst, not Herbst. Minor point when trying to find the book. His full name is Herman "Pat" Herst Jr. I have it here at home somewhere. (oops, Angore already clarified)

Regarding Linn's renewal, it's always a last minute decision for me due to cost. I renew by mail, with no hassles at all. And I get to use up surplus stamps. Can't do everything on line; it's that hacking "thingy" which snail mail usually does not experience.

Nassau St gossip.

http://www.cityofsmoke.com/archives/1571

I just had to highlight this because of its relevance to so much that goes on these days.

With regard to stamps, I only remember more local shops, higher prices, and inaccessible information (going back to the 70's). In my past, there were fewer options than there are today, particularly with respect to auctions and information, both of which are easily available online. Those were the "glory days" I knew - that is, they didn't exist for me.

However, after reading Herst's book, I can see there were some exciting opportunities for stamp collectors in the first half of the 20th century. But the same can be said for other relatively new enterprises that arose in the distant past. (Read "Where Are The Customer's Yachts?" for similar reminiscences of Wall Street.)

We are in the midst of the "glory days" for many things. Many of them are the very things that stamp collectors believe are distracting young folks away from this hobby. Reflect on and learn from the glory days of the past and revel in those of today.

As you say, it may have been the glory days for dealers, but collectors have a lot more options now.