Stamp Collecting's Defiant Last Stand

In my opinion 'trolling for suckers' is distasteful and not a good reflection on our hobby. That said, and as long as the listing does not misidentify the stamp or its condition I support anyone asking what they want for their material.

I have, on occasion, listed an item that I really did not want to sell (but to keep the marital bliss was the right thing to do!). On these rare occasions I use a starting price that is above typical market value.

But I support capitalism and allowing the marketplace to naturally reject silly asking prices. For our hobby, the low hanging fruit here is the large amounts of fraudulent mis-identified and incorrectly described stamps and covers.
Don

I have to agree with some of the posters on here and that there may be some openness from the hipster/vintage community. I went to a large local indie craft fair the past few years (you know the ones with homemade witty baby t shirts, woodblock prints, beer bottle everything). At these fairs, I always noticed a few tables selling vintage postage cards as well as whole booths set up with vintage postal stationary and old postage. Now this stuff was way overpriced in terms of stamp collecting, but they were targeting the young hip crowd who do like to write their communications especially for traditional items like wedding invites and thank you notes. It was kind of cool to see old airmail envelopes and stuff out for sale.

Just weighing in as a lifelong collector now in my late 20s.

If we think of the hobby as it existed throughout much of the 20th century, then yes, it is dying out. It's no longer a mainstream activity enjoyed by millions of young people; rather, it's an esoteric, slightly eccentric hobby to adopt (if you're my age, at least). Definitely not anything you'd want to bring up on a first date! I agree with previous posters - there will be a slight upsurge as the folks who collected in their younger days retire and now have the time and disposable income to pursue the hobby, but once they're gone, that's it.

The flip side of this, of course - and this too has been noted here already - is that the impending drop in prices for all but the rarest material means that a relatively small but active group of younger collectors will benefit from greater affordability.

Myself, I'm the only person I've encountered under the age of 50 who collects. Part of the issue is that people just don't encounter stamps on mail anymore, and rarely use them to pay bills, write letters, and so on, so there's much less exposure.

Millenials also tend to prioritize experiences over possessions and spend their money and time accordingly. So yes, hipsters and the like might pick up a few vintage letters because they look cool, but they probably won't possess the collecting mindset - which, as we all know, is never satisfied with having just a few!

I've been a coin collector for a long time, and recently started collecting stamps about 5 years ago. Coin collecting was also thought to be a dying hobby until the US Mint started the State Quarter Program back in 1999. Since then, they have come out with other commemorative coin programs. Our local coin club saw an increase in membership when these programs started rolling out. Young families joining with their kids. There is always a kids drawing / program at the monthly meetings. These families still belong. What started out as casual collectors searching their pocket change for quarters have expanded to collecting the older classic coins of the early 20th century.

What I'm getting at is that several local stamp clubs I contacted when I first started collecting consisted of only half a dozen of older people, and nothing aimed toward youth at their meetings. Had they done so, I would have had my kids join. Even in my mid-40's, I was a "youngster" compared to the other 7 members. Also, I recall years ago that the USPS issued small topical booklets For some reason I remember my brother having booklets during the Bicentennial, and booklets with flowers, birds, etc. I think these were available at the local PO just for the taking. This was in the 1970's.....pre-Internet days. I know we didn't buy or mail order any of these booklets. Perhaps if the USPS would again issue some sort of small topical/ theme booklet that was available at all Post Offices for the taking, then maybe some interest in stamp collecting may be gained. I know that the APS has topical books for download on their website, but that is good only if someone were searching for it. If something was sitting at the counter / kiosk of the Post Office, someone who may have had no thought in collecting stamps, may be curious enough to grab a booklet and consider it. As was mentioned in a previous comment, exposure to stamps on our daily mail is very rare with most mail being metered. Since coins are always in front of us daily, there has to be a way to expose people to stamps, too, without charging them to do so.

Maybe the fiture is not as bleak as I tend to think. Maybe nnot as good as others think. Maybe it is somewhere in between. But I do think a generation has been lost and that we must need to take notice of what other hobbies are doing. I think that the above comment about American quarters and Coin collecting is right. And I think that the same can be said of the Euro coins. I find that about 20per cent of Euro coins in my change at any one time are German, Spanish, Portuguese etc. I found my first coin from Malta a few days ago. And I tend to keep such coins even though I am not a committed collector.
Likewise I think PostCrossing has given a boost to postcard collecting and indirectly to stamp collecting. In fact later this year, Ireland will be issuing a PostCrossing stamp.
There are certainly times when hobbyists can co-operate more.

Same here. But there's really no choice in the matter, is there? Unless we're going to create a regulatory body with the Stamp Police enforcing prices, there's nothing any of us can do but sit back and watch (and complain, as the case may be).

The Stamp Police: "All your stamps are belong to us."