The Art Of Marketing A Stamp Shop

I was going through ebay and one seller had a picture of their shop and got my thinking. There is just something that is drab about "Stamp Shop" in this time that seems dated by just seeing it. This is the age of makeovers and calling something new.

Now, I do not expect a lot of walk in business like window shoppers but nothing special in the windows, etc.

New and old antiquities!



Just a random thought....

I've never seen great window displays in stamp and coin shops. There are a couple of reasons why:

1. You can't leave inventory in the window overnight. Too likely someone will break the window and steel the coins.

2. You can't display stamps in the window. a week in the sun will destroy them.

So any kind of inventory display will require, at a minimum, a daily complete rebuilding of the window display. No retailer has that kind of time.

Next, window displays work best with large items. stamps and coins can't be seen unless you are right up against the window.

And let's face it, that sign board on the sidewalk is enough to get both of us to walk in and check them out.

Joe

You could just pay an art or design student a few quid to do a new window display for you once a month. Something fun, with a few examples of stock dotted around within it. That bloke's sign on the pavement is more likely to make me walk into a passing car while avoiding it!

It would be more than that in the US, I'm afraid, unless the artist takes stamps in part payment. There's also major artistic differences between a young artist and a much older shop owner and customers, and the fact the display is physical and not virtual. Throw in cost of materials and I think the money would be better spent on advertising pointed at collectors specifically.

We know what "stamp shop" means but the general public doesn't. I remember one dealer who sold rubber stamps on the side because enough people came into his shop asking for them.

The shop owner here does realize that something is needed to attract the eye, but beer signs and what looks to be a Coca Cola tray? In most cases, I would recommend the stamp shop of today (as if they'd listen to me) to get office space (much cheaper than street-level shop space, usually) and aside from second-hand display cases (much cheaper and very available), buy new furniture and furnishings vs. mismatched secondhand junk.

Now coin-only or stamp & coin shops probably need to be on the street, since "we buy and sell GOLD" grabs the general public more than just stamps.

A stamp shop owner is going to try and focus on existing collectors, i.e. people he knows will actually buy stamps. Collectors tend to be older and more reserved, and he'd probably be leery about turning off the very people he wants in his store the most. Yes, some kind of glitzy display might attract the occasional curiosity-seeker and sure, some of them may go on to be collectors themselves someday. All the same, any stamp shop owner is going to take 1 serious collector in his shop over 100 curiosity-seekers any day. Note that I am NOT arguing against trying to attract the curious, just trying to look at it from the store owner's perspective. He could probably be a little more creative than just "stamp shop", of course, but I doubt such shops will ever be anywhere near the forefront of modern marketing.

Here is a stamp shop in Paris.Well known expert and dealer.

The stamp shops around Rue Drouot look pretty good to me, although I'm not sure how often most of them open. There's also that one in the Palais-Royal, which must have the best setting of all.

The French seem to have a genetic advantage in retail displays, at least in central Paris. They simply do almost all of them beautifully with attention and care. The original post's example ... not so much.

Danièle Dutertre,Paris. the photo isn't great.

I would not propose putting inventory in windows, etc. since it may encourage smash and gran ad many other negatives. However, some decoration maybe such as poster size stamp images, etc. may be different. Maybe some slogan like "We sell the world" or other minimal effort. We evaluate inherited collection!

I have been in stamp stores that look drab and you wonder if they ever sell anything. Now I cannot see what is inside this particular one to judge that. I just happened to see a picture and wondering and how presentation may be important.

If the answer is I know my customers and they do not care then that is another approach that likely will not help new business.

save the rent, ditch the shop and invest in an easy to navigate, user friendly online store and secure payment portal!
A global marketplace awaits you, not just local, advertise in specialist magazines and at fairs too!

In today's world, I would think the average Joe and Jane upon seeing the words "Stamp Shop" would assume the store sells stamps used to apply ink to paper. It's apparently a fairly popular hobby- just google the word stamps to see what I mean.

The image below is of a philatelic shop a few hours from me, though admittedly I've only been there twice. He's a serious philatelist with a surprisingly large and varied stock plus a strong online presence. I love the idea of the large-sized stamps reproductions to help merchandise what they do for a living, though the rest of the design seems uninspired.

I really like the look of the Treasure Coast Stamp shop... where is it?

Fort Pierce Fl.

Max Stern in Melbourne puts colour photocopies of their stock in the windows. Looks brilliant. The shop is in an arcade so has that old-time feel to it although it will soon be demolished to make way for the new railway system in Melbourne - another philatelic icon gone.

Hi

Who also remembers the Nassau Street (New York) stamp shops in the late 1940's and 1950's? Also the subway arcade shops, i.e; Subway Stamp Shop (whence it got its name).

Jerry B