So They Tell Me The Stamp Market Is Crashing?

Revcollector,

You are absolutely correct that I may enjoy a show immensely and enjoy interacting face to face with "people"

I'm not saying I would never go to a show, but I don't need to go to a club or show to enjoy this hobby.

I don't mean to sound aloof or snobbish. I'm not suggesting I'm antisocial. I just felt that I was s good example of the "internet" collector who derives almost all his pleasure of this hobby online.

As Stallzer so eloquently expressed that we can interact in a virtual world with other collectors and get advice everyday from knowledgeable hobbyists without waiting for the monthly local show or Tuesday night stamp club meeting. That pretty much sums it up for me, an "internet collector"

I am an internet collector for the most part. I do not see stamp collecting as a team sport but rather the opposite. A warm house, snow falling outside, fireplace crackling and my German Shephards at my feet. Absorbed in what I am doing and thouroughly happy with zero input from other humans. Ahhhhhhh

stampman,

Latch-key Generation Xers like me shouldn't worry you. It's the millennials that are truly scary.

My children will graduate high school in next few years and never have read or opened a newspaper. This is not a joke. They don't even know the name of a newspaper.

My kids have no textbooks, they do homework online, they ask "Alexa" the answers to their homework questions. Why use pen and paper or even a calculator when you can ask "Alexa" what .08 times 5600 equals?

I'm getting off topic but just suggesting that the answer to your questions and worries is right in front of us. Virtual internet stamp clubs and forums!

I have to agree with rgstamp. For those of us in our 30s and 40s (I am 46) I think internet fora like Stamp Community have replaced the traditional stamp club as the main venue for socializing with other collectors.

I live in Columbus, and we have 2 very active stamp clubs. I would love to go to meetings, but my job requires me to be at work at 5AM so evening socializing is pretty much out. With internet fora it's like a stamp club meeting that is always going, 24/7, so I can socialize with fellow collectors online any time I have some free time. Same with buying stamps, I can go online when I have some free time and comparison shop from numerous dealers all at once rather than be limited to the operational hours of a brick & mortar retailer.

The hobby is not dying, I see too many people my age on fora, and so many collectors from areas like South Asia and China that until recently has not been philatelic "hot spots" to suggest that the hobby is on its last legs. Rather, as rgstamp suggested, the hobby is transforming as a new internet-based generation of collectors, more global in representation/ is replacing the older socializing and shopping models that characterized the hobby for previous generations.

The internet has made it possible to tap into the knowledge of an amazing group of philatelists such as are on this forum. Specialists of all types. People with decades of experience. Sitting in the same room is a cool social experience but lets face it, it is going the way of the dinasaur.
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Fora/Forums. I had to look it up. Lot of this going on here lately.
Fora is the plural of forums.
A more extreme viewpoint.
http://www.mediacollege.com/interne...vs-fora.html

Redwoodandy I took Latin as my foreign language requirement when I was in high school in the late 80s in NY State, and I still tend to use Latin plurals with English words derived directly from Latin. That's what having a great teacher will do to you. (and to clarify, I went to a public school, not private or religious. NY in the 1980s had a very good public education system)

The Alexa analogy is a message for those traditional groups that want to cling on the more traditional methods (shows with dealers, exhibits, etc) and less on Internet inclusion. They fear it.

Yes, some specialists think some of us less experienced need to learn the hard way (spend hours doing research) and some intentionally take valuable knowledge to the grave.

The younger set is a multi-media generation so if you want to attract them it usually needs an audio/video component and not have sit down to read an extensive article. They will watch a long video but not always read something in depth. I consider myself on the cusp generation where the idea of wearing a suit is not my idea of enjoyment especially to some award ceremony that feels pompous and elitist.

Multi-media generation or not, if one is going to get SERIOUS about a particular collecting area, then sitting down with the appropriate literature is a must, as is talking with the older generations who have studied it before you. Whether you read them online or in book form is immaterial, but you will have to read them. If you plan to remain a more casual collector then it won't matter that much. But knowledge requires SEEING actual stamps in large quantities. Scans are valuable, but they cannot replace seeing the real things.

I think you do touch on a point about specialists and if they may be a diminishing breed. I do not know if there as many intermediate collectors becoming specialists. My response was more about attracting new people to the hobby and especially to join societies, etc.

What does serving in the military and the hobby have in common? I served in the military, and proudly I might ad 4 years in the USMC, this had no impact on me being a collector, I enjoy the hobby because it tells the history of our great nation, be it a graded 98 or just a space filler, I have really no preference, guess that puts me in category 3. And I'm fine there.

Local stamp clubs can offer several things not found on the internet. For one, under the laws of many US states (I can only speak for California), member-to-member sales via silent auction or live auction are free of sales tax. In our club, they are also free of buyer's commission. So buying at auction in my local club I am getting a 10% to 20% discount off other sources, provided prices are competitive.

Next, my local club has introduced me to a number of collector-dealers with material that interests me. I've spent several evenings at their dining tables reviewing and buying material direct from them. I get trust, fair pricing and immediate gratification.

And, we have immediate access (or at least twice a month, when our meetings are held) to members with specialized knowledge in different areas. We have one person who is an EFO chaser; another is a playing card revenue/taxpaid expert; a third knows early GB inside and out; a fourth specializes in Straits Settlements; and onward. When unknown areas crop up in auction lots it's pretty easy to find someone who knows the material and you can talk to them live.

Further, I believe that clubs can offer better access to information in some cases. When presentations or other programs are held with a knowledgeable or expert speaker, you have real-time Q&A.

We have members age 20 to 95, able-bodied and disabled, men and women.

Clubs do have something to offer beyond the internet.

Here is the "state of the market" according to the NobleSpirit newsletter (recognizing of course they would want the market to be growing vigorously):

NobleSpirit Traffic Analytics on ebay

Aug 20, 2017 - Sept 18, 2017 = 9,626,095 Listing Impressions
June 20, 2017 - Sept 18, 2017 = 29,974,783 Listing Impressions (3 months)
Jan 20, 2017 - Sept 18, 2017 = 956,875,520 Listing Impressions (9 months)
A listing impression occurs when a live query is executed by a viewer.

Aug 20, 2017 - Sept 18, 2017 = 204,671 Page Views
June 20, 2017 - Sept 18, 2017 = 615, 513 Page Views
Jan 20, 2017 - Sept 18, 2017 = 1,943,792 Page Views
Page views of specific NobleSpirit listed items

Our statistics also tell us that compared to a year ago, while the market is up 8.3%, NobleSpirit is up 123% on ebay.

At these benchmark levels, it is safe to assume the stamp market itself is engaged at stratospheric heights never before seen in traditional stamp market venues. Essentially, the physical land based constraints have been eradicated by the internet and augmented by a global sphere without borders.

Oldguy - your last sentence hits the nail on the head. I am in the US but I can go to a site like Delcampe and easily purchase items from dealers around the world, often at costs lower than from US dealers even when factoring shipping costs.

Philately is now conducted on a global basis, and the days of nation-based collector provincialism are gone. Much like the rest of our economic and cultural life. Some may not like the changes and might prefer to go back to the "good old days" of how the hobby was institutionalized, but like all reactionary movements they eventually are made irrelvant by the march of time and technology.