Finding The Right Society To Join

I focus more modern US and my favorites for useful information is PNC3 and USSS mainly because of their information available through the web (self-serve).

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Moderator's Note:
Plate Number Coil Collectors Club (PNC3) [https://www.pnc3.org]
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I am a member of both PNC3 and of the USSS.

Peter

As a strictly U.S. collector, with an emphasis on 20th Century, I belong to:

American Philatelic Society. As kirks said, this is my "general" philatelic group.

United States Stamp Society. This group is dedicated to U.S. stamps, so it's a must for U.S. collectors once they get beyond the album pages. They do have a great journal, too.

United Postal Stationery Society. One area I really like chasing is the Postal Stationery, so this society is a great choice for that. It is not a strictly U.S. organization, so anyone who is looking at Postal Stationery might want to consider them. They have an outstanding journal.

Precancel Stamp Society. As a collector of these, the society is a wealth of information with a nice little journal.

Postal History Society. This group doesn't seem to do much except for their journal. I'm not sure what's going on with them, though, as I just received the June issue of the Journal yesterday (10/12). This is the only one I'm considering dropping.

American Philatelic Congress. The only reason for this is the outstanding book which is issued after the APS StampShow each year. The books have detailed articles, written by invitation only. That's the only correspondence I receive from them.


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Moderator's Note:
United Postal Stationery Society (UPSS) [http://www.upss.org]
Precancel Stamp Society (PSS) [http://www.precancels.com]
Postal History Society [http://www.postalhistorysociety.org]
American Philatelic Congress [http://www.americanphilateliccongress.org]
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By far the USSS.

I look forward to their publication, The Specialist, every month.

Members have access to the digital archives of The Specialist, that span 70 years of US stamp articles. It's searchable and a treasure trove of information for collectors.

My only must-have is USPCS. I also belong to APS, but if given a choice of only one society to belong to I would drop it. I used to belong to USSS but found my interests moving away from this area so I dropped it. I also used to belong to the Collector's Club of New York (which has a very good journal), but it was too expensive.

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Moderator's Note:
Collectors Club [http://www.collectorsclub.org]
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Base society: APS

Specialist societies:

International Society for Portuguese Philately: http://portugalstamps.com Thinking of joining Portuguese Philatelic Society http://pps-uk.net
Mexico Elmhurst Philatelic Society International http://mepsi.org
Polonus Philatelic Society (for Poland) http://polonus.org
British North America Philatelic Society (for an occasional passing interest in Newfoundland -- I belong also to the Newfoundland study group)

I rejoined the BNAPS last year, one reason being I wanted to have access to their sales division. I then ran into too many hoops to jump through. It seems oriented to Canadian members, they wont accept PayPal, you have to send the administrator a check for purchases in Canadian funds and that adds two weeks- for me- to the process- it takes that long currently for mail from Canada to reach me. It's a fine society with many benefits, I will probably renew. It does seem inconvenient at times for those of us this side of the border.

I'm a life member of the APS, and the US Philatelic Classics Society.

I enjoy the APS for the monthly magazine, and the Classics society, since my primary focus has always been early US.

Years back, for many years, I belonged to and/or supported:
Collectors Club of NY
Postal History Society
American Philatelic Congress
BIA -> now USSS
CSA - Confederate Stamp Alliance
and a few others

When I became less active, I dropped those memberships, because it was just too much to keep up with. I really enjoyed all of them, however. Each society does bring a lot to the table. More so - if its what your primary focus is.

I am a member of SCF.
Don

I consider SCF my local stamp club.

Ditto that.

I do belong to APS, AFDCS and AAMS.

I'm thinking about joining USSS to gain access to their digital collection of back issues.

Basil

I belong to the three local stamp clubs within a 25mi radius of my home, plus the following:
United States Stamp Society (USSS) [http://www.usstamps.org]
THE PREXIE ERA COMMITTEE https://www.prexie-era.org/
U.S. Philatelic Classics Society (USPCS) [https://www.uspcs.org]
Precancel Stamp Society (PSS) [http://www.precancels.com]
The International Machine Cancel Society (MCS) http://www.machinecancel.org/
The Pennsylvania Postal History Society (http://paphs.org/)

And a previous member of the following when I exhibited, which are all excellent groups:
ISJP: International Society of Japanese Philately http://isjp.org/
BSJP: British Society for Japanese Philately http://japanphilatelicsociety.co.uk/
KSS: Korea Stamp Society http://pennfamily.org
CSS: China Stamp Society http://chinastampsociety.org/
APS: American Philatelic Society http://stamps.org/
APRL: American Philatelic Research Library http://stamplibrary.org/
PHS: Postal History Society http://postalhistorysociety.org/
UPSS: The United Postal Stationery Society http://upss.org
PF: Philatelic Foundation http://philatelicfoundation.org/
JPS: Japan Philatelic Society: http://yushu.or.jp/english/
American Philatelic Congress

I am member of APS and as already posted will not renew as I am not from the US and cannot benefit from all its programs etc.
I am a member of Royal Philatelic Society of Canada and I like it, being a good Canadian. BNAPS is of interest and will join soon. As for other Societies, SCF is my # 1 - amongst friends from all over the World !

There are lots of good reasons for becoming a member of your National Philatelic Society whether it be the American Philatelic Society or the Royal Philatelic Society of Canada. In many cases it is sufficient to be a member within your own country as many services are interrupted by the international border (circuit books and insurance to name two).

Beyond the national society, members who specialize should become members of the specialist society. For example, if specializing in Canadian stamps and/or postal history one should give full consideration to a membership in the British North American Philatelic Society (BNAPS), the Postal History Society of Canada (PHSC) and the Canadian Philatelic Society of Great Britain (CPSGB). Each of these societies offers something that will enhance the collecting experience. I am sure that similar opportunities for specialist societies are available around the globe.

Virtual stamp clubs such as SCF are fine, but there is nothing that matches the face-to-face contact with other collectors that is available when joining a local or community stamp club. Don't sit at home hugging your stamps in the privacy of your den - get out there and mix and communicate with the real world of stamp collecting.

There is more to stamp collecting than simply collecting stamps.

GJP

That's great for those who can travel, but note that some of us cannot (or takes an act of God to arrange the required medical care like dialysis). Our hobby has a substantial number of older adults.
Don