Philatelic Foundation Database And Submission Research

What an offal response. You try to help people …

Because it's my job to know. I'm a head teacher / disciplinarian who sat on the board of education in my previous district.
Observing patterns and providing solutions is what I do. It's not terribly difficult, as most problems generally come from 2-3 deep seeded characteristics that are left unexamined. This is why people are so often quick to accuse rather than thinking they may be part of the problem.

If the PF was like any other grading company there wouldn't be an issue.
But since they're putting on the mantle of "educator" while not actually educating anybody it becomes a huge problem.
An educator holds a genuine 'authority' in that people automatically put them in high regard. This gives them an advantage over other grading companies, and there is also a financial incentive from the government to do so.

Because they're holding both of these titles it is their actual duty to educate people to the best of their ability.... and when everyone becomes complacent with the bare minimum it is not good for the hobby.

But it could be INCREDIBLE for the hobby if done in a different way.

Here are a few ideas I typed up a while back in hopes that they would acknowledge it:

Get someone like Don to provide a system that gives hobbyists what they want, and not just make them settle.
They've starting off right, but I feel like they're stuck in the starting phase.

Have 2 different databases: Certification Database and the General Information & Pricing Database. The latter is where you would enter in the Scott # which takes you to a page that shows:

1) Front picture of the stamp
2) Basic Info
3) Variety List
4) Submission Cost

As for 1-3, it should look very similar to Stampsmarter's general Database, as it is by far the clearest, most consistent, and easiest to gather information from in comparison to all else. It is actually a Golden Standard.

They can tweak it by bridging in their expertization service and evolving their business model to one that is transparent, and the expectations of the customer are fully met.

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The "Variety List":

.... does not have to represent all potential varieties a stamp MAY have, but only the varieties that the PF would indeed be searching for during expertization. There will always be controversies between the experts as to what "is" or "isn't" valid, so the PF should make clear what they themselves are willing to validate.

ALL varieties listed in their database will be listed on the certificate as well, but only if the submitter chooses to pay extra for this attribution.
If one of the varieties becomes acknowledged, it will be highlighted on the certificate.
If a variety is not acknowledged, the list will still remain on the certificate but with nothing highlighted.
This solves 2 problems:
1) anyone viewing the certificate years from now will know that varieties were looked for.
2) They will also know specifically which ones were looked for, and that the "said variety" was indeed recognized/accounted for at that time of certification.

The general database can be updated if they choose to add or detract anything, and because the certs are printed directly from the database, anyone viewing the certificate could choose to resubmit according to any changes shown on the site.
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If varieties are *not* chosen by the submitter, the certificate will be more general and basically acknowledge the authenticity of stamp without any varieties listed.
This lack of information here will still be useful for research purposes, because we will know it was a basic submission, and the potentiality for a variety still exists.

Now, if a stamp is sent in with the wrong Scott #, (and therefore the wrong payment), they would bear the right to hold the stamp for ** days until the rest of the payment is sent in with an additional 7% handling fee.
If the general stage expertization happens in submitter's favor, they will be more than willing to send in the additional funds.
If not, the PF could sell all such stamps on their site, similar to what we see happening with police auctions.

The beautiful part about all of this is that it doesn't have to be a risky maneuver. They can choose to slowly implement it through donations or specialists offering their services.
If they posted this type of ambitious intent on their site, I would be more than willing to donate.

Stephen - Start your own expertizing service.

Roger - Do you work for the PF?
Surely someone working there sees these forums.

LOL! No, I don't work for the PF.

I just think that they run things the way they run things. There is little doubt that their focus is expertizing philatelic material and not business in the traditional sense. They are a nonprofit and do a good job at not making a profit based upon their financial statements. Their leadership may suffer from a common ailment amongst philatelic organizations and that is old age. Also, they do not employ many people (at all) and so I doubt they are about to reinvent the wheel at this juncture. They are the gold standard for expertizing US material due to their experts, reference collection and the technology they employ.

Not sure if you know about this group but there is a LOT to be learned from them.

https://www.analyticalphilately.org/

I know for a fact that people there do see the forum from time to time.

I apologize for the late comment.

Roger- Thank you for that assessment and the website.
You are probably correct. I wish they could see that if they are accepting donations then surely they will accept them in the form of services, as there are capable people like Don who can build functioning databases. And I'd imagine he'd do it for free because of his obvious passion for it.

I never like using the excuse of being "old or young", because stubbornness is still a choice rather than a requirement for becoming old.

One of the most beautiful sights in this world is when an elderly man with tons of experience is smiling because he learned something new.
I've known many like this, and these are the type that stay hungry and young-at-heart despite their many years.