Future Of Scott Album Accessories?

Indeed it does. I have a similar "addendum" album for extra material from the Gibbons Ideal fast-bound albums covering the period to 1936, mixed with stock-pages.

I do not see how they can stay in business. A significant number of basic items (mounts, Vario pages, etc) are listed on backorder. What do they expect to change since I do not believe it is a supply chain issue? Sellers like Wizard seem to be well stocked on mounts including Prinz brand. If it was something like cash flow, it would take an influx of capital since sales are not doing to do it if they do not have much in stock.

I think the problem is more with their website rather than their business model and how they just blanket mark everything as "on backorder" instead of explaining that they refill their stock in batches and then fill orders as they can. That's just my speculation, but I think that's what's going on.

My experience has been that if you go ahead and order something "on backorder", you'll get it in five to six weeks.

For a market that is very small as the buyers of stamp collecting supplies is becoming (has become) I don't think that is an unreasonable business model.

But they definitely could do a better job of explaining what's going on.

It's a ridiculous business model. Sure, you don't have cash going out for product, but you don't have cash coming in either. Meantime some (many?) customers go elsewhere to get their goods and maybe never look back.

It seems like Amos has exited the business without saying so outright. They sold the catalogs. That was the only real IP they had. And the only thing that makes their album pages "special" is how they managed to convince people that they have a lock on numbers starting at 1. That is both admirable and laughable at the same time. I have tried to get the rights to the letters A through Z for decades with no success.

My comment was their general supply business. You do not see complaints about the other supply houses.

When I order mounts, I order multiple sizes and expect them to ship promptly. I want a supplier that has all in stock. I stopped doing business with Subway years ago because they never had everything in stock and their shipping costs were higher than competition.

One proposal would be to focus on fewer SKU's to reduce carrying costs so they could have those in stock.

It is a poorly run company. The website search is barely functional. Basic bread and butter items like binders and slip cases are not in stock. Decisions at the top to discontinue some countries for the speciality series are all mistakes. The only reason it survives is because of network effects where you need them if you have Scott albums.

The result is that there are many ebay auctions that go higher than they should. Scott's pages are now collectible for some discontinued countries.

The question is if anyone would step in and purchase the album business (Scott, Minkus, etc) if it was for sale.

That would depend upon what their books look like when they open them to potential buyers and I can't imagine it is a pretty picture. If it was a profitable enterprise they would be fully stocked.

Besides, do you know how to tell if something is in demand? The Chinese knock it off and they have not done that with Scott.

Amos binder update. I looked yesterday and the small 3-ring specialty binder was listed as in stock. I ordered one, and it shipped today.
All the other binders are still listed as backordered. The large specialty slipcase is in stock, but not the small one.
Can't tell whether something came in or they found something in the janitor's closet :-)

Lighthouse sources their Vario binders from China. There are a similar types on Amazon such as this one. I have no idea about quality but I do not consider the Vario G binders great either with its simple ring mechanism. These binder have a market with other collectibles.

But who would want "MINGT" on the spine of the binder? I have seen some positive reviews of the Mudor stock pages.

The Vario 'G' binders are too big, imo. If you've ever had one, you'll understand what I mean when I say the weight of the Vario sheets is too much for these binders to handle when full. I'm happy with the Vario 'F' binders, which are shorter and hold about half as many pages, and come in several colors.

Brian

I have many Vario G and like the size - not too small, not too big. Now, I collect worldwide and do not dedicate a country to a binder.

Who on earth would anyone buy the Chinese binder knockoffs. Chances are that at least the raw materials used are the worst. The MUDOR stock pages say that they are "archival". Sure they are.

You can get high quality products out of China - been there, done it.

Lighthouse Vario G binders are made in China.