Boston 2026 World Expo

Yes, $4000 booths, but the range of $12,000-$15,000 as noted above, "stamp dealers are paying table fees and expenses" is still accurate. Those expenses add up quickly and for some are prohibitive even if the table fee was $4/day.

I'm in the same collecting boat as you, budget-wise, but I disagree; Boston 2026 just isn't aimed squarely at us, but at the higher end of the hobby.

And that's fine with me. Plenty of other shows to suit us BBBs. Not every show needs to be (or should be) aimed at the same stratum of collector.

Is it expensive? Yes. Does it price out some dealers that I wish were there? Yes. Is that a problem? No, at least not if there are sufficient numbers of 'high rollers' to make the show economically viable for all involved.

The real question is if the show needs BBBs to be viable. If yes, then they've made a mistake. If not, I'll save the bulk of my collecting dollars (or pennies, in a relative sense) for next year's GASS.

It's possible to stay all 8 days close by for less than $2000 if one looks for it, so a dealer with a $4000 booth could still spend far less than $12-$15 thousand. No doubt that it is an expensive show, and that Internationals always cater to the higher end of the hobby, but for sure not every dealer is high end. I understand if it's too much for many collectors, but it's not as though the earlier Internationals were so cheap to go to either.

Don't forget transportation to and from, especially with stock that needs to be driven to the venue.

That is not going to run many thousands of dollars. No one is likely to be driving that long a distance. A few hundred, very likely. Possibly even $1,000. Still should be well under the figures quoted earlier; I know of a few dealers who will be there who will have lower end material as well as the more expensive types. It will be costly, but the level of doom and gloom about this show is amazing........

My wife and I decided not to go, just because it made no sense. Could we afford it? Sure. We figured out that it will cost about $3500 including coast-to-coast airfare, hotels, food, rental car, etc. Were we going to go to the show and spend $3500 or more on stamps? Almost certainly not. Could we find any stamps that we might want online? Absolutely we could. Therefore, it made no sense to go. If it was closer, we'd probably go, but the math just doesn't math. We're collectors only. We go to bourses to buy. We don't care about anything else. So we're staying home.

$3500 would be about 87,000 regular stamp mounts at last years prices.

I watched the APS/APRL board meeting yesterday and there was update on the show. The floor plan was about 1/4 dealers and the rest was divided into walled regions (Europe, Asia, etc.) for exhibits and postal organizations. There was a large area dedicated to beginner (young and old).

At the risk of being labeled Negative Nancy and a Debby Downer, I think the very large non-sales area dedicated to beginners is counterintuitive. In my mind the only beginners that are coming to the show are local which obviously limits the number. Most beginners to any hobby aren't going to drop serious coin to travel to and lodge/eat at a show when they either aren't yet 100% hobby committed or if they are committed don't have the inclination to spend more on the show than their annual hobby budget for the actual collectibles and supplies. Forget about bringing along a child or three. Not going to happen unless your private jet is underutilized.

Again, these shows IMO are dinosaurs in 2026.

And what happened to all of the Green warriors and the existential climate threat. Think of all of the carbon involved in the plane, train and automobile traffic these shows require. Come on man.

If the show can cover the costs, then there is nothing wrong with the show. It just appeals to a certain group in organized philately. They expect to cover all costs. The projected income is $4.1 mil with expenses totaling $3.7 Mil. They have covered all the minimum nights booked so no risk there.

I agree that I doubt the beginner area will be successful in terms of getting a lot of new collectors. The overview seemed impressive though.

APS is offering a 25% membership discount at the show. These recruiting actions should not only be at this kind of show. They may be more successful at getting existing collectors to join.

Agree with you Angore.

PS: If you are in the greater Boston area and want a beginner experience for someone year-round check out the Spellman.

Sorry folks ,the hobby doesn't survive due to the purchasing power of the beginner who exceeds his $25.00 annual spending budget . It doesn't also survive because that fat whale who fly's in to purchase his one stamp for $10,000 which comes with 3 expert cert's ,then takes the stamp moves from one owners bank safety deposit box to his safety deposit box .

We survive because of the B.B.B. who purchases dozens of lots per year .It is people who like the customers of A & D Stamps with their half a million red boxes . People who work for a living who spend their $1,000 a year and see it is possible to spend a hundred dollars to travel and stay over night to visit a major show . These are people who can't see spending $300.00 for a hotel room , then $30.00 for breakfest and another $30.00 for a hamburger after spending $40.00 to park a car each day . Sorry this show lost these people .

We lost the collector who likes to see rare stamps and builds his collection with out giving a pint of blood .

Actually, all three have their part in the hobby, and help it to survive. Clearly with different percentages, but all are important.

Yes, the cost is certainly a factor, but I wonder how much of a factor the parts that keep getting removed from this thread will be. I wonder how many collectors will use the first but really mean the second.

The International comes but once a decade and receives some amount of mainstream promotion, viz., the USPS stamp released last year. Had a couple non-collectors ping me when they saw those sheets for sale at the post office to see if I was planning on going. I said I was and that they should join!

So I think the beginners area is probably better thought of as catering to the completely new, rather than those who are already interested and just starting out. As you said, the Spellman is superb and is better suited for that task. Rather, the goal here is to take advantage of the (relative) higher profile of the show and try and get complete newcomers in the door.

These are the folks who would probably never have come by the Spellman (if they were so inclined, they would have by now). But I agree that virtually all of the people who fall into this newcomer-to-the-hobby category will be local.

Not new information. Those areas are covered under a different section of floor plan schematics posted on the website. Been part of the plan for a long time. See: https://web.cvent.com/event/bbbdc1d...1984db965ae3

Edited to add:

Note, rogdcam, school children, local ones, will be bused in to the show.



Of which a large portion is from donations. Also show income stays the same even if no dealer sells a $1.00 worth of stamps.