Is stamp collecting(philately) dying out ?

Answer 1

Hi. I'm a coin & collectibles dealer in the Midwestern US who used to sell stamps for about 10 years. Obviously, I can't comment on every aspect of the stamp collecting market all over the world, but I can tell you what I know based on my personal experience as a dealer and collector.

In my opinion, philately might indeed be dying as a hobby, at least to an extent, and here's why. The average age of active collectors is getting higher and higher, stamp clubs and societies are seeing fewer young collectors entering the hobby, and those yongsters that do, soon get bored with it and don't stick with it very long. The problem is that young people have too many other options right now that weren't available to them in the past...video games, the Internet, and flashy marketing of other fad "collectibles" like Pokemon, Yu-gi-oh, etc. that make stamp collecting seem very tame by comparison, because it's not as stimulating. Thus, when new hobbyists either aren't coming in, and the old hobbyists die off, the hobby declines.

The local stamp club in my city has about 30 members, of whom maybe 4 or 5 are under the age of 60....and only perhaps 10-12 members even attend regularly. Although some kids occasionally attend, they seldom come to more than one or two meetings because each meeting is basically the same and ends with a swap meet where the old guys are all trying to sell off their same old lame stuff that they've brought to the last 20 meetings. It's totally boring, especially for a kid.

From a market standpoint, stamps don't sell anywhere near as well as they did 10-20 years ago. The rare issues will still bring decent money, but let's be real...how many people have a lot of single stamps worth $1000 plus in their collection? Answer: very few. Otherwise, unless you have something a particular specialist wants, the rest of it is hard, if not impossible to sell unless you are willing to give it away. You can throw "catalog values" out the window; for common stuff you'll be lucky to get 10%-30% of catalog value and the buyer will be picky even at that price. I personally have a collection of plate blocks, and frankly, with only 2 or 3 exceptions, I might as well use the rest for postage...if I try to spin them off to another dealer I'd be lucky to get 70%-80% of face value....and they will be picky about quality even at that! Can you say "waste of time"? People who collect first day covers for the most part might as well use them for kindling; unless you have something early and rare, you won't even get an offer.

Yes, there are stamps and covers being sold on ebay, but if you compare the numbers with catalog values, you'll see that nothing's exactly setting any records. The only things bringing decent money are rarities, specialty stamps or covers, and large lots where someone thinks they'll find buried treasure (and they won't).

In our store, our main stamp business used to be in the supplies...albums, supplements, stamp mounts, etc. but that dwindled after a while. We would be carryig severla grand in inventory and it would sit there...and the occasional stamp collector would come in and then complain that he could get a $3 pack of mounts 10% cheaper through the mail or online, but didn't want to wait to get it in the mail or pay shipping. Or, they'd come in with a 6 month old yellowed clipping from one of the stamp newspapers saying he could save 50 cents on this or a quarter on that. They had absolutely no respect for our time, overhead, or investment. When those guys started coming in, we decided to get out of the stamp biz altogether.

There used to be 3 full-line stamp dealers in our town...we were the last one. Now there's nobody.

Perhaps in Europe or Asia the market is better, but I'd definitely say the US market is declining, at least based on my experience. I'm sure there will be someone who will quote auction prices, etc to try to show that stamps can still bring good money, and some can; it's my opinoin, however,, that the hobby itself at the grass roots level is in serious decline, and I have yet to see any evidence to refute that. It's a shame.

Hope this info helped.

Answer 2

I am a stamp collector and i do not plan on quitting. The contrary - I also collect currency banknotes, coins, wine labels, beer labels, postcards and I am not even retired with retirement coming maybe in 20-25 years. The slow down in your sales may be caused by a world economic crisis, but there is some impact on stamp collecting because no none likes to collect ugly stickers that some stamps have become. Try collecting paper money. Even if they turn into plastic money, you can still collect them. Yet my favourite collection is my wine label collection and I am beginning to also collect rare palms and anything else on paper with beautiful designs. I even collect polymer currency notes! Although they give me goose bumps.

Answer 3

Not at all! Just look at the activity on eBay - more people are collecting stamps than ever before.

Answer 4

No way, I know some people that make a lot of money with stamps and they don't really need the money, it's just for fun.

Answer 5

i in my opinion does not die with out nutrition stamps. I artwork, and purchase my own nutrition. i are not getting offended about disabled those who've little ones, and qualify for nutrition stamps, using them inspite of the actuality that.

Answer 6

i like stamps i still collect
less collecters means the price of the stamps are higher!

Answer 7

Good hobby, why dying?

Answer 8

Yes, because of email!!