ATTENTION: It’s time to embrace change and move stamp collecting forward

LINN"S STAMP NEWS: Change rained down on our hobby in the decades that followed World War II and the baby boomer generation.

Currently, the pessimists in our midst seem to be beating the loudest drum: “The end of our hobby is coming.” “Stamp collecting is a dying hobby.”

This is the one that I find the most pessimistic: “There are no new collectors entering the hobby.”

Let’s examine these myths, ramp up the sound of our drum, and embrace the change.

This subject is not new to me. I started writing about it almost 20 years ago when I penned a column titled “Where Have All the Stamp Shops Gone.”

While economics and market forces (two dynamics of change) were shuttering stamp stores, a technological change gave birth to something that would be called the Internet. It would grow up to be the single most important driver in our hobby.

Today, stamp shows are on the brink of facing the same two dynamics stamp shops faced two decades ago.

Unless a show offers something new of interest that will attract a significant number of collectors, they will continue to fade away.

Without a unique reason to attend people, can just stay home and shop online for stamps and postal history.

Dealers who have built their business model around a website and the Internet are flourishing today.

My own business exists today because of my website, not because of the seven shows (down from 34 in 1991) that I set up for every year.

Sales continue to grow even though the amount of time spent working is starting to decline.

Of my revenue, 85 percent comes from my website and the balance from shows. This is the exact reverse of 21 years ago......

http://www.linns.com/news/us-stamps-postal-history/2017/july/embrace-change-move-stamp-collecting-forward.html