It’s been over a year since the COVID pandemic stopped the world. As lockdown or stay at home orders were applied throughout the world, people returned to the old and trusted hobby of stamp collecting. Old albums were pulled out of closets and attics and collectors that had been disengaged for decades returned to a completely different looking hobby.
Online philately started early in the age of the world wide web during the 1990’s. Yahoo chatrooms, phbb bulletin boards, and geocities’ hosted HTML websites were the early pioneers. However, many of these early entries into social media philately were never adopted by larger organisations, and some never progressed outside of the 90’s. As the 2010’s were mid-swing, a new generation of collectors turned to online platforms rather than traditional clubs to engage with the hobby such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
By 2016, the new generation was powering ahead online while traditional philatelic organisations continued to cling onto the traditional engagement styles that had long since fallen out of fashion. So when the world stopped in 2020, many of these traditional engagement styles came to an abrupt stop and were forced to finally engage with the online world.
But have these organisations learned anything?
Stampshows
The Philatelic Trader’s Society (PTS) has been one of the most forward thinking organisations emerging from the pandemic. When they launched their Virtual Stampex in 2020, they received an overwhelming positive response from attendees. Their 2021 Virtual Stampex continued to improve on the success of their first year.
One thing the PTS has been able to demonstrate is the ability to engage with online collectors and innovate for future Stampex shows – virtual or otherwise. The PTS looks as this alternate market segment as an opportunity rather than a band-aid to a temporary problem. They recently announced a partnership with Delcampe to create a new shopping wall and digital zone to their 2021 Stampex show, linking the online world with the in-person experience. In addition, they have expanded the presence of philatelic youth support including Stamp Active and engaged actively with the popular Postcrossing community, expanding their presences in the vast sub-communities of the hobby.
While virtual stamp shows have become common, no organisation has taken the leap into a multimedia experience. The hobby should be looking at museums across the world where exhibits are an interactive experience. PDFs have become the default solution for philately but these are not the solution. It may be many years away but the multimedia experience is the missing link that is not being addressed by the hobby.
Dealers
One thing that many trade associations are still failing to do is to engage with the growing alternate selling market. These markets include Patreon and Etsy. While some recognise Ebay sellers, there is a missed opportunity here to formally recognise alternate selling platforms to the traditional store-based or website. Patreon and Etsy are both excellent platforms for moving common or bulk stock, and many beginner collectors, who are not looking for exhibition pieces, are buying through these platforms instead of the traditional dealer. Philatelovely continues to be the leader in this field.
We should be seeing more dealers establish their own Patreon accounts or subscription services. Subscription boxes are immensely popular in the commercial world and there is no reason why dealers, or even stamp clubs, cannot get their share of the success.
Sponsorship
Both dealers and organisations are not taking advantage of affiliation through sponsorship of high-profile social media influencers. The American Philatelic Service was the first to promote itself through an influencer as a sponsor of Exploring Stamps, and they have continued this through Conversations with Philatelists (although there is an existing affiliation here as both Charles Epting and Michael Cortese completed their Young Philatelic Leaders Fellowship with the APS). Hipstamp is the other recent entrant in sponsorship through Ted Talks Stamps.
We really should be seeing more sponsorship of good social media content. With many influencers having more followers than most existing stamp clubs, this is a big missed opportunity for promotion and to build a future client/member base. In particular, basic stamp collecting supplies such as albums or tweezers, require the content creator to suggest different dealers to direct users to. A single dealer, as an affiliate, could of have been reaping the benefits of a linked discount or other promotional benefit – Squarespace anyone?
Youtube
YouTube is definitely the clear favourite as the preferred visual media for engagement. Episodes explaining historical, social or political related information tend to out-perform episodes focused on technical varieties. Grab bags/unboxing videos are also very popular.
However, episodes of member meetings or lengthy introductions where people are attempting to use technology, don’t do so well. A few creators have attempted to use livestream but have not been able to capture the purpose of livestream or achieve the interaction numbers of other non-philatelic channels.
Overall, Exploring Stamps continues to be the leader on this platform, clearly one of the biggest influencers in the world. Ted Talks Stamps remains a classic favourite. New entrants such as Mallard Stamps, StampCat Stamps, Postal Pleasures and Bob Collects Stamps are drawing decent subscription numbers. We are also seeing younger collectors entering the market such as I’ll Be Stamped. A number of clubs are doing well including North Toronto Stamp Club, American Topical Association, British Empire Study Group and Philatelic Society of Lancaster County producing unique, quality content.
High profile organisations have not yet addressed the popularity of this media type. There is still a lack of visual media displays in traditional exhibitions. The ability to tell a multimedia story through philately will draw new and different crowds rather than rows upon rows of stamp varieties that have limited appeal outside of the dedicated specialist. This is not a new concept, raised as early as 2016. However, like most social media platforms, there is all talk and no action.
Facebook is the main social media platform for group discussions, replacing traditional stamp forums for modern collectors. The main problem facing Facebook users with organised philately is the overt restriction of access to their groups. Some have the most ridiculous questions to access discussions, don’t monitor the accounts frequently enough to accept new users, or do not post new content regularly enough to keep engagement. There is also a lack of awareness of the difference between Pages and Groups which can be frustrating for visitors.
With thousands of Facebook groups available to choose from, organised philatelic groups are some of the worst performers. They really need to drop the ‘exclusive club’ mentality and open the doors wide. The ability for Facebook users to create their own pages and groups presents huge competition to organised philately both now and in the future.
Instagram is one of the few social media platforms that remains untapped. There are thousands of users from different demographics posting thousands of stamp-related content each day. The platform is full of alternative collecting habits. Postcards, snail mail, stamp art and Etsy are dominant unlike other platforms.
As of yet, no philatelic organisation has embraced this community. This seems to be due to two reasons. The first is that these organisations do not use this platform, and the second is that they don’t consider Instagram as true philately – ‘philatelic snobbery.’ Whether or not it can be considered traditional philately, it should not be ignored. This platform is where many young beginners start and is a hot-bed of #extremephilately.
Organised philately should be looking at how to bring this medium into exhibitions and stamp shows, as it has the opportunity to bring many new collectors through the door. Rather than entering a stamp show and see rows of people looking at dealers, a wall of monitors displaying #extremephilately photos is far more engaging and exciting.
Conclusion
While organised philately is slowly embracing some aspects of the new world, they have moved too slow. Collectors no longer ask which organisation to join, but which influencer they should follow and which platform is best for their needs.
To re-establish their presence, organised philately needs to take a major leap forward – but is there any of them bold enough to make this happen?
Runners and cyclists have an expression: “If it’s not on Strava, it didn’t happen.” Strava is a website and app where outdoor athletes can share their workouts, interact with local and worldwide communities, and track their progress. This symbiosis between real-world and virtual should be the model for 21st-century philately. Colnect might be the closest we have gotten to a philatelic Strava, but it has major shortcomings. The bottom line is there is a vast landscape of untapped potential to innovate, develop and expand, but philately, with a few notable exceptions, continues to cling to old models of engagement. This website is one force endeavoring to challenge the status quo and make philately dynamic, hip and accessible.
A fantastic piece, and it highlights the way in which philately is heading. Of course, stamp shows and fairs will always be needed, as the need to see stamps “in the flesh” so to speak is vital, and I wouldn’t want it to fade out. However, the increase in popularity of online resources and social media pages just shows how and where modern philately is heading. It is imperative for the survival of philately that new collectors are encouraged and there is no better platform than online for this to happen. All I set out to achieve with Philatelovely, was to show how accessible our hobby is, and that it can include collectors at all levels from anywhere at all. I like to think of myself as a nice guy, and being able to share my passion with others is amazing. Spreading the philatelic word as far and as wide as possible is the only way our hobby will continue.
Im pro-live stamp shows. But like a lot of comments I have seen, they are not engaging.
I love your article. It nailed down where we are and where we should go.
Your conclusion made me think a lot.
While organised philately is slowly embracing some aspects of the new world, they have moved too slow. Collectors no longer ask which organisation to join, but which influencer they should follow and which platform is best for their needs.
Philately organization need to change and reinvent themselves if they want to survive. Best example is the Royal Philatelic Society. They have a great magazine but their web zite (and organization?)is dead. Very few new content, contrary to places like yours.
We need organizations that are speaks and act loudly.
They need to be more colorful and inspiring.
Tks for the article and your presence on the web. You and some others that you mentioned before are a good reason why philately is thriving, not just covid.
We need these organisations to not only think differently but also take immediate action if they want to survive.