Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
The stamps I have are in glassine envelopes and boxes by country and by year, some are on stock cards , some are in stock books. The problem is, they take up space. Not only that but I worry about them. What will happen if the house burns down? What will happen if there is a flood in my basement where I have my collector's section. What if they get stolen? What will happen when these stamps need to be sold at the end, by someone who does not have the time, patience or knowledge to sell them?
So how about, I buy a stamp, scan it front and back in high resolution and add the scans to my digital collection of stamps. Then I sell the stamp to another collector who might need it.
This will end all of my worries about my stamps being destroyed, damaged, stolen or ending up in a landfill. It will free up all cash I have frozen in them and allow me to buy even more expensive stamps to have them for a day or two, or maybe a couple of weeks.
Of course at one point collectors might decide to cheat and instead of selling and mailing stamps, they may start exchanging digital images through e-mail....Well, to each their own.
Just imagine the amount of stamps that will magically appear, if more of us adopted this Catch and Release approach to collecting. It might hurt some Stamp Auction houses and stamp based businesses but I think, we the collectors may be the winners.
And now another funny thing. About a week ago I had this dream that I had ended up in some back room of a postal facility and there was a big plastic bin there - something like 100 litters or more, full of colorful nice recent kiloware from all over the world. I had started pulling off nice pieces from the top of the bin, and was about to ask the first postal employee where this bin was going and if I could buy stamps from it......and then I woke up! What a disappointment it was!
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
Digital Stamps are being sold already and people are buying them.
Login to Like
this post
"Digital Stamps are being sold already and people are buying them."
I don't know if it in all cases, but at least in some, the digital purchase is buying a share in the stamp while the dealer (such as Gibbons with British Guiana Scott #13), and upon sale by the dealer of the stamp, the digital owners get a percentage share of the sale price.
Login to Like
this post
Buying a digital stamp is a slightly different concept. The owner of the stamp can sell as many copies of the stamp as needed by the market.
Buying the actual stamp and scanning it to create your own copy achieves a number of things - you get the actual stamp and can keep it if you wish; you can resell and have capital gains or losses from the sale. You know for yourself this stamp was in your possession at one point of time.
I know the British Guyana 2 cent exists, but what good is it to me to get a digital copy of it if I did not see the stamp in my hand on my table for at least one day?
Login to Like
this post
I have kept a digital image library of my stamps and covers. It is nowhere near complete, though.
Login to Like
this post
https://www.etsy.com/ie/listing/819264870/vintage-postage-stamps-of-the-world?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=postage+stamps&ref=sc_gallery-4-1&plkey=89b80c6cf42af0e7fb05bb8ed372f46b8f0ed625%3A819264870
Mod - fixed link
(Modified by Moderator on 2021-10-26 06:13:07)
Login to Like
this post
I do not have any interest in buying stamps to collect their images and then immediately resell. There are plenty of excellent images on the Internet. I do scan my collection album pages (rescan when new stamp added) for reference and other purposes. Plus, the hassle of resale would be too much for me.
I guess I am the catch and release much later type.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
I first heard about this idea from a woman, who at the time was the fund development manager for the postal museum in Washington. I met her at a reception at the Collectors Club in New York. When I asked her what she collected, she responded, “I don’t collect stamps. Why should I when I can collect images of stamps, for free.” Now she was relatively young (a millennial), at least when comparing her age to mine. So, perhaps this is a generational thing?
David
Login to Like
this post
"So, perhaps this is a generational thing?"
Dave, it is probably more of a getting-used-to-it thing.
When I started fishing as a kid, I was catching those fish because of their looks. I wanted to have them with me forever, so I would ask my dad to preserve those pretty ones. He would say the only way to preserve them was to let them dry. Well, they did not look pretty any more. In fact they did not look as pretty dead as they looked when they were alive. So I had to give up on that. But I still liked to fish and I kept all fish for the table. Till one day I started letting them go. I had no use for so many dead fish.
I killed lots of butterflies when I was 5-7 years old too - again to be able to have them in a box. Then a box falls down and their wings brake off. And there is always that lurking shame even some 40 years later of killing them for nothing.
There are hunters, one of which I know, who had some nice moose trophies on the wall of his shop......till his shop burned down. The trophies remained but the tips were now gone and the whole collection was rather sorrowful looking. If this hunter's rational behind shooting down the animal was just to have the trophy, he must have come to the same realization as me. Well, this particular guy did not and, instead, is planning new hunts to replace his damaged trophies.
I have a large print on my wall of a moose wading into a river in the winter. I took the picture, the moose may still be alive today. I am always happy to look at the picture and remember that day. Of course I have many more like that one - bears, moose, elk and just about anything else. There are pictures of wildlife on the internet, but my pictures are mine - I know when and how I saw the animal.
So I figured, it must be the same with stamps. Only a matter of getting used to a change in the hobby.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
Jules,
your commentary was an absolute gut punch and lung hollower
I felt like i was in your waders or viewing the wall of death with you. I have so many memories of similar things, many of which haunt me today. The incidents were different, but the delayed response sounds eerily familar.
If only I could do it over
David
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
Today's fish "taxidermy" is fairly non-invasive. Some good, clear photos (and measurements) is all it really takes for a skilled "taxidermist" to paint a stunningly realistic replica of your fish on a fiberglass body. This is commonly how museums display fish and other "soft species" to the public. Also, Harvard University has an amazing collection of plants and sea creatures crafted of glass in the late 19th century!
As for fur and feather taxidermy, I can highly recommend "Still Life: Adventures in Taxidermy" by Melissa Milgrom. Its a fascinating look into the subculture of modern taxidermy, from museum curation to competitive taxidermy, and some odd things in between.
Preserving the trophies is pretty damn expensive, but they do have residual value on the secondary market. I've never quite understood the appeal of buying someone else's secondhand "trophy", but then again, there's a market for almost anything....
Just as non-philatelists are surprised at the prices paid for our little squares of colored paper, you might be surprised at how much money (quality) taxidermy can bring at auction!!!
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
While I think it's a novel idea, I think that to the younger generation(s) it is not. My son has told me of kids collecting digital trading cards, and they pay a good amount of money for them, too.
Personally, I prefer the old-fashioned tactile aspect of most things gone digital. I'd rather hold a book in my hands than read on my iPad. Could something happen to my collection? Yes, it could. I could also lose my electronic data, though. I just like the concrete, physical item to manipulate. I spend enough time manipulating data and staring at one sort of screen or another.
To each his/her own! There are as many different collecting preferences as their are collectors, and that's what keeps it interesting!
Login to Like
this post
I've been gradually selling (in some cases donating) my stamps for about 20 years. All of the sold stamps and some of the donations have been scanned and saved at high resolution. Having them in this format is not the same as having them available in an album, but it is a nice alternative. Being able to do this has made it easier to let go of the stamps themselves.
Having those scans led me to experiment with the creation of enlargements suitable for mounting and framing. I had done quite a bit of photo restoration work in the past as well as creation of digital art prints based on early postcards. All were scanned at high resolution and then saved as digital files that I could clean up on the computer if necessary and make sure they were suitable for creating clean enlargements.
I also created smaller enlarged prints of several stamps. I had some good printing paper that I no longer needed and decided to put it to use by creating these smaller stamp prints. These were small enough to fit in mailing envelopes and I sometimes included a print with the stamps I was selling.
It has been a unique and fun way to expand my enjoyment of philately.I think many of you (especially those who are already designing your own album pages) should be able to create some nice enlargements from your collections.
Tom
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
Back in the 80's, the wall in my work office was covered with many enlargements of stamps. Later, I had one on the door of my office that I changed occasionally
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
When I was in my teens back in the 1970s, I fancied myself a kinda/sorta dealer. I'd bid very low on mail bid sales and auctions, and often I was rewarded with some really nice expensive items like US 1, C18 baby zep etc. I'd enjoy owning them for awhile, then own them as long as it took me to make a profit selling them!
As a youngster, I couldn't afford to buy and keep it all, but I could at least rent stamps! 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
I had a crazy idea and I thought I would share it with you.
The stamps I have are in glassine envelopes and boxes by country and by year, some are on stock cards , some are in stock books. The problem is, they take up space. Not only that but I worry about them. What will happen if the house burns down? What will happen if there is a flood in my basement where I have my collector's section. What if they get stolen? What will happen when these stamps need to be sold at the end, by someone who does not have the time, patience or knowledge to sell them?
So how about, I buy a stamp, scan it front and back in high resolution and add the scans to my digital collection of stamps. Then I sell the stamp to another collector who might need it.
This will end all of my worries about my stamps being destroyed, damaged, stolen or ending up in a landfill. It will free up all cash I have frozen in them and allow me to buy even more expensive stamps to have them for a day or two, or maybe a couple of weeks.
Of course at one point collectors might decide to cheat and instead of selling and mailing stamps, they may start exchanging digital images through e-mail....Well, to each their own.
Just imagine the amount of stamps that will magically appear, if more of us adopted this Catch and Release approach to collecting. It might hurt some Stamp Auction houses and stamp based businesses but I think, we the collectors may be the winners.
And now another funny thing. About a week ago I had this dream that I had ended up in some back room of a postal facility and there was a big plastic bin there - something like 100 litters or more, full of colorful nice recent kiloware from all over the world. I had started pulling off nice pieces from the top of the bin, and was about to ask the first postal employee where this bin was going and if I could buy stamps from it......and then I woke up! What a disappointment it was!
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: Catch and Release Stamp Collecting
Digital Stamps are being sold already and people are buying them.
Login to Like
this post
10:16:52pm
re: Catch and Release Stamp Collecting
"Digital Stamps are being sold already and people are buying them."
I don't know if it in all cases, but at least in some, the digital purchase is buying a share in the stamp while the dealer (such as Gibbons with British Guiana Scott #13), and upon sale by the dealer of the stamp, the digital owners get a percentage share of the sale price.
Login to Like
this post
re: Catch and Release Stamp Collecting
Buying a digital stamp is a slightly different concept. The owner of the stamp can sell as many copies of the stamp as needed by the market.
Buying the actual stamp and scanning it to create your own copy achieves a number of things - you get the actual stamp and can keep it if you wish; you can resell and have capital gains or losses from the sale. You know for yourself this stamp was in your possession at one point of time.
I know the British Guyana 2 cent exists, but what good is it to me to get a digital copy of it if I did not see the stamp in my hand on my table for at least one day?
Login to Like
this post
re: Catch and Release Stamp Collecting
I have kept a digital image library of my stamps and covers. It is nowhere near complete, though.
Login to Like
this post
re: Catch and Release Stamp Collecting
https://www.etsy.com/ie/listing/819264870/vintage-postage-stamps-of-the-world?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=postage+stamps&ref=sc_gallery-4-1&plkey=89b80c6cf42af0e7fb05bb8ed372f46b8f0ed625%3A819264870
Mod - fixed link
(Modified by Moderator on 2021-10-26 06:13:07)
Login to Like
this post
re: Catch and Release Stamp Collecting
I do not have any interest in buying stamps to collect their images and then immediately resell. There are plenty of excellent images on the Internet. I do scan my collection album pages (rescan when new stamp added) for reference and other purposes. Plus, the hassle of resale would be too much for me.
I guess I am the catch and release much later type.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: Catch and Release Stamp Collecting
I first heard about this idea from a woman, who at the time was the fund development manager for the postal museum in Washington. I met her at a reception at the Collectors Club in New York. When I asked her what she collected, she responded, “I don’t collect stamps. Why should I when I can collect images of stamps, for free.” Now she was relatively young (a millennial), at least when comparing her age to mine. So, perhaps this is a generational thing?
David
Login to Like
this post
re: Catch and Release Stamp Collecting
"So, perhaps this is a generational thing?"
Dave, it is probably more of a getting-used-to-it thing.
When I started fishing as a kid, I was catching those fish because of their looks. I wanted to have them with me forever, so I would ask my dad to preserve those pretty ones. He would say the only way to preserve them was to let them dry. Well, they did not look pretty any more. In fact they did not look as pretty dead as they looked when they were alive. So I had to give up on that. But I still liked to fish and I kept all fish for the table. Till one day I started letting them go. I had no use for so many dead fish.
I killed lots of butterflies when I was 5-7 years old too - again to be able to have them in a box. Then a box falls down and their wings brake off. And there is always that lurking shame even some 40 years later of killing them for nothing.
There are hunters, one of which I know, who had some nice moose trophies on the wall of his shop......till his shop burned down. The trophies remained but the tips were now gone and the whole collection was rather sorrowful looking. If this hunter's rational behind shooting down the animal was just to have the trophy, he must have come to the same realization as me. Well, this particular guy did not and, instead, is planning new hunts to replace his damaged trophies.
I have a large print on my wall of a moose wading into a river in the winter. I took the picture, the moose may still be alive today. I am always happy to look at the picture and remember that day. Of course I have many more like that one - bears, moose, elk and just about anything else. There are pictures of wildlife on the internet, but my pictures are mine - I know when and how I saw the animal.
So I figured, it must be the same with stamps. Only a matter of getting used to a change in the hobby.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: Catch and Release Stamp Collecting
Jules,
your commentary was an absolute gut punch and lung hollower
I felt like i was in your waders or viewing the wall of death with you. I have so many memories of similar things, many of which haunt me today. The incidents were different, but the delayed response sounds eerily familar.
If only I could do it over
David
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: Catch and Release Stamp Collecting
Today's fish "taxidermy" is fairly non-invasive. Some good, clear photos (and measurements) is all it really takes for a skilled "taxidermist" to paint a stunningly realistic replica of your fish on a fiberglass body. This is commonly how museums display fish and other "soft species" to the public. Also, Harvard University has an amazing collection of plants and sea creatures crafted of glass in the late 19th century!
As for fur and feather taxidermy, I can highly recommend "Still Life: Adventures in Taxidermy" by Melissa Milgrom. Its a fascinating look into the subculture of modern taxidermy, from museum curation to competitive taxidermy, and some odd things in between.
Preserving the trophies is pretty damn expensive, but they do have residual value on the secondary market. I've never quite understood the appeal of buying someone else's secondhand "trophy", but then again, there's a market for almost anything....
Just as non-philatelists are surprised at the prices paid for our little squares of colored paper, you might be surprised at how much money (quality) taxidermy can bring at auction!!!
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: Catch and Release Stamp Collecting
While I think it's a novel idea, I think that to the younger generation(s) it is not. My son has told me of kids collecting digital trading cards, and they pay a good amount of money for them, too.
Personally, I prefer the old-fashioned tactile aspect of most things gone digital. I'd rather hold a book in my hands than read on my iPad. Could something happen to my collection? Yes, it could. I could also lose my electronic data, though. I just like the concrete, physical item to manipulate. I spend enough time manipulating data and staring at one sort of screen or another.
To each his/her own! There are as many different collecting preferences as their are collectors, and that's what keeps it interesting!
Login to Like
this post
re: Catch and Release Stamp Collecting
I've been gradually selling (in some cases donating) my stamps for about 20 years. All of the sold stamps and some of the donations have been scanned and saved at high resolution. Having them in this format is not the same as having them available in an album, but it is a nice alternative. Being able to do this has made it easier to let go of the stamps themselves.
Having those scans led me to experiment with the creation of enlargements suitable for mounting and framing. I had done quite a bit of photo restoration work in the past as well as creation of digital art prints based on early postcards. All were scanned at high resolution and then saved as digital files that I could clean up on the computer if necessary and make sure they were suitable for creating clean enlargements.
I also created smaller enlarged prints of several stamps. I had some good printing paper that I no longer needed and decided to put it to use by creating these smaller stamp prints. These were small enough to fit in mailing envelopes and I sometimes included a print with the stamps I was selling.
It has been a unique and fun way to expand my enjoyment of philately.I think many of you (especially those who are already designing your own album pages) should be able to create some nice enlargements from your collections.
Tom
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
re: Catch and Release Stamp Collecting
Back in the 80's, the wall in my work office was covered with many enlargements of stamps. Later, I had one on the door of my office that I changed occasionally
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
re: Catch and Release Stamp Collecting
When I was in my teens back in the 1970s, I fancied myself a kinda/sorta dealer. I'd bid very low on mail bid sales and auctions, and often I was rewarded with some really nice expensive items like US 1, C18 baby zep etc. I'd enjoy owning them for awhile, then own them as long as it took me to make a profit selling them!
As a youngster, I couldn't afford to buy and keep it all, but I could at least rent stamps!
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.