Summertime and Stamp Collecting

I realized, this morning, that it has been almost six weeks since I last posted here.

In a sense, it reminds me of my collecting "habits," both as a child, and as an adult-- when summer rolls around, I just don't get the stamps out very often.

Nor, or so it seems, do very many other people. A couple of days ago, I mailed an order for stamps that someone had placed in my eBay stamp store. It was the first time in almost three weeks that anyone had bought something. In the winter, there are usually orders almost every day; sometimes several per day.

It's the time of the year for beach combing!

Summers in western Washington state tend to be short, and sun is a commodity we rarely see during the winter months. As such, we tend to get out there and enjoy it, while we can. For the most part, my wife and I have been gardening and beach combing.

Right now, there's a pile of stamp albums on one of the work tables in my home office. They came from a European stamp auction, back in late May. Aside from a cursory glance when they first arrived, I have not found the time to do the thorough examination of them I like to do... to see if there are any varieties or rare cancels I want to add to my collection. And frankly? I have not felt the inclination, either-- just like I haven't felt the inclination to scan and list new stamps in the places where I sell my duplicates. I know that these albums will most likely sit untouched till sometime in late September, when the first good autumn rain and storm arrives... and the idea of "indoor activities" once again sounds appealing.

I have not been completely out of the "stamp loop," however. I have been evaluating various eBay "alternative" sites where I have listed stamps for sale over the past couple of years-- just to see if there were any buyers. In recent years, there has been much talk about a "mass exodus" of stamp sellers from eBay (due to increasing fees) and I was curious to see just how vaible the alternatives were. After all, what good is "low fees" if NOBODY ever looks at your stamps, or buys them? I plan to review each site in a series of articles, later this year. 

During our few dull days, I have been writing. As some readers may know, I am very dedicated to help the stamp collecting hobby survive and thrive. I am working on a series of stamp collecting articles, which will we placed in NON-philatelic places (publications and web sites), in the hope of drawing a few new collectors to the hobby.

Aside from that, I don't have any exciting stamp news to offer.

I hope everyone is having a nice summer!

Stamp Collecting Seasons

When I was little and growing up in Denmark, stamp collecting was more of a wintertime hobby.

Winters in Denmark were dark, wet, often cold and generally the period between the end of October and mid-March involved a lot of indoor activities, because being outside was pretty miserable. Stamp collecting was a good way to keep the "young ones" occupied inside, in a way my mother felt wouldn't destroy the house. My best friend Henrik and I spent many a winter afternoon after school "playing" with our stamp collections.

Summertime in Denmark! 

Come about mid-April, the days (and sunbreaks) would get longer, and we would increasingly often be kicked outside to play. So we went out to play soccer, play in the street, go to the beach, or the woods, or whatever. When I think back to those days, I realize that I rarely looked at my stamp collection during the summer-- even when school was off.

Now that I'm an adult, I don't exactly have a time when I completely put away my collection for the summer. Let's face it... it's summer where I live, right now, and I'm writing these words on a stamp collecting blog! But I'm not really doing much with my collections, these days: any new acquisitions get put into a glassine and tossed into a box with brief notes about what I need to do with them, later. I haven't been anywhere near eBay in about eight weeks. Tomorrow will more likely be given to working in the garden, getting house projects done and even going for walks with my wife or beach combing. Other days are given to going on holiday, or on short trips.

For some, there are no "seasons," of course. If you call Key West, Florida "home," the idea of long cold dark winters is alien to you. Others, who might be retired, experience seasonality as less important. For some, stamp collecting is their primary interest, and so they are always at it.

How about you? Are you a seasonal collector, or someone whose collection is going ALL the time? Do you completely stop during the summer, or just cut back your time? Does "holiday" mean you have more time for your collection, or that you put it away completely?

Please share your thoughts and comments!