{"id":14741,"date":"2022-10-06T15:56:42","date_gmt":"2022-10-06T19:56:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/virtualstampclub.com\/lloydblog\/?p=14741"},"modified":"2022-10-06T16:13:08","modified_gmt":"2022-10-06T20:13:08","slug":"aps-exec-proposes-merger-with-dealer-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/virtualstampclub.com\/lloydblog\/?p=14741","title":{"rendered":"APS Exec Proposes “Merger” with Dealer Group"},"content":{"rendered":"

Opinion by Lloyd A. de Vries<\/strong>
\nThe opinions expressed here are those of the writer and not necessarily those of any other organization, philatelic or otherwise.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a message on the American Philatelic Society<\/strong> website<\/a>, executive director Scott English outlines a proposal to “merge” the APS and the American Stamp Dealers \"\"<\/a>Association. I put “merge” in quote marks because it seems more like a takeover, with the ASDA becoming a section of the APS, even more so than an Affiliate. (An independent stamp collecting organization that is recognized, but not managed, by the APS.)<\/p>\n

English identifies a number of problems with stamp dealing today, but I don’t see in his proposal how combining the two groups would rectify those problems. For instance, he states that fewer than a quarter of ASDA members are stamp show dealers. (Exclusively selling at shows? Or ever selling at shows?) How would merging the two organizations change that? Does it need to be changed? Or does ASDA need to restructure to address that situation?<\/p>\n

Talking about selling on platforms like HipStamp and eBay, “…those bound by a code of ethics are treated the same as bad actors by clumsy policies undermining the 100+ years of knowledge and good practices established by these two organizations.” Given the APS’ new partnership with HipStamp and its on-again\/off-again one with eBay, I assume he is referring to eBay’s policies. (He didn’t mention any of the other selling platforms.)<\/p>\n

Again, how would a merger fix that? Would a combined APS-ASDA convince eBay to give up its own “clumsy policies?” I don’t think so.<\/p>\n

He says this merger would “assert our collective membership value in the digital marketplace.” How? An advertising\/promotion campaign saying “look for APS membership” would do much the same. Is eBay or any other selling platform likely to require APS, ASDA or any other membership of its dealers? I don’t think so. As long as they pay and don’t violate those “clumsy policies,” all sorts of people will be allowed to use those services.<\/p>\n

A well-known dealer who had been expelled from one or both of these organizations continue to be a very active seller on eBay up until his death a few years ago.<\/p>\n

I’m not an ASDA member and not privy to its inner workings, but the problem prompting this proposal may be internal: a lack of money, declining membersihp, poor management and so on.<\/p>\n

For many decades, ending around the end of the 20th century, ASDA membership was a requirement for a booth at the top stamp collecting shows in New York City. Collectors from all over the Northeast, and some from further, would come to these shows. Any dealer of any size and importance, mail-order or storefront or both, needed to have a booth at those shows.<\/p>\n

That is no longer the case. In fact, the ASDA doesn’t even have a New York City show any longer. The fault is not solely that of internet selling. However, that eliminated a major reason for belonging to ASDA.<\/p>\n

English proposes adding “dealer representation on the APS Board of Directors.” When I was first elected to the APS Board (1997), I asked why there was a non-voting dealer represent to the Board but not an actual seat on the Board for dealers. I was told in no uncertain terms that the APS represents collectors, not dealers. Has that changed? And what about representation for other philatelic groups, some of which have more members than the ASDA?<\/p>\n

Dealers who are members of the APS have for years been able to get “dealer certification” from the APS, giving them access to booths at the APS-produced shows (such as the Great American Stamp Show), display advertising in the journal American Philatelist<\/em>, and sometimes newsletters and other benefits. Do they still need the ASDA?<\/p>\n

If the ASDA is in danger of going out of business, the solution might not be a takeover, but fixing the ASDA’s problems. Or even letting it die. When the Society of Philatelic Americans, a rival to the APS, encountered significant, perhaps insurmountable, problems, it went out of existence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Opinion by Lloyd A. de Vries The opinions expressed here are those of the writer and not necessarily those of any other organization, philatelic or otherwise. In a message on the American Philatelic Society website, executive director Scott English outlines … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lloydblog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/virtualstampclub.com\/lloydblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/virtualstampclub.com\/lloydblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/virtualstampclub.com\/lloydblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/virtualstampclub.com\/lloydblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/virtualstampclub.com\/lloydblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14741"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/virtualstampclub.com\/lloydblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14741\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14747,"href":"https:\/\/virtualstampclub.com\/lloydblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14741\/revisions\/14747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/virtualstampclub.com\/lloydblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/virtualstampclub.com\/lloydblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/virtualstampclub.com\/lloydblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}