Stamp & Coin Mart - April 2016_

http://www.stampandcoin.co.uk APRIL 2016^25

T

he first stamp

columnist

to criticise

the GPO

was probably

writing with a quill. Since

then, they’ve been an easy

target for scribblers in this business: you

just look at the stamps, find something to

criticise and let fly with the invective.

Did we really need two sets of stamps for

the Wembley Exhibition? And as for the

PUC set! Low values that look like beer

bottle labels and a top value of £1? Do

they think we’re made of money?

Now, it’s Royal Mail who take the flak,

especially when they announce the next

year’s stamp programme. This year will

see fourteen commemorative sets and

three sets of Post and Go stamps. God

knows what the total cost will be, but

every year, the columnists criticise and the

collectors complain, and the new issues

just keep on coming.

So what’s different now?

Firstly, there’s a new issues policy and there’s

taking the mick. Not content with sets

of six to eight stamps and face values of

£2+, we now find the same designs spread

across a wide range of different products,

many of them recent inventions, like

stamp souvenirs, stamp souvenir sheets and

generic sheets. That’s on top of the retail

stamp books, stamp cards and FDCs etc.

So the total ‘product portfolio’ for the 2015

Christmas Stamps cost £105.94.

By selling Royal Mail, we gave a private,

profit-making company a license to print money

and they have been making full use of it.

Secondly, real world usage of postage

stamps has been declining for some time.

This means that there are decreasing

opportunities for using up all the surplus

stocks of commemoratives that have built

up over the years. And this is driving resale

values down. Dealers’ buying prices for

unmounted decimal issues are advertised in

the Philatelic Exporter and Stamp & Coin

Mart, where in December 2015, the buying

price of stamp collections from 1971-2015

was sixty percent of their face value. For ‘face

value’ read ‘purchase price.’ A modern GB

stamp collection could be depreciating faster

than a new car.

Stemming the flood

Both collectors and dealers have been saying

‘that’s enough’. Especially those collectors

whose goal was completion but who found

the cost was simply too high to contemplate.

Among the dealers, Robert Murray’s stamp

shop in Edinburgh stopped handling new

issues in 2009 and the business has not suffered

as a result. A stamp shop is expected to stock

the new issues in depth and that means stamps,

miniature sheets, FDCs, and all the other spin-

offs: this tied up a lot of capital in items which

were not all that profitable to sell. Now, that

money is available to invest in stocks of older,

more interesting material.

Of course, Royal Mail can see this as

clearly as anyone else. They also know the

law of diminishing returns. So they must

be aware that eventually, collectors will

start to pick and choose, or stop buying

new issues altogether, or switch to other

times or other countries.

Are they concerned?

In a letter published in a recent issue of

trade magazine Philatelic Exporter, Matt

Parkes, Royal Mail’s Director of Stamps

and Collectibles, states that they are

‘currently developing a new strategy with

the intention of reducing the cost to the

collector, whilst supporting the hobby by

appealing to new customers... We have

had a recent change in management and

reducing the cost of the hobby is a key

priority’. They state they will be taking

appropriate advice from the stamp trade in

the implementation of this policy.

They also intend to develop more

alternative products, presumably like the

cufflinks, framed stamps, mugs and toys

which fill their gift catalogues. These bear no

relation to philately but gain a priceless cachet

by their association with the Queen’s stamps.

But is this a genuine conversion or

another false dawn? Will we return to an

1980s style new issues policy or will the

lure of the printing presses prove too much?

What hope is there for the thousands of

people who would like to collect the stamps

of their own country, but who also need to

buy food?

I think the only people who can really

tip the balance are catalogue producers like

Stanley Gibbons, by declaring that some

GB commemorative issues are in excess of

operational requirements and denying them

a full listing, which would mean no spaces in

printed albums and no sales to collectors. This

would at least demonstrate to Royal Mail how

important the collectors’ market really is.

So. How about it, Stanley?

Will we return to an 1980s style new

issues policy or will the lure of the

printing presses prove too much?

Opinion

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Opinion

Reining in Royal Mail

For years collectors of modern GB have been complaining about the increasing number of

commemoraitve stamp issues, but finally Royal Mail seem to be taking notice, prompting David Bailey to

wonder if the torrent of new issues is finally going to stop

p25 opinion.indd 25 01/03/2016 11:17