Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Issue #1: Individual stamps removed from a souvenir sheet
This has happened to me before. A souvenir sheet that is heavily hinged/taped/damaged but the stamp is intact. I've then removed the stamp and kept as is or for postage. For this example, lets say there is a set of 4...
Scotts shows the CVs as follows for the lowest 3 FV: all are minimum 25c Used; but MNH are $0.80 for the 70c denomination, $0.95 for the 80c, and $1.10 for the 90c.
Here's the tricky part: the high FV of $1.60 is listed only as a souvenir sheet at $3.00 MNH $2.25 Used. Being part of a souvenir sheet has to command a premium to a separated stamp, but being a much higher FV presumably must result in a higher CV than lower denominations. And, to complicate matters more, there are no proximate $1.60 denominations or stamps listed on or ex-souvenir sheets.
I have my usual mathematical approach to figuring out something I think is reasonable, but before I lay it out I'd love to hear some opinions on the question "what is an appropriate proxy-CV for the $1.60 stamp in Used and MNH condition"?
Issue #2: Sets listed only as sets
Another classic case (I assume) in breaking down collections. Scotts lists a set of 8 only as a set at, for example, $2.30. The 7 lowest denominations range from 5c to 75c but there is a single $1.25 denomination (usually conveniently missing).
If you just had the first 7 would a presumed-minimum CV of $1.75 (7 x 25c) be appropriate for the broken set? Would that then imply the $1.25 if found on its own would have a CV-proxy of $0.55 (2.30 - 1.75) or something (what?) less because it isn't part of an actual set.
My mind is fairly spinning today as I try to catch up and get some more Auctions/Approvals out there on this snow-blizzard day (-10C and 4 inches already after +15C and sunny Wednesday)...So many thanks! Dave.
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Seems to me that Scott is trying to force us to collect stamps the way they want, just had an exchange with a fellow stamp collector and looks like all modern stamps are catalogued with the value as a set, not as a single stamp, seems to me that stamp collecting is becoming a stamp buying, am I the only one that feels this way?.
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Dave, you put more rigor into your stamp value calculations than I did in some of my homework assignments in Calculus!
Can't offer too much on the broken-SS value question as I generally stay away from them. Not always, but generally.
And I didn't realize that Scott is valuing modern stamps only in sets. Most of my collection is pre-1965 and very little post-2000.
The biggest beef I have with Scott Catalogs is how they value the common stamp. They are all $0.25 regardless. They hide behind the statement, "this accounts for the cost of inventorying, displaying, yada, yada, yada..." That's a cop out. There are some stamps worth as much Deutschmarks during the Weimar inflation period, regardless of how much someone inventories or displays them.
Scott would do the community a service by setting the value of those "dime a dozen" stamps at just that -- about a penny. So a stamp listed at $0.25 has some value and I would expect to pay, say, 10 or 15 or even 25 cents. But stamps listed at $0.01 are material for the penny box, the Holocaust Project, or a scout decoupage project.
To get a better sense of a stamp's or a collection's catalog value, I simply subtract $0.25 from the CV of each stamp before adding. For higher values, the difference is minimal. It gives be a better baseline estimate of how I should value a collection for replacement value, purchase cost, etc.
-Steve
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Yup! When I was 13 years old, I spent a considerable amount of time happily calculating my net worth in my duplicates. Note that this was pre-calculator era. I was quite happy and smug for a while, until I showed my father how I was easily on my way to my first million dollars... then he gave me that life lesson that a collectible was only worth what someone would pay for it.
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Issue #1 - It depends. If the stamps from the souvenir sheet are identical to the set stamps, then use those values. If the stamps from the souvenir sheet are different, check out the difference between the souvenir sheet singles and the set stamps and pro-rate it. If it is an older souvenir sheet, many times Scott values the single stamps from souvenir sheets.
Issue #2 - I have seen this done different ways. You can try to find a set of stamps before Scott valued stamps in sets as one set and see how those values match up with the combined set value. You can just use the minimum value for all but the last stamp in the set (usually a good idea), you can look up the set in a Gibbons catalog and see how the individual stamps are valued, and adjust the values to dollars. You can take the total value of the set and divide it by the number of stamps in the set and use that number (many do this). Probably the best method is just presume that the CTO stamps in the short set are worthless and price them at minimal value.
Scott states that they list newer stamps and sheets as sets only, because thats the way they are most offered to collectors, rather than being sold as individual stamps. Bull. I have verbally said so to Scott. The real reason is to save space in the catalog. So, now that they are splitting each volume of the catalog into two parts, do you think Scott will expand the listings for these stamps? Yeah. I don't think so either.
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Hi Mathematicians;
If these stamps you speak of in Issue #2 are encountered in the general population as assorted singles, you are statistically more likely to encounter more low face values than high face values. This would be true whether they are CTO, used or mint.
The simplest method and the one I prefer is that of ratiometrics:
1) I divide the face value of a single, by the face value of the whole set. this will yield a decimal number less than 1 (a fraction).
2) Multiply this decimal fraction by the set value and round down to nearest 5¢.
3) for a complete set which I normally bump up slightly, do not round these down, as complete sets are favored by most collectors and therefore worth more to those collectors.
4) another rule I use is my topicals rule:
Popular topics are more desirable than boring ones, so for a complete set of popular topics I adjust a small bump up. For example, a set of butterflies, is worth more than a set of Russian Communist party leaders, or famous political figures. The exception would be maybe Guthrum as his interests are in Russian history.
Hope I have confused you by now....and I can't even remember where I put my coffee cup!
My head hurts....
TuskenRaider
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With so many equations I believe that people is forgetting what stamp collecting is all about.
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Do not try to overthink. Short sets appeal to those on a budget and should be priced accordingly.
Hint - when I wonder what an item should be priced at I usually head on over to the new Bidstart (Hipstamp) and type the country and catalog number into the search box. You can sort numerous ways and even select to see only one listing from each dealer (saves time when a dealer has 50 or 60 identical stamps all at 4 cents each).
It's quick and easy and is as close to market value as your will get. You will also find pricing errors (I priced a Poland imperforate today that catalogs $4.00. Two dealers had decent copies for less than a quarter - most were in the %1.00 to $1.35 range.
Aesthetics always comes into play on used stamps - two identical stamps, both correctly described as FVF may be properly priced differently depending on the cancel. Is it face-free, is it neat or is there a smudge, etc etc..... I had a dealer from NYC sit at my table one day and pick out 15 stamps priced at 10 cents or less. He handed me a $20 bill and told me to keep the change - his customers pay dearly for aesthetics....
Don't overthink and don't look back. We have all given away great stuff for pennies - it's good for business.
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Since I enter stamps individually into my inventory, I do exactly what Ken (Tusken Raider) suggests.
Since I am an accountant, it does NOT take away from my enjoyment of the hobby--
quite the opposite. (MS Excel makes it easy, actually, at least for me)
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"Since I am an accountant, it does NOT take away from my enjoyment of the hobby--
quite the opposite. (MS Excel makes it easy, actually, at least for me)"
I'm not an accountant (nor do I play one on TV), but I understand what Bob is saying. I use Microsoft Suite programs daily in my work, so it's a tool I will reach for when I have a need in my hobby.
I have a MS Excel spread sheet for the New Jersey cover collection. It lists town, county, whether the post office is current or a DPO, the date established and the date closed if it's a DPO.
I recently wanted to be able to determine how difficult a postmark may be to obtain by how many years it was in existence. It's very easy to include a quick calculation of date closed minus date established equals.. but then I'd get erroneous information for those still open if the date closed field was blank. That's when I got to learn a bit more about Excel formulas. I needed an IF statement that said, IF date closed is blank, value = current year. That took me a while to figure out and was pretty cool when I saw it work!
Life was good for a day or so until I saw that my formula didn't work if the date established and date closed was the same year... there are a bunch of those in New Jersey history, post offices open for less than a year. So I needed an additional IF statement that said IF date established and date closed are equal, value = 1.
This was fun for me, and I learned a bit more about Excel that will help me in my career as well.
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I used to use Excel as well, but it is so limited as an inventory program. It is designed for number crunching. For inventory, use MS Access, or Open Office Base, as inventory is data, and stamps are inventory.
I did make the to move to Access in 2011, and have been developing my Access file ever since. I like the graphics-friendliness of Access, and the wonderful flexibility of search and sort.
I've had to teach myself Visual Basic programming in order to get exactly the functionality I wished, but that's been fun too.
A really big feature of the database programs is that they are designed to output reports, or even numeric (numbers, dates, currencies, etc) data to spreadsheet programs if additional number-crunching or charts are required. I like to keep all my arithmetic in the database program, so program all my requirements in visual basic, then trigger those functions in the appropriate user form.
I use my stamp collection database program daily, and I really enjoy it.
I have seen some pretty incredible Excel applications, but it is limited in it's ability to create user forms, reports and graphics, as these are normally database attributes.
Here is a screenshot of the user form which I use most often, to add a stamp definition, or add a stamp to inventory.
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02:53:57pm
This thread is a hoot. 
I get the idea you guys spend as much time on inventorying your stamps and calculating their catalog, gross, retail and wholesale "values" as singles, sets, pages and albums as you do putting a hinge on the stamps and affixing them to an album page.
Oh I forgot you probably use hingeless mounts of some kind.
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Frankly, for me the value of my collection is way, way down on the list of importance.
My time spent "inventorying" is where I get the most enjoyment, then seeing the collection grow, with sets becoming complete and any given country's history and culture displayable through stamps. I don't need all the stamps, but a good representative selection is a good place to pause. With every stamp added, I get the satisfaction of seeing the stamp image and all of the stamp information simultaneously. Then, I view the set, or country, or my whole collection graphically. It is always a treat for me.
It has always seemed odd to me how many people write in to various blogs, wondering how much their, or Grandpa's collection is "worth". My silent thought has always been: "Thousands upon thousands of hours of pure enjoyment!"
My inventory program just satisfies my desire to have ALL the information at my fingertips.
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07:33:52am
" .... My time spent "inventorying" is where I get the most enjoyment, ...."
My point exactly. Do what you enjoy and enjoy what you do. That is what almost any hobby should be about. Any time, "I should do this," or, "I have to do that," replace, "I want to do this ...., " the hobby becomes a chore and we go back to the Tom Sawyer rule; "Work is what you have to do."
To me, inventorying, listing, calculating and so on seems tedious. Others feel differently.
Worrying whether my collection can be sold when I'm gone for a profit or not, or whether they will make a decent bonfire on a chilly morning is a choice I find it easy to ignore.
Opening an album to add thr last issue needed for completing a page is a pleasure, finding an obscure minor variation a thrill and creating a new page that I can admire, my enjoyment.
Actually I also like writing cranky notes as well.
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The best database solution is SQL (any flavor). Desktop databases like MS Access can be a nightmare on many levels. The ugliest issue with an app like MS Access is that it uses common files in Windows. In other words if you install multiple applications which all use MS Access database files they can, and will, step on each other. You update one app and it break the other MS Access based app you have installed. Additionally desktop apps are a dead end, the world moved online years ago. Today’s database apps are online SQL based apps. This makes them easy to update, easy to distribute, easy to support. SQL will also be around for decades to come; it is a standardized, cross platform technology with incredible market saturation. If anyone is considering spending time on a database app I highly recommend they learn and use SQL.
"...I have verbally said so to Scott. The real reason is to save space in the catalog..."
I don’t think it has as much to do with saving space as saving time and money. Amos uses Adobe FrameMaker to design and layout the catalogs. Think MS Word on steroids. While this might have been a solution back in 1996 it is a horrid solution for them now. They need a database but have never invested in one. So updating the catalog each year is a massive, labor intensive undertaking. Plus they have to train and use people who are proficient in FrameMaker. This is like finding people who are trained in shoeing horses; there are a few around but not a ‘buyers market’ when it comes to hiring.
"This thread is a hoot. I get the idea you guys spend as much time on inventorying your stamps and calculating their catalog, gross, retail and wholesale "values" as singles, sets, pages and albums as you do putting a hinge on the stamps and affixing them to an album page."
Actually I spend time on databases because I want to help other hobbyists. It is the correct format and technology to use if you want to invest time and effort into something that will still be relevant several decades from now. It is the correct environment if you want to share your work with others. It is not a ‘hoot’ for me, it is my ‘giving back’ to our great hobby.
Don
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...and Don, you do it so well! I very much appreciate your contributions and the links to your website. Very helpful!!
WB
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Hi Don,
I've never come across the problem you mention with having multiple Access databases. I build them for anything I can possibly imagine a need for, simply to practice different methods and data types. I've recently had to use windows 10 however; and I do see what might be something like you mention, or it is a conflict in some of the code I have written. I know there is one conflict, which I haven't gotten around to resolving yet. I also have upwards of 1,000 access databases on my computer, most of which are samples which I study for different methods.
I did consider SQ Lite, SQL Server, Open Office Base, and any other option for desktop use, but decided to stick with Access, as with Access Runtime, it can easily be installed and run on any windows machine. But the biggest reason is due to another application I developed, which seemed at the time, to be best suited to Access. That was when I first endeavored to learn programming, and that was in 2011. Since then, I have immersed myself in visual basic, and still know nothing of the other programming languages, except for SQL, of course.
One day, I am sure I'll have to learn C(??), and SQL Server, or whatever comes along by then, but for now, I'm not finished writing my Access application, and until I'm done, I suppose it's Access for me.
Thanks for your comment, it is appreciated.
Dennis
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Hi Dennis,
I supported various Access based databases throughout my career; it put a lot of food on my family table. I also developed and implemented a number of larger (company and/or state-wide) Access database apps. The file sharing issues occurred with any of the common DLLs including Access Jet engine files but in all fairness they cleaned up their act a lot in the newer versions in recent years. The issues do not occur if you write everything in the same version of Access, it reared its head when you had different versions of Access databases on the same Windows computer. I think that Access is fine as a personal database but is subject to the constant ‘version creep’ of the app and operating system. Every new version of Windows and/or Office is a recipe for a support nightmare; and a boon for IT people everywhere.
I applaud your efforts, what you have done is great. The screens shots you have posted on some of the stamp forums reflect the amount of time and effort you have poured into your app. Since you already have the tables and queries written in Access the jump to SQL is not that hard at all. You really only need to pick up some ASP or PHP to be able to generate the user interface aspects (forms and reports in Access-speak). If you are interested in the ‘self-learning’ approach (and considering your VB and Access background) you might want to check the older MS Expression Web tool - free for download from MS. It generates ASPX files (very close to ASP) and would give you a familiar wysiwyg environment to learn how to write data-connected web pages for your interface. In fact, you can connect your existing Access database as a data source in Expression Web. Within an hour you should be able to write web enabled reports that displays your existing Access data tables and queries. The ideal MS platform, but more difficult to learn, would be to use Visual Studio to do the same. Lastly, PHP (like SQL) is the most universal web enabled solution since it can be run in any environment (MS, Linux, etc.). But learning PHP is more like learning C and requires a pretty steep learning curve.
As far as SQL goes, you can download and install the free version of MS SQL Express or the MySQL. The SQL foundation really mostly serves up the tables, queries, and some routines. Your Access components should port over with a minimum of tweaks. So your challenge would not be with the SQL, it would be with the ASP and/or PHP.
Regards,
Don
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Hi Don,
You give me much to think about. I haven't time today to address all you have described, but will get back to you by private message as soon as I can.
Thanks!
Dennis
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I want to get a general sense on philosophy rather than getting into the weeds on specific stamps that may distract from developing a reasonable approach.
Issue #1: Individual stamps removed from a souvenir sheet
This has happened to me before. A souvenir sheet that is heavily hinged/taped/damaged but the stamp is intact. I've then removed the stamp and kept as is or for postage. For this example, lets say there is a set of 4...
Scotts shows the CVs as follows for the lowest 3 FV: all are minimum 25c Used; but MNH are $0.80 for the 70c denomination, $0.95 for the 80c, and $1.10 for the 90c.
Here's the tricky part: the high FV of $1.60 is listed only as a souvenir sheet at $3.00 MNH $2.25 Used. Being part of a souvenir sheet has to command a premium to a separated stamp, but being a much higher FV presumably must result in a higher CV than lower denominations. And, to complicate matters more, there are no proximate $1.60 denominations or stamps listed on or ex-souvenir sheets.
I have my usual mathematical approach to figuring out something I think is reasonable, but before I lay it out I'd love to hear some opinions on the question "what is an appropriate proxy-CV for the $1.60 stamp in Used and MNH condition"?
Issue #2: Sets listed only as sets
Another classic case (I assume) in breaking down collections. Scotts lists a set of 8 only as a set at, for example, $2.30. The 7 lowest denominations range from 5c to 75c but there is a single $1.25 denomination (usually conveniently missing).
If you just had the first 7 would a presumed-minimum CV of $1.75 (7 x 25c) be appropriate for the broken set? Would that then imply the $1.25 if found on its own would have a CV-proxy of $0.55 (2.30 - 1.75) or something (what?) less because it isn't part of an actual set.
My mind is fairly spinning today as I try to catch up and get some more Auctions/Approvals out there on this snow-blizzard day (-10C and 4 inches already after +15C and sunny Wednesday)...So many thanks! Dave.
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re: Proxy Catalogue Value For Stamps Listed - But Not Listed ...
Seems to me that Scott is trying to force us to collect stamps the way they want, just had an exchange with a fellow stamp collector and looks like all modern stamps are catalogued with the value as a set, not as a single stamp, seems to me that stamp collecting is becoming a stamp buying, am I the only one that feels this way?.
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re: Proxy Catalogue Value For Stamps Listed - But Not Listed ...
Dave, you put more rigor into your stamp value calculations than I did in some of my homework assignments in Calculus!
Can't offer too much on the broken-SS value question as I generally stay away from them. Not always, but generally.
And I didn't realize that Scott is valuing modern stamps only in sets. Most of my collection is pre-1965 and very little post-2000.
The biggest beef I have with Scott Catalogs is how they value the common stamp. They are all $0.25 regardless. They hide behind the statement, "this accounts for the cost of inventorying, displaying, yada, yada, yada..." That's a cop out. There are some stamps worth as much Deutschmarks during the Weimar inflation period, regardless of how much someone inventories or displays them.
Scott would do the community a service by setting the value of those "dime a dozen" stamps at just that -- about a penny. So a stamp listed at $0.25 has some value and I would expect to pay, say, 10 or 15 or even 25 cents. But stamps listed at $0.01 are material for the penny box, the Holocaust Project, or a scout decoupage project.
To get a better sense of a stamp's or a collection's catalog value, I simply subtract $0.25 from the CV of each stamp before adding. For higher values, the difference is minimal. It gives be a better baseline estimate of how I should value a collection for replacement value, purchase cost, etc.
-Steve
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Approvals
re: Proxy Catalogue Value For Stamps Listed - But Not Listed ...
Yup! When I was 13 years old, I spent a considerable amount of time happily calculating my net worth in my duplicates. Note that this was pre-calculator era. I was quite happy and smug for a while, until I showed my father how I was easily on my way to my first million dollars... then he gave me that life lesson that a collectible was only worth what someone would pay for it.
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re: Proxy Catalogue Value For Stamps Listed - But Not Listed ...
Issue #1 - It depends. If the stamps from the souvenir sheet are identical to the set stamps, then use those values. If the stamps from the souvenir sheet are different, check out the difference between the souvenir sheet singles and the set stamps and pro-rate it. If it is an older souvenir sheet, many times Scott values the single stamps from souvenir sheets.
Issue #2 - I have seen this done different ways. You can try to find a set of stamps before Scott valued stamps in sets as one set and see how those values match up with the combined set value. You can just use the minimum value for all but the last stamp in the set (usually a good idea), you can look up the set in a Gibbons catalog and see how the individual stamps are valued, and adjust the values to dollars. You can take the total value of the set and divide it by the number of stamps in the set and use that number (many do this). Probably the best method is just presume that the CTO stamps in the short set are worthless and price them at minimal value.
Scott states that they list newer stamps and sheets as sets only, because thats the way they are most offered to collectors, rather than being sold as individual stamps. Bull. I have verbally said so to Scott. The real reason is to save space in the catalog. So, now that they are splitting each volume of the catalog into two parts, do you think Scott will expand the listings for these stamps? Yeah. I don't think so either.
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re: Proxy Catalogue Value For Stamps Listed - But Not Listed ...
Hi Mathematicians;
If these stamps you speak of in Issue #2 are encountered in the general population as assorted singles, you are statistically more likely to encounter more low face values than high face values. This would be true whether they are CTO, used or mint.
The simplest method and the one I prefer is that of ratiometrics:
1) I divide the face value of a single, by the face value of the whole set. this will yield a decimal number less than 1 (a fraction).
2) Multiply this decimal fraction by the set value and round down to nearest 5¢.
3) for a complete set which I normally bump up slightly, do not round these down, as complete sets are favored by most collectors and therefore worth more to those collectors.
4) another rule I use is my topicals rule:
Popular topics are more desirable than boring ones, so for a complete set of popular topics I adjust a small bump up. For example, a set of butterflies, is worth more than a set of Russian Communist party leaders, or famous political figures. The exception would be maybe Guthrum as his interests are in Russian history.
Hope I have confused you by now....and I can't even remember where I put my coffee cup!
My head hurts....
TuskenRaider
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re: Proxy Catalogue Value For Stamps Listed - But Not Listed ...
With so many equations I believe that people is forgetting what stamp collecting is all about.
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re: Proxy Catalogue Value For Stamps Listed - But Not Listed ...
Do not try to overthink. Short sets appeal to those on a budget and should be priced accordingly.
Hint - when I wonder what an item should be priced at I usually head on over to the new Bidstart (Hipstamp) and type the country and catalog number into the search box. You can sort numerous ways and even select to see only one listing from each dealer (saves time when a dealer has 50 or 60 identical stamps all at 4 cents each).
It's quick and easy and is as close to market value as your will get. You will also find pricing errors (I priced a Poland imperforate today that catalogs $4.00. Two dealers had decent copies for less than a quarter - most were in the %1.00 to $1.35 range.
Aesthetics always comes into play on used stamps - two identical stamps, both correctly described as FVF may be properly priced differently depending on the cancel. Is it face-free, is it neat or is there a smudge, etc etc..... I had a dealer from NYC sit at my table one day and pick out 15 stamps priced at 10 cents or less. He handed me a $20 bill and told me to keep the change - his customers pay dearly for aesthetics....
Don't overthink and don't look back. We have all given away great stuff for pennies - it's good for business.
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re: Proxy Catalogue Value For Stamps Listed - But Not Listed ...
Since I enter stamps individually into my inventory, I do exactly what Ken (Tusken Raider) suggests.
Since I am an accountant, it does NOT take away from my enjoyment of the hobby--
quite the opposite. (MS Excel makes it easy, actually, at least for me)
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re: Proxy Catalogue Value For Stamps Listed - But Not Listed ...
"Since I am an accountant, it does NOT take away from my enjoyment of the hobby--
quite the opposite. (MS Excel makes it easy, actually, at least for me)"
I'm not an accountant (nor do I play one on TV), but I understand what Bob is saying. I use Microsoft Suite programs daily in my work, so it's a tool I will reach for when I have a need in my hobby.
I have a MS Excel spread sheet for the New Jersey cover collection. It lists town, county, whether the post office is current or a DPO, the date established and the date closed if it's a DPO.
I recently wanted to be able to determine how difficult a postmark may be to obtain by how many years it was in existence. It's very easy to include a quick calculation of date closed minus date established equals.. but then I'd get erroneous information for those still open if the date closed field was blank. That's when I got to learn a bit more about Excel formulas. I needed an IF statement that said, IF date closed is blank, value = current year. That took me a while to figure out and was pretty cool when I saw it work!
Life was good for a day or so until I saw that my formula didn't work if the date established and date closed was the same year... there are a bunch of those in New Jersey history, post offices open for less than a year. So I needed an additional IF statement that said IF date established and date closed are equal, value = 1.
This was fun for me, and I learned a bit more about Excel that will help me in my career as well.
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11:40:36am
re: Proxy Catalogue Value For Stamps Listed - But Not Listed ...
I used to use Excel as well, but it is so limited as an inventory program. It is designed for number crunching. For inventory, use MS Access, or Open Office Base, as inventory is data, and stamps are inventory.
I did make the to move to Access in 2011, and have been developing my Access file ever since. I like the graphics-friendliness of Access, and the wonderful flexibility of search and sort.
I've had to teach myself Visual Basic programming in order to get exactly the functionality I wished, but that's been fun too.
A really big feature of the database programs is that they are designed to output reports, or even numeric (numbers, dates, currencies, etc) data to spreadsheet programs if additional number-crunching or charts are required. I like to keep all my arithmetic in the database program, so program all my requirements in visual basic, then trigger those functions in the appropriate user form.
I use my stamp collection database program daily, and I really enjoy it.
I have seen some pretty incredible Excel applications, but it is limited in it's ability to create user forms, reports and graphics, as these are normally database attributes.
Here is a screenshot of the user form which I use most often, to add a stamp definition, or add a stamp to inventory.
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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
05 Mar 2017
02:53:57pm
re: Proxy Catalogue Value For Stamps Listed - But Not Listed ...
This thread is a hoot.
I get the idea you guys spend as much time on inventorying your stamps and calculating their catalog, gross, retail and wholesale "values" as singles, sets, pages and albums as you do putting a hinge on the stamps and affixing them to an album page.
Oh I forgot you probably use hingeless mounts of some kind.
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03:54:40pm
re: Proxy Catalogue Value For Stamps Listed - But Not Listed ...
Frankly, for me the value of my collection is way, way down on the list of importance.
My time spent "inventorying" is where I get the most enjoyment, then seeing the collection grow, with sets becoming complete and any given country's history and culture displayable through stamps. I don't need all the stamps, but a good representative selection is a good place to pause. With every stamp added, I get the satisfaction of seeing the stamp image and all of the stamp information simultaneously. Then, I view the set, or country, or my whole collection graphically. It is always a treat for me.
It has always seemed odd to me how many people write in to various blogs, wondering how much their, or Grandpa's collection is "worth". My silent thought has always been: "Thousands upon thousands of hours of pure enjoyment!"
My inventory program just satisfies my desire to have ALL the information at my fingertips.
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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
06 Mar 2017
07:33:52am
re: Proxy Catalogue Value For Stamps Listed - But Not Listed ...
" .... My time spent "inventorying" is where I get the most enjoyment, ...."
My point exactly. Do what you enjoy and enjoy what you do. That is what almost any hobby should be about. Any time, "I should do this," or, "I have to do that," replace, "I want to do this ...., " the hobby becomes a chore and we go back to the Tom Sawyer rule; "Work is what you have to do."
To me, inventorying, listing, calculating and so on seems tedious. Others feel differently.
Worrying whether my collection can be sold when I'm gone for a profit or not, or whether they will make a decent bonfire on a chilly morning is a choice I find it easy to ignore.
Opening an album to add thr last issue needed for completing a page is a pleasure, finding an obscure minor variation a thrill and creating a new page that I can admire, my enjoyment.
Actually I also like writing cranky notes as well.
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re: Proxy Catalogue Value For Stamps Listed - But Not Listed ...
The best database solution is SQL (any flavor). Desktop databases like MS Access can be a nightmare on many levels. The ugliest issue with an app like MS Access is that it uses common files in Windows. In other words if you install multiple applications which all use MS Access database files they can, and will, step on each other. You update one app and it break the other MS Access based app you have installed. Additionally desktop apps are a dead end, the world moved online years ago. Today’s database apps are online SQL based apps. This makes them easy to update, easy to distribute, easy to support. SQL will also be around for decades to come; it is a standardized, cross platform technology with incredible market saturation. If anyone is considering spending time on a database app I highly recommend they learn and use SQL.
"...I have verbally said so to Scott. The real reason is to save space in the catalog..."
I don’t think it has as much to do with saving space as saving time and money. Amos uses Adobe FrameMaker to design and layout the catalogs. Think MS Word on steroids. While this might have been a solution back in 1996 it is a horrid solution for them now. They need a database but have never invested in one. So updating the catalog each year is a massive, labor intensive undertaking. Plus they have to train and use people who are proficient in FrameMaker. This is like finding people who are trained in shoeing horses; there are a few around but not a ‘buyers market’ when it comes to hiring.
"This thread is a hoot. I get the idea you guys spend as much time on inventorying your stamps and calculating their catalog, gross, retail and wholesale "values" as singles, sets, pages and albums as you do putting a hinge on the stamps and affixing them to an album page."
Actually I spend time on databases because I want to help other hobbyists. It is the correct format and technology to use if you want to invest time and effort into something that will still be relevant several decades from now. It is the correct environment if you want to share your work with others. It is not a ‘hoot’ for me, it is my ‘giving back’ to our great hobby.
Don
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re: Proxy Catalogue Value For Stamps Listed - But Not Listed ...
...and Don, you do it so well! I very much appreciate your contributions and the links to your website. Very helpful!!
WB
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02:42:17pm
re: Proxy Catalogue Value For Stamps Listed - But Not Listed ...
Hi Don,
I've never come across the problem you mention with having multiple Access databases. I build them for anything I can possibly imagine a need for, simply to practice different methods and data types. I've recently had to use windows 10 however; and I do see what might be something like you mention, or it is a conflict in some of the code I have written. I know there is one conflict, which I haven't gotten around to resolving yet. I also have upwards of 1,000 access databases on my computer, most of which are samples which I study for different methods.
I did consider SQ Lite, SQL Server, Open Office Base, and any other option for desktop use, but decided to stick with Access, as with Access Runtime, it can easily be installed and run on any windows machine. But the biggest reason is due to another application I developed, which seemed at the time, to be best suited to Access. That was when I first endeavored to learn programming, and that was in 2011. Since then, I have immersed myself in visual basic, and still know nothing of the other programming languages, except for SQL, of course.
One day, I am sure I'll have to learn C(??), and SQL Server, or whatever comes along by then, but for now, I'm not finished writing my Access application, and until I'm done, I suppose it's Access for me.
Thanks for your comment, it is appreciated.
Dennis
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re: Proxy Catalogue Value For Stamps Listed - But Not Listed ...
Hi Dennis,
I supported various Access based databases throughout my career; it put a lot of food on my family table. I also developed and implemented a number of larger (company and/or state-wide) Access database apps. The file sharing issues occurred with any of the common DLLs including Access Jet engine files but in all fairness they cleaned up their act a lot in the newer versions in recent years. The issues do not occur if you write everything in the same version of Access, it reared its head when you had different versions of Access databases on the same Windows computer. I think that Access is fine as a personal database but is subject to the constant ‘version creep’ of the app and operating system. Every new version of Windows and/or Office is a recipe for a support nightmare; and a boon for IT people everywhere.
I applaud your efforts, what you have done is great. The screens shots you have posted on some of the stamp forums reflect the amount of time and effort you have poured into your app. Since you already have the tables and queries written in Access the jump to SQL is not that hard at all. You really only need to pick up some ASP or PHP to be able to generate the user interface aspects (forms and reports in Access-speak). If you are interested in the ‘self-learning’ approach (and considering your VB and Access background) you might want to check the older MS Expression Web tool - free for download from MS. It generates ASPX files (very close to ASP) and would give you a familiar wysiwyg environment to learn how to write data-connected web pages for your interface. In fact, you can connect your existing Access database as a data source in Expression Web. Within an hour you should be able to write web enabled reports that displays your existing Access data tables and queries. The ideal MS platform, but more difficult to learn, would be to use Visual Studio to do the same. Lastly, PHP (like SQL) is the most universal web enabled solution since it can be run in any environment (MS, Linux, etc.). But learning PHP is more like learning C and requires a pretty steep learning curve.
As far as SQL goes, you can download and install the free version of MS SQL Express or the MySQL. The SQL foundation really mostly serves up the tables, queries, and some routines. Your Access components should port over with a minimum of tweaks. So your challenge would not be with the SQL, it would be with the ASP and/or PHP.
Regards,
Don
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10:22:44am
re: Proxy Catalogue Value For Stamps Listed - But Not Listed ...
Hi Don,
You give me much to think about. I haven't time today to address all you have described, but will get back to you by private message as soon as I can.
Thanks!
Dennis
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