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I have a lot of stamps in an old statesman album and an older Harris album….what do you think of moving them to a stock book like this?

Bro i jus have a lil notebook were i pit cool and ecspensive stamps and ill probly stop after a month chz ill find another hyperfixesion and forget about this :/

Hi Chris! Great video. You are really making us think about our collecting habits and procedures.🙂 I have been collecting for about two years now. During the first year I bought large amounts of stamps, and certainly touching on impulse buying. Some of the purchases were not so good, but as I didn't spent huge amounts of money per item - always tried to buy a "bargain" - I don't really have regrets. I really have a large accumulation of thousands of stamps now. It doesn't really bother me, though. I love to have the potential of hours and hours of fun with the stamps. We recently moved, and I enjoyed it tremendously to pack and unpack the packets/envelopes/boxes/stock books and albums with old stamp collections. I don't worry that the stamps are there, unsorted. There is no pressure on me to deal with them in a certain time period. After the first year of buying, I stopped buying, only buying a few things at the stamp fairs, but nothing in excess. So I feel no pressure to buy, either, but I do not go on the stamp buying platforms, otherwise there is the urge to buy some interesting stamp lots and bargain buys. What stresses me out is things I still have to do, e.g. unboxing gifts on camera!!!!! I am behind and it is killing me that I am letting people down. Really thanks for he video, Chris. I loved to see some of your surroundings! It is lovely!!! But, brrrrr, snow! It seems to be pretty cold.

Hello, Chris! Thanks for this video! At some points I recognized myself) Like!

Thanks for the discussion Chris. I think it applies to all collectors, whether they know it or not! I am still trying to get rid of some of my other collections, due to space restrictions and leaving the resell business. Have recently started into stamp collecting which I stopped when I was 12 or so. Always found it fascinating and never got rid of any of it over the years. Right away I bought widely to get all the material I wanted as a child and quickly realized the enormity of what was available. Had a budget from the outset though and kept to it…….. roughly. Ha ha. Now my collecting areas are quite narrow so it’s manageable but I still don’t get purchases dealt with immediately and end up with relatively expensive duplicates. But I love shopping the wide world of philately even if it’s just to look and learn. Thanks to auction catalogs I enjoy the finest of items if only vicariously. If one is wealthy then enjoy! If you aren’t there’s plenty to enjoy also. It should never be a burden in any respect. It is a journey for sure, an infinity of education and entertainment disguised as a hobby. Great topic.

I saw your message on your latest video about hoarding and collecting and with this video just after that now I can see where you were coming from, and I should say I feel the same way and I believe we philately lovers mostly do as the hobby requires sorting cataloging organizin constantly and presenting so yes I cannot feel good when stamps are acumulating knowing I will not be able to organize them and knowing they are valued in cents and if I see not much for my personal growth and has better projects , the next thing that keeps me happy then yes I cannot feel good… and again yes always seems like wow this is a good deal rush but then waiting for that to be delivered and I forget why I bought that stamp 😂 and it is annoying..

Thank you for a very pertinent video. It describes me exactly until a few years ago. I got "hooked" on auctions. I just had to bid on auction lots that contained countries I collect. Of course, the lots contained countries I don't collect. Even after all this time, I haven't completed sorting all the stamps I purchased. The good news is I did cut back, nearly stopped, buying at auction. I am almost done sorting. Much will be donated. Some of the better I will sell. Thanks again. This was a video many collectors need to see.

I love the images of your “neighborhood”; it could absolutely be my neighbourhood. My home looks very similar. And yes, I have glassines of “stuff” and random bits of my collection as well as highly organized parts. I am completely OK with giving away some or trading as well. I also am able to put items in the stamp club auction a few times a year which helps too. But I suspect there will always be extra bits that I will never get to. I have never really regretted a purchase as of yet. At the last auction, I even regretted not making a winning bid on an item😂. Keep up the great work!

That was really helpful, thank you!

Veel reacties inderdaad. Ik heb dat ook wel een beetje. Voor mij is de oplossing, alle searches op ebay en Marktplaats uitzetten. Op de club zit ik ook meer op mijn handen en bied alleen bij echte interessante zegels. Het geeft me absoluut geen slecht gevoel dat er nog zegels op me wachten. Wel heb ik voor mezelf nu gezegd dat de boeken van andere landen en zegels die ik niet spaar naar de ruilbeurs gaan. De tas staat al klaar. Dan kunnen andere mensen daar lekker in neuzen. Eerst dacht ik: ik moet kijken of er nog iets zeldzaams tussen zit. Maar dat gebeurd toch zelden, ik heb liever dat er iemand wat aan heeft. Mooie beelden trouwens die je filmt. Waanzinnige omgeving en mooie shots erbij. Vooral doorgaan(Barry Hughes, als je die nog kent).

Hi Chris. To prevent what has happened to you (and to a lot of collectors) to buy whatever one get excited for I have a totally different approach which in the end satisfies me much more because I do not have any regrets ever! I made a decision about 7 years ago of what countries to collect and ended up at about 10 to 12 countries. I also decided not to collect them all at once, but start with three countries. So I started with all parts of Germany in history, Great Britain and China. The Netherlands I already had almost complete as I am living in the Netherlands too. I made a document with all stamps and series there are for these countries (quite a lot of work...) and there catalogue values plus some data to recognize them. Then I set a monthly budget. and that is all I need!! So each month I search the internet for the best sales I can get for some stamps or series I want to buy and when I have reached my budget I stop. And while waiting them to arrive, I start searching a for next month's buys which really gives me a lot of pleasure:) Of course anyone should do their own way they feel happy about, but I never have laying envelopes of stamps around and almost no doublures which satisfies me a lot!

A splendid array of well considered insights and attending views I'd say; all most interesting and helpful that same. Over my own collecting career of some sixty years now, I've con- cluded that our collecting is to be Improved Collecting IF we are able to craft out of it some GREATER GOOD done ( at-parity at least ) à propos the pleasure we've derived from it. Plus pleas- ure and reward even-the-more . . . coming from the very ANTICI- PATION of that ! ) A fine example of this having been ( and going-still ) your own series of very personal presentations on "Chris Loves Stamps" Pro your part as just described, I'd vote 'mission accomplished' and going-still !! You inform, uplift and get us all TO THINK !! What more could there be of necessity than that??? Well, if there might be such, YOU will discover and impart it to WE subscribers, it surely being only a matter of time.

I was on an impulse buying streak for a few months and I have been happy with my coin and stamp buys but I don't care for having so much. So I started to track how much I spent on coins and stamps each week. It has helped immensely. I also find doing postcrossing is a great way to use excess stamps and part with some things that you don't really value as much. I also sell some extras on ebay. I do collect some of the post cards I get and once or twice a year I go through them and discard those I feel aren't that special anymore. I still think I have too much but it is because I have some long-term collecting goals that would be impeded if I keep doing excessive impulse buying.

Great topic. I guess it depends on the stage of your individual collection. In the beginning, especially during the gathering stage, it can all feel overwhelming. Balancing life and the hobby can be challenging at times. The way I collect, the process can take awhile. You need to acquire the stamps, buy the album, create the custom pages, buy the mounts etc. I create custom pages and mount, only when I complete a given set and accurately measure each stamp. It drives me crazy when a stamp doesn't perfectly fit a mount because of the selvage. Given the above, it's absolutely normal for me to have unorganized stamps lying around.

Chris, like you said most of us have been there. I too have bought a load of stamps, and fountain pens, on impulse and have some regret. I usually put them aside for a while and finish what I started. I may get back to it a few months later. When I do I appreciate it more and the negative feelings go away. I try to discipline my self to buy only what I need. I do end up with a lot of extra stamps which I have recently started sending to others. As I have recently decided to concentrate on specific areas and topics I will slowly dispose of my World Wide collection. When it gets to the point where I feel overwhelmed, I take break for a few days, go for walks or work on something else. Stay well.

What a great topic Chris! It is so easy to get overwhelmed when collecting and the hobby can begin to feel like a chore, which is exactly opposite to the point. I believe it is very important to be mindful during all phases of collecting and to think about what parts of the collecting process bring joy beyond the instant thrill of buying things. I love what you said about making sure to not just store things after buying them - it is important to deal with what you have before acquiring more. However, I do understand exceptions can be made for unusual or special acquisition opportunities such as something in your collecting area not common that is very under priced... but it we need to be careful and decide if we will see something like that again or whether it is truly unique in that moment. My approach to collecting world collecting is to take things one step at a time and enjoy all the steps along the way. I was sorting some stamps this morning with magnification eye glasses (sold as reader glasses for older people) and was really enjoying looking closely at all of the designs. I like to at least get to the step where I have removed all damaged, removed any supplies that are not usable, soaked all stamps on paper and get stamps sorted by country and into my pre-collection filing system before acquiring more, and sometimes I go many months before getting new material, and sometimes some crazy good opportunity happens and I get a lot of material in a short amount of time. If I have some material I am not enthusiastic about and it has been sitting for a long time, I will pass it along and free up the space (both physically and in my mind). For long-term collectors, it is fun to say to yourself "I feel like collecting stamps today" and to consider whether you want to soak some stamps, put some stamps into a stock book, look up some stamps by catalog to get better organized, etc. There is always a balance to having stuff accumulate, letting things go and focusing on the joy these things bring. If it doesn't bring joy, it's time to pass it along to someone else that might enjoy it.

Oh wow, this video is right up my alley. I don't buy a lot, but I buy often. My local club meetings always have a small auction / donation books, etc and I tend to come home every week with $5 - $10 of 'stuff' that goes into a box. At the end of the year I've spend several hundred dollars but don't really have anything more than an oddball mix of stuff. I'd be better off buying a nice collection to build on each year instead, but like you say, the thrill of the small purchase can be overpowering. Hope all is well, Chris! Love the nature shots. 💖

Bonjour Chris. Merci and thank you for this other really interesting video of yours. Although there are a few missing pieces that I am (almost) constantly looking for online, I never have a precise plan nor limitation when I buy online. Well, let me take the last one back as, of course, there is always the money limitation. Each time I browse online, I am looking forward to "falling in love" with a cover. And more often than none, it does happen! Once I did my purchase, I am eagerly expecting my order. I never wait a second longer than needed to open the enveloppe or package received. And then I am like a little kid, filled with joy and amazement when looking at the covers. To me, they are precious time travellers, and I treat them as such. Tomorrow I will make my next video by the ruins of my town's 10th century castle. I hope you will enjoy it. As always, sending my very best wishes from Provence 😊

Thanks for making this video and the previous one on setting goals for stamp collecting in 2025. I am in that regret stage right now. For the past few months, I have been in that impulse buying stage. Constantly buying new offers off eBay. Then, I sat down and saw the piles of envelopes from various eBay sellers. Right now, I am weening myself off eBay by sitting down, opening each envelope, looking at what I bought, realizing how many duplicate orders I made, and providing feedback to each seller. This tells me just how much I have sitting unprocessed. As I do this process, I am working on the plan and process of putting stamps in albums and stock pages. As I do this, I am trying to verbalize and write down the goals for collecting that you spoke about in your previous video. This is a long-term process and project, just like you emphasized. Fortunately I have an adult son whom I can swap or give stamps to, along with being a part of two stamp collecting clubs where I can swap, trade, and give away part of my horde and impulse accumulation. Thanks for your help.

I think it is important to have both a long term and day to day plan. How one collects is so individualistic that what works fine for me may not for someone else. The fundamental question remains- am I enjoying philately? I do believe this hobby offers something for anyone. Thanks so much for the presentation. Best, Bill 😊

Hi Chris. As you know, I have cut down my collections, and they became unmanageable. Now I can concentrate on the 6 countries I have chosen to collect and enjoy collecting again.

An important subject. I sell off duplication on ebay or trade for items I could use.

Hi Chris, I have historical and international collection of 4000+ stamps well maintained in stamp books. A crazy variety. I'm looking for a serious buyer. Any guidance?

Hi Chris, I have historical and international collection of 4000+ stamps well maintained in stamp books. A crazy variety. I'm looking for a buyer. Any guidance?

Thanks for this video Chris. You've given me a lot of food for thought, along with ideas for my UA-cam channel. One big problem I have is that I have spread myself far too thin with my various philatelic activities: UA-cam channel; stamp forum; Facebook group (Classical Music On Stamps); Substack blog; editing a dealers' association newsletter; and posting on BlueSky (oh yeah, and running a HipStamp store). I'm always reminded of the credo espoused by KFC, "Do one thing, and do it right." I did quit Twitter (only to fill that void with BlueSky), and I have virtually abandoned Instagram. So I guess that's a start.

The main thing here is time. If you have enough time, I don't see a problem with sitting in the evening and sorting postage stamps. Happy collecting!

Did you fall victim to impulse buying? Or maybe you have never. Does it bother you if you have a lot of unsorted stamps? I would be really interested to know your thoughts on this. Have you developed a way, method, approach to avoid or deal with this? Thank you for watching!

Thank you, Chris, I really enjoyed this episode, it made me think about planning, and inspired me. It was interesting to see how you think and plan for the year ahead. I am busy with a status update of my collecting video, but I refrained so far from planning. I think I am a bit afraid to do it. I struggle a bit at the moment to be productive and also struggle with making the UA-cam videos for some reason. I think I want to improve and I don't know how. I am looking forward to your videos for 2025. The series on stories from stamps is going to be very interesting and enjoyable to watch. I also like that you are going to give updates on specific countries and your progress with them. In that way one can learn a lot about a country and its stamps. I am sure your videos are going to be successful, regardless whether you follow the "gurus". My channel is growing extremely slowly in comparison with others, and every now and then it bothers me, but then I just decide I have to stay true to myself, try to improve, but if I didn't have a channel I would not have had something like channel growth to worry about, so I just try to ignore it. I try to remain focusing on what I want to tell and share. It seems like you are really focusing in your stamp collecting. But it is an organic beast and you will have to re-focus every now and then. That is what I find. I also like all the channels you mentioned. One can really be inspired by them. Speaking about inspiration - I am now contemplating to make a "planning" video as well. If I do, I will refer to you as the inspiration. 🙂

Great video, really enjoyed how you are planning out 2025. For 2025 my stamp community goal is to successfully run my local stamp club’s annual show in April - it’s a lot of work but very rewarding. My individual collecting goals include learning more about US revenue stamps and continuing my study of Colombian airmail rates to the U.S. 1957-1963. Colombian records were destroyed so I am trying to find a cover from every month to determine rate changes.

Thank you for this video. I just watched the most recent video from Jerry's Stamps. Both of you hit home with me. I need to set specific goals for my collecting in 2025. I spent a lot of money on unplanned, impulse buying. I need to get focused. This is especially important when I discovered just how many plastic shoe boxes of stamps I have bought and where I haven't opened up the envelope. I have succeeded in gathering up enough supplies that I just need to get organized and happy with a plan to follow. Thank you again for a framework to work in and ideas I need to consider.

Appreciate the kind words. Great goals! By the way, I love your multi-angles-they inspire me

Great episode once again Chris. And a nice shout out to a few other philatelic channels. Ken is one of my favourites as well (along with yourself). I don’t generally set specific goals heading into a new year but here are a few things I can see me working on: completing my Vario sheet collection of British Commonwealth, building up my stamp journal (I see it kind of as an old school Instagram project- stamps and info. mounted in a journal), organizing my maps on stamps and foxes on stamps topicals, building my Captain James Cook topicals collection, and adding to Romania, Isle of Man, and a few other countries. Phew! There is lots more on the go too. Personally, I am living more intentionally and slowly. I am learning more and more to appreciate the small things and to continue to spend time in nature. Take good care and keep up the great work!

First at all Happy New Year all Luck to you and your Family. Sometimes it’s Hard to have an Focus at some Stamps for me. But for 2025 I will take the Main Focus at my BRD Stamps I bought 20kilo German stamps so I got a lot to do 😂😅but these boxes are awesome, a lot of good stuff I purchased privately.last year I bought 200g of like the dealer said old stock stamps but I was completely disappointed about it. Late 90s stamps and the same. So I will never buy from this dealer.

Very good lesson! For me, stamp collecting is not a race. I have a lifetime to do it and I do it prudently. If I don't buy something today, I'll buy it next year. Haste is a bad advisor in this hobby. My plan for 2025 is to further clean up my collection. Acquiring new qualities is fun and rewarding but you can't forget what you already have. To you as well as the viewers, I wish you much health and a full wallet. Not only for life... But also for the hobby! Warm greetings to you and all viewers! Wojtek

OMG, Chris. There is so much to process and to say after watching your video. Above all, THANK YOU for inspiring me and for your support! Now, hell yes, in order to be true to ourself, we only have to showcase philatelic material that we love and collect. There is nothing selfish about it as it is what defines our channel, with always the goal that someone out there will enjoy what (s)he sees and decides to start collecting stamps! I believe that everyone of us having a philatelic channel wants to sow the seeds of a renewed interest for philately. Just the thought of inspiring one person is already way worth the efforts we put in making our videos. As I live day by day (Carpe diem), I have no specific goals for 2025. I just want to keep being thrilled and amazed each time I purchase or trade a first day cover. In January 2024, I collected only FDCs from France (up to 1989), Monaco (up to 1979), and the US (Artcraft FDCs from 1939 to 1950). During the past 12 months, I have started collecting FDCs from the United Nations (New York and Geneva offices only), and airmail covers from the 1920s to the 1940s. I am pretty sure that French Andorra will be on my short list for 2025! 😉 Thank you again, my dear friend Chris. And keep in mind that you can always reach out to me. Sending my very best wishes from (cloudy today) Provence. 😊

Hey Chris! Love this video. I'm familiar with the framework you used, so it's interesting to watch you apply it to both your collecting and UA-cam. I love your ideas for collecting this year and some of the videos you might make about it. And I really like the combination of progress reports on 2-3 countries along with every stamp tells a story. It sounds like a lot of fun! I've been meaning to mention how much I love how you link to other stamp channels in your descriptions. You're living the 'community' aspect that is so important to you. When I listen to your 'why' for UA-cam, I hear things like community and sharing your passions. I don't hear 'grow the channel', or 'be an influencer', or 'make money.' So I'd be tempted to ignore the UA-cam gurus, at least for now. Keep experimenting, keep having fun, keep being curious on the video side of things. If the process of creating a documentary gives you joy, then awesome. If doing all the multi-camera work brings you joy, fantastic. But if it gets in the way of telling the story you want to tell, then personally I'd simplify. One thing the gurus say that I agree with is that your first 100 videos (or even 200) are where you really get to experiment. Relatively speaking, nobody is watching yet, so you have this empty field to play in. If you worry too much about those of us who watch now, you'll restrict your own creativity. I guess what I'm saying is don't listen to us too much. At least not yet! 😁

Thanks for the video, some great ideas you have and I look forward to seeing them progress. Good luck with your channel for 2025.

I appreciate your sharing your inner world of collecting stamps and thoughts about video blogging your collecting journey - I think a lot of collectors in isolation put unreasonable burdens on themselves when the whole point of this hobby is to reduce stress and have fun. Love the goals and looking forward to 2025 videos! My goals for 2025 include spending more time organizing my country collections. I have a lot of stuff in envelopes that is ready to go into stock books or Vario pages. Over the past few months I was lucky to find a bunch of inexpensive stock books so am looking forward to using those. I am organizing stamps by catalog (but keeping sets together) so its been a ton of fun learning about the varieties I wasn't aware of but it also takes a lot of time.

Happy New Year, Chris. My goal is to at least complete my Album Easy pages on Greece...i'm up to 1990.and try to print out a few to see what they look like.

I've been collecting stamps for almost sixty years. At first, general worldwide, eventually focusing on North America, and a smattering here or there, if it interests me. I now specialize in British Honduras and Belize - mint, used, usage, postal history, etc. I have collections of Guyana (1966-1990), French Polynesia, Iceland, Greenland, St Pierre & Miquelon, and Belgian Congo. My 2025 goal is to reduce hoarding and focus on the presenting a respectable showing of each entity.

Excellent video and closeups of the individual stamps. The Industry and Technology series is simple and classy. I hadn’t seen those before. Germany’s postal system has a long and interesting history

Goed je video˜s weer te zien Chris. Er zitten hele mooie zegels tussen. Duitse zegels hebben veel aandacht voor het ontwerp en zijn heel variërend. Toch vind ik die oude zegels van het oude rijk ook heel interessant. Natuurlijk ook door de geschiedenis die wij goed kennen, maar zeker ook door de soort zegels.

What are your (philatelic) goals for 2025? Are you focussing more on a certain country, topic or area, or historic period? Are you planning to add more topics or countries to collect? Do you have any non-philatelic goal you wish to share? I would be interested to hear about them. Thank you for watching and commenting! It is much appreciated!

Some nice German stamps there, Chris. I must get some more stock books for mine. Nice collection.

Hi! Thanks for this kind video! Merry Christmas and Happy New 2025 Year!

Good evening, this is an excellent purchase. The album is of good quality and the stamps are well-made. It's a great start for your collection.

Super 👍👍👍

Goeie dag, Chris. I think and excellent start and contribution to your German collection. Many stamps, and some of them even complete sets or series it seems. I know almost nothing about German philately, but it is always nice to see German stamps. There were a very few fauna stamps which were my favourite. I like your new series and the way you put it together.🙂