StampBoards.com
http://www.stampboards.com/
Yes, StampBoards does have a bit of the look and feel of the computer bulletin boards that were prevalent in the pre-internet days. It is forum-based, which means that there are specific areas (forums) in which to read and write on certain topics. However, the difference is that unlike the forums of old, this board is active, everyone is treated with respect, and there are lots of helpful users to make even the beginning collector feel at home.
The slogan of StampBoards is "Stampboards.com, Where Philatelists Meet". This is a very realistic statement for the site; stamp collectors of every variety will freely jump in and share their knowledge (and a little humor too) on topics. If you post a question or comment to the board, you will almost certainly get a response.
From the main screen, there are many forums to choose. The first forum listed, and the one in which you are urged to introduce yourself, is nicknamed "Roll Call". The administrators of the site want you to post an introductory message to everyone. While many of us like to lurk (i.e., read messages but not post messages), this process is painless and right away you will get a few hellos from other collectors.
Another forum challenges you to "Discuss stamps - and *anything* at ALL happening with stamps". Based on the number of posts, this is the busiest stamp-related forum. (The humor/recreation forum has a few more ... who says philatelists don't like to have fun?).
Be sure to visit the forum where you can ask philatelic questions ... you are almost guaranteed to get an answer. Some of the questions are very interesting and even though I wasn't really interested in the subject before I saw the question, it got me to thinking, and the next thing I know, I wanted to know the answer myself!
My favorite forum is the Selling/Giveaway forum. Here, fellow collectors list groups of stamps or stamp-related ephemera that they are trying to sell, or in a very few cases, to give away. The prices are very good, often more than half off what you would pay somewhere else, all in an effort to sale their goods to fellow members. What I like best of all, StampBoards.com has a policy that anything listed in this forum cannot be offered anywhere else on the internet for 7 days. I appreciate that gesture, as it gives its members a chance to get a steal of a deal well in advance of just blowing it out to everyone on an internet auction site. If you find something you want to purchase, and it is within 7 days of the initial post, you can rest assured that the seller hasn't listed it all over the internet.
I spent at least an hour on the Selling/Giveaway forum when I first discovered it. The offers are priced to move and seem to be excellent bargains. The sellers have to have 10 messages posted and be a member of the site for 10 days before they can list anything in this forum. Thus, the board weeds out the riff-raff that only cares about selling, and doesn't "belong" to the community.
One thing to note about the site ... even though it is located in the U.S., the board has an widespread international audience. Keep this in mind if you buy or trade anything ... there may be extra expenses in shipping and will probably be delays, unless you live in the area. However, this fact is very-well documented in the sell/trade forums
StampBoards.com is a great site. I'm visiting it several times a week to catch up on everything. Whatever your level of knowledge, I think you will find Stampboards.com to be of your liking.
You can visit his site at: http://www.stampboards.com/
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5 comments:
Very balanced overview.
Hey Thanks for bringing this to my attention!
Appears to be gone. Not found.
It worked for me. Give it another try ... it might have been some sort of "hiccup".
Great review - just thought I would bring to your attention that although the site may be hosted in the US it is run primarily by Glen Stephens, an Australian stamp dealer - the moderators of the site are all volunteers and come from allover the globe.
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