November 10, 1998

OVER 1,800 PHILATELIC SITES NOW ON THE INTERNET

The Joe Luft Philatelic Resources website---which is without doubt the key directory of philatelic resources on the World Wide Web---reports that, as of October 25, there are 1,811 stamp collecting websites. The Luft directory may be unique among all collectibles hobbies in offering our pastime a true central clearing house for virtually all philatelic locations on the net.

The huge 1,811 website number must certainly position stamp collecting as one of the most active hobbies being served by the Internet. The online resources for the collector are both wide and deep. Luft breaks down his site among nine different categories---from "commercial offerings" and "auctions" to "societies and shows" and "postal authorities". Within these sections are resources that open the full world of philately to the Internet user.

Since Luft launched his directory site as a service to the hobby (which is also an excellent method for drawing collectors to his own site) over three years ago, owners of philatelic sites on the net have made a listing at his site their first objective when promoting their Internet locations.

The majority of sites listed by Luft (each one hyperlinked) are, of course, owned by commercial philatelic firms---from normal stamp dealers and new issues services to auction houses and philatelic periodicals. The Luft site, therefore, has become a viable gauge for measuring the growth of philatelic business being done on the Web.

And grown it has! More than 1,000 philatelic dealer sites have opened up on the Web within the past 18 months.

As we move into the future, the Luft site could (and should) become the predominant Internet focal point for philately. That day will come if Luft chooses to further enhance his Philatelic Resources site by putting philatelic firms into a directory that lists their sites by the type of material they offer...and also by inserting a search engine in his site that allows a user to quickly locate a particular website and/or dealer specialty. But regardless of whether Luft decides to initiate these features, his Philatelic Sources site should always be one of the bookmarks consistently used by philatelists worldwide.