News and Views

The Card Mall Phonecard

The Card Mall, a World Wide Web Collectibles Marketplace and Information Site, is pleased to announce it has produced a phonecard. You can read more information about it at:

http://www.cardmall.com/cards/mallcard.htm

The print run is 150, none will be for sale by the Card Mall. They will be distributed to dealers who sign up for a web page at the Card Mall, and via contests sponsored by the Card Mall. One lucky Phonecards On-Line reader will receive a card next week. Simply send an e-mail message to phonecard@cardmall.com - In the body of the message, be sure to write POL CONTEST to be qualified. A winner will be selected randomly, and announce next week. Good luck! One entry per person, please.

The Future is Bright

I decided to take my phonecards and hit the road last weekend - A sportscard show in Binghamton, New York. As a baseball card collector, I attend the local shows on a regular basis. Calculating cost and exposure, I decided this show would be the best show to introduce the local folks to phonecard collecting. It was held in a small downtown shopping mall, as opposed to a room in a local hotel. I figured I would get a mix of card collectors and local shoppers. At a rate of $18 for the table, I figured all I would have to really lose is my time (And the 100 mile round-trip drive) The local sportscard dealers really do not deal in phonecards - They have been noticeably absent from shows. After a full day talking and selling phonecards, I have come to the realization that there are a lot of collectors out there, and that many people know what phonecards are. I went to the show not knowing what to expect. I figured I would break even, but would have a lot of fun in the process. I brought about 1000 low cost used British phonecards with me to be given away freely. I wanted to educate as many people as possible. People who stopped by and asked what a phonecard is (I had a large sign at my table that simply said phonecards) would be given a British card. Any child who walked by the table and stopped a moment received one, as well as people who had made other purchases. I was also armed with magazines to show people that phonecard collecting was a popular hobby. Below are some observations based on my experience at the show.

1) Most people who I talked with knew what prepaid phonecards were. Statistics are always being thrown around that claim 60% of the population do not know what a phonecard is. By now, most sportscard collectors have dealt with phonecards. Even if they feel it is a fad like pogs that will go away, they know what one is. However, this crowd was a mixed crowd, of collectors and casual shoppers. I would estimate that 95% of the people who came to my table knew what phonecards were, and were surprised to see so many in one place. Not only did they know what they were, they also associated phonecards with savings. My largest regret at the show was not bringing too many different low cost utility phonecards with me to sell. That will be corrected next time. I did have some Unocal cards that I acquired inexpensively that I resold at $2.50 for a 10 minute card, or 25 cents per minute. They were popular with people who wanted to use the phone time.

2) I was honestly surprised by how many people collected phonecards, casually or enthusiastically. Since this was a sportscard show, I expected there to be a decent interest in the classic assets cards, and there was. People collected their favorite teams, players, or were completing sets of phonecards. At other shows I visited, I noticed packs of assets at very reduced prices not being sold, but single cards moved very well. A new product, Finish Line Racing, was also quite popular with collectors. This part of the state has a lot of racing fans and collectors, so I was not too surprised by their popularity. There were a few people who stopped by who were very surprised and enthusiastic when they saw me - These were people who are not on-line, but were collectors. It was fun to chat with them, and I'm sure they will come back next month to see me

3) I was pleased to see that children were very interested in the phonecards. Since the crowd was never too large, I can not imagine that word spread around that I was handing out free cards. For reasons unknown to me, kids knew what phonecards were. I wouldn't expect 10 year old kids to use them often, although I may be wrong. (One great use is for kids to have a card in case of emergency, you will never need to worry that they do not have change for a phone call, although in these cases a collect call may be warranted) The kids carefully went through the albums, looking at all of the cards. I know that some sportscard dealers can get impatient with kids, as they tend to linger around the tables looking at everything without buying much, but I wanted to make sure they saw all of the cards. Some of the kids even made some purchases, which was neat. One girl was really interested in cards from France, while another liked the Steve Young / Snoopy cards. Who knows, maybe some new collectors were introduced to the hobby that day. Phonecards should be as appealing to kids as stamp collecting, although it is much more difficult for kids to acquire cards. If you have a child who does show and tell at school, why not let them bring in some phonecards, and then give them some to hand out to each kid. For this hobby to really catch on, we need to make kids interested in phonecards. It doesn't take much to make a kid interested in collecting something.

One thing I know for sure, I will be attending next month's show. I'll be better prepared, with utility cards to sell, more supplies and some unopened packs of phonecards. If anyone is within a reasonable distance of Binghamton, NY, let me know - I will let you know the date of the show. I announced that I would be doing the show on CompuServe last week, and two people visited me, including someone who traveled 150 miles! Talk about a long drive

Telebucks Update

A few weeks ago, I wrote about my experiences with a company that would not reactivate an expired card, even though they knew I did not use it, and had all the necessary data. I wrote a letter to the president of the company - That letter came back to me as undeliverable. A company that gives out the wrong mailing information on the phone should be avoided at all costs.

Ohio Biz Update

A few weeks ago, I discovered a site where a phonecard might be awarded for filling in a survey - I was notified that I won! There were 200 phonecards to be given away, they may be all gone. Their web site is at

http://www.ohiobiz.com

Another Survey

Check out http://www.clickin.com for a chance to win a free phonecard. Take a detailed survey about cellular phones, I believe this is limited to the first 100 entries. Can't hurt to try!

Florida Marlins Giveaway

If you are in South Florida, you may want to see the Florida Marlins play - You will receive a phonecard if you attend these dates:

5/12/96, 8/15/96, 9/21/96.

Pulp Fiction Phonecard

Just to let you all know, Suncoast video has a free phonecard when you buy the video Pulp Fiction (btw, its on sale too). It's by GTI, has 5 min. time on it, and is in a sealed envelope. On front is a woman, laying on a bed, smoking a cigarette, there is a gun on the bed and she is looking right at us.
From: Theresa McCandless

New NCAA Card

I saw an ad in the local Lucky Supermarket flyer, if you buy either a $20 or $50 Sprint Spree card, they'll give you a Final Four phonecard free. The ad says "Get 'em While They Last". It shows a very colorful cartoon-like, 10 minute sprint card with a guy about to make a basket. It's got the Sprint logo and a NCAA Final Four logo on the front of the card. It's different than any of the Gillette razor NCAA cards I've seen
From: Deb Trinter

Until Next week, Happy Collecting,

Alan

Distribution

Phonecards On-Line is written and distributed by Alan Cohen. It is a weekly newsletter devoted to phonecards - Current news, viewpoints, and reviews of new issues. It is distributed free of charge, and available two ways.

1) On-Line on the World Wide Web. The address is: http://www.pcmreport.com

2) Direct e-mail. Send a message to: phoneline@cardmall.com

If you wish to be removed from this mailing list, or find yourself with two subscriptions (It does happen), please reply to the ORIGINAL message that was sent to you - This will assist me in removing your name