Phonecards On-Line© is Published by Alan Cohen

November 17, 2002

Issue #204

Current Circulation: 2200+

With a certain amount of sadness, I am announcing that this is the final issue of Phonecards On-Line. In reality, I really gave up some time ago, but did not really want it to end. I feel that I owe this publication, and the few readers that are left more than just letting it linger on, occasionally putting something into print, when in reality there is really nothing to put into print. It's been a great seven year run doing this, but it is time to move on.

I won't be leaving phonecards completely though - I still have thousands in my inventory, that I will be auctioning on this list, and on ebay. I will always have a personal collection of cards as well. I have to believe that long after I have sold my last card, I will STILL have razors from the Gillette promotion in 1994. (those razors have traveled with me from New York, to California, and now Oregon!)

The best part about phonecards and POL really has been the people, and I have been fortunate to meet many collectors and dealers over the years. I know that many of those friendships will continue well past POL being published. The archive will be kept online for all to read as long as I am doing business on the internet. As I've said before, it's fun for me to read these, as they are sort of a history of my life over the past seven years, as well as reporting on phonecards.

What is the state of the hobby? Over the years, I've given my views, good and bad. Obviously, the state of the hobby can not be that good if I have decided to stop publishing. My last auction was several months ago, and the results speak for the state of the hobby - A 100 lot auction is barely breaking the $200 level, and many lots do not even have an opening bid of $1. Many of these cards are older, with limited print runs. Fortunately, phonecard collecting is a worldwide hobby, so although phonecards have declined in the US, there are a lot of worldwide collectors. I believe a large portion of US cards have gone overseas. If there was a comeback, these cards would be a lot more difficult to locate. I don't think anyone can go wrong buying some cards at the current prices.

Given that information, I don't see a comeback for the hobby in the US. Things have changed too much from when the phonecards were first introduced in the early 1990's. In 1991, long distance rates were still very high (I know, I had a cross country relationship) and even at discounted times, phone calls were very high. The earliest phonecards I saw were the AT&T ones, and they were even more expensive than long distance from home. However, they were a lot cheaper than calling cards from phone companies. Over time, prices got cheaper. Now, AT&T offers an unlimited long distance plan for under $20 a month, and some long distance cards offer service for one cent per minute. Cellular phones were just making their appearance in the early 1990's, now there are everywhere. The number of payphones has decreased dramatically. Put everything together, and the chance of a collectible phonecard making a reappearance is very, very small. Competitive prices on cards (which are a huge industry) mean no money to pay for copyrighted images. With cheap calling plans on phone lines and cel phones, there is less demand for phonecards. The one hope would be promotional cards, and surprisingly, there have been very few offers over the last several years. I honestly believe the reason we see so few promotional cards is that in the early days, people had no idea what a phonecard was. How many people would have used the McDonalds Big Mac card? (I did, but I have told that story here before) These days, everyone knows what a phonecard is, and would probably use it. Even a 5 minute card might make the promotion too expensive.

Who knows, maybe 10 years from now people will be paying high prices for commercial phonecards that nobody saved. Isn't what turns out to be most collectible things that people normally don't think much about saving? I know that I'll never be able to pass by a phone booth without looking for a used phonecard!

Take care everyone, and keep in touch…I am still here, still online, still selling and even collecting phonecards…

Alan Cohen

Publisher, Phonecards OnLine.