Today I will present to you the "Survey of Philatelic Attitudes in Bulgaria" conducted by me. The survey was conducted in the period September 3 - 19, 2025 and 83 philatelists participated in it. Some of the questions were mandatory, others were not. Here are the results presented with the help of 18 graphs:
As with any research, I began by getting to know the person filling out the questionnaire in advance. In order not to violate the participants' personal data, only three control questions were asked:
1. Basic information:
1. 1. First and last name or nickname?
1.2. Residence?
1.3. How many years have you been involved in Philately?
Of course, the names and nicknames of the participants will not be published, but the data on their place of residence and time with their favorite hobby will be.
As can be seen from the graph, we have the largest number of participants from the capital, followed by Varna, Pleven, Plovdiv, etc. We also have five participants from abroad, or more precisely from Germany, Spain, China, Romania and Belarus.
2. Union of Bulgarian Philatelists and Philatelic Societies.
I will not surprise anyone with the news that nearly 64% of the participants are not members of the Bulgarian Philatelic Association or a philatelic society. This is most clearly expressed in the capital, where out of 28 participants only 4 are members of the Bulgarian Philatelic Association or a philatelic society. At the opposite pole are Varna and Pleven, where almost every participant is a member of one. What is the reason for this anomaly, I can only guess. Maybe in the smaller city with worse organized philatelic supplies, adversity unites or the atmosphere in these societies has contributed to more members, I do not know.
Let's see what is happening in the philatelic societies themselves. The data obtained is quite encouraging.
Weekly or periodic meetings. Nearly 87% of companies organize weekly or other periodic meetings. This speaks of cohesion and a desire for development.
Other events. In approximately 86% of the responses received, participants shared that their philatelic society at one time or another organizes other events, besides periodic collections. I can give an example of Varna, where visits to the Euxinograd Palace, the Observatory, the Historical Museum and other events related to validated issues or historical events for the city are organized.
Attendance at philatelic gatherings and events. About 83% of those surveyed responded that they "actively" or "sometimes" participate in these events. Unfortunately, nearly 17% do not participate.
Training in philatelic societies. In the majority of philatelic societies, no training on philately is conducted. Perhaps both the chairmen and the members of these societies should work in this direction. The Bulgarian Philatelic Federation should also play an important role here. Considering that it is already difficult to gather in one place, it would not be bad to organize online training and seminars on philatelic issues. This is my personal opinion and I am not committing anyone to it.
In the next section of the questions, I asked the participants an open-ended question: “What would you like to see changed or improved in your philatelic society or the Union of Bulgarian Philatelists?” I thought that only members of the Union of Bulgarian Philatelists could make suggestions.
Here are some of the answers that generally summarize them all:
1. To hold trainings, exhibitions and discussions.
2. To organize meetings-talks in the club with leading philatelists and experts.
3. In terms of access to philatelic materials, there should be equality with cities without philatelic shops.
4. To return the subscription system to Bulgarian publications. To create an online library with educational literature, articles and research.
5. To invite artists and leading philatelists to monthly meetings.
6. If possible, it should be more targeted towards young philatelists. To promote and attract young people under 50.
3. Collections and purchase (supply) of philatelic materials.
3.1. Collections:
Here, two questions were asked, each of which could have more than one answer.
3.1.1. What postal issues do you collect?
The collecting of postage stamps stands out clearly, but to my delight, a large portion of the respondents collect both postal wholes and FDCs, maximum cards, souvenir and private editions, and others.
3.1.2. What collections or themes do you collect?
The highest percentage of collectors is clearly "Bulgaria - complete collection". The presence of thematic collectors is evident.
3.2. Purchase (supply) of philatelic publications.
In this section, two questions were asked regarding the purchase of NEW and OTHER BULGARIAN publications, respectively. Here are the answers:
In general, participants from Sofia and Plovdiv purchase issues from philatelic shops, while in the other cities everyone buys individually. The exceptions may be Varna and part of Pleven, which purchase issues through the Chairmen of societies.
4. Catalogs and information.
In this section, I have tried to gather information about where philatelists get information about philatelic events, philatelic life, philatelic catalogs, etc.
4.1. Philatelic catalogs.
For me personally, this question was of utmost importance. I wanted to see the relationship between paper and digital catalogs, and especially between FEPRA and free online catalogs. As I expected, at the moment, free online catalogs cannot replace the FEPRA catalog, which makes me very happy. However, there is a clear line between paper and paid catalogs of Michel, Ivert and others of this kind.
4.2. Digitization of Bulgarian postal publications.
"Is digitization of the Bulgarian Postal Editions necessary?" This question was very important for me as a creator of such digital content. The answer was clear and distinct. Over 90% of those surveyed said that digitization is necessary!
4.3. Sources of philatelic information
With the question "What sources of philatelic information do you use?" I wanted to compare obtaining information from State institutions, information from the Bulgarian Philatelic Society, information from the Internet, etc.
The low share of information use by state institutions is clearly visible. Philatelists mostly rely on receiving information from social networks and other online platforms, due to the speed of receiving them. Logical. Philatelists of course prefer to read about the novelties and philatelic trends from the official source of information of the Bulgarian Philatelic Association – the magazine “Philatelic Review”. For the more advanced ones, who are not very popular in Bulgaria, the “Bulgarian Philatelic Academy” and their wonderful website take care of them.
4.4. Speed of receiving philatelic information.
Unfortunately, a large portion of those surveyed believe that they do not receive philatelic information quickly enough, even though recently photographs and information for a large portion of postal issues are published in advance.
5. Stamp distribution by Bulgarian Post. Perhaps we should conduct a new survey/study on the artistic quality of postal issues, the procedures for printing, distribution and unregulated export of postal issues by “Bulgarian Philately and Numismatics”. For the moment, however, I decided to occupy the audience only with the issue of stamp distribution.
It is clear that over 72% of the participants answered that the post offices are not coping with this function, 22% cannot judge and about 5% answer that they are coping. It is clear to me that the Post Office does not care about my research, but all this is very unfortunate for us philatelists.
6. Participation in Philatelic Exhibitions
In this section, I decided to check what proportion of philatelists participate in philatelic exhibitions, and for those who do not, for what reason. Here are the results:
It is clearly visible that there is a lack of knowledge about the production of philatelic exhibits. Reading and understanding the rules of the FIP and FEPA do not give a complete picture of how to produce one. It would be good to conduct trainings by the philatelic societies or the Bulgarian Philatelic Association, as well as to publish information in the magazine "Philatelen Pregled" about the standards and rules for participation in philatelic exhibitions, as well as training materials on the production of philatelic exhibits.
Conclusions:
The current study provides several important conclusions:
1. A large part of philatelists are not members of philatelic societies, respectively the Bulgarian Philatelic Federation. This leads to lower revenues for the union and commitment of individual philatelists to the community.
2. In some cities there are still active philatelic societies with active chairmen. Where there are none or they have ceased activity, it is necessary to restore or create new philatelic societies.
3. Training in philatelic societies is not up to standard. Measures are needed in this direction.
4. Philatelists rely more on traders outside the Philatelic Shops and Bulgarian Post for the supply of new and other Bulgarian postal issues. It would be good if Bulgarian Post, as the primary stamp distributor, were more involved in the sale of postal issues. Currently, this only happens where there are philatelic shops.
5. Some philatelists wish to train in the creation of philatelic exhibits.
6. It is necessary to digitize the Philatelic publications and create official sources for them. At present, there is no single complete digital catalog of Bulgarian postage stamps for the period 1879-2025. There are partial incomplete catalogs scattered in different institutions.
7. We need greater empathy for the idea of this wonderful hobby from all philatelists. 4-5 people cannot do everything under normal conditions. Everyone must give what they can so that we can move forward.