SCB Stamp Collecting Blog - the premier resource for exclusive stamp information and news

Subscriptions – Help and FAQ

Table of contents

General questions answered

Q: Why is this blog available for subscribers only?
A: When I started Stamp Collecting Blog in early 2009, I never imagined it to become so popular. Like most websites it started with just few readers, but by 2013 it had grown a lot and reached 150-200.000 unique visitors each year. This kind of numbers are awesome, but the annual fees to keep it all up and running were piling up (in excess of $3,000/year).

In December 2015, I approached the readers with financial status of SCB and polled the readers with various options regarding the future of SCB. Based on the reader responses and other feedback I made a decision to remove all ads (in the end why have ads if they don’t provide enough revenue to cover running costs) and place all content for subscribers only. This has proven to be very effective way to put  strains on costs as well as move the financial responsibility to people reading and consuming the information I share.

Q: Why should I become a Premium subscriber?
A: Long story short, because that is the only alternative if you want full and unlimited access to everything there is. In addition, all premium subscriptions provide funds witch are essential to support this website and it’s future operations.

Right now (in August 2017) SCB has got over 500 philatelic articles/studies, over 10.000 comments/reader responses, downloadable eBooks, hundreds of listed resources, stamp exchange, postal entities list etc. And the numbers are increasing. Being a Premium subscriber gives you full and unlimited access to everything this site provides.

Q: What about the free trial subscription?
A: Free trial subscription is, as the name suggests, a free trial. You can access only 12 pages (in addition of my stamp exchange and my collection, both of which do not account for the quota) for period of six months. After that you must make a decision to sign up with paid plan or leave.

Q: Why a subscription? Why not simply donations?
A: Shortly put governing (Finnish) legislation makes donations extremely difficult (= illegal) to implement for other than non-profit organizations.

Q: How to sign up with Premium plan (step-by-step)?
A: This is pretty simple.

Step 1. Enter your email on the ‘free subscription’ box and hit Sign up button

Step 2. Within the next 3 minutes you will receive a piece of email containing your credentials to service.
If you signed up with the bi-weekly newsletter on the same, you will receive a separate ‘opt in’ email on that as well. This is because the legislation requires a ‘specific act of content’ for things such as newsletters.

Q: How to sign up with Premium plan (step-by-step)?
A: This should be pretty straightforward…

Step 1. Click the Sign Up / Paypal button anywhere on this site

Step 2. Review the payment, and login to Your PayPal account to make the payment

Step 3. Approve payment

Step 4. That’s all… Once PayPal has processed your payment, you will get three different emails. One from PayPal confirming that your credit card has been charged, and two from the blog (one containing receipt of your order, the other containing your login credentials to Premium membership service).

Q: How do I get the PDF eBooks ?
A: When you log on as Premium subscriber, you will see “Premium downloads” section on top of the main page. Then simply select the book to download.

Q: What is the book like? Can I get a sample?
A: Sure: view sample page.

All stories in the book have been published on the blog, but there are some enhancements as well as updates with the contents.

I tried to subscribe, but failed

Q: I subscribed and everything seems to have completed successfully. However, I have not received any email/credentials. How should I proceed?

A: First, check your inbox once more. Usually the messages are sent out instantly but sometimes it can take up to 5 minutes before they are delivered.

Second, if the messages are not found on your inbox, then check your junk mail folder. Most email providers delete or block all email from unknown senders (adding stampcollectingblog.com domain to your email whitelist is highly recommended for everyone).

If the messages are not your junkmail folder neither, then your ISP has likely deleted them automatically. For example AOL is notorious for this practice. In such case contact us (using the form on bottom of this page).

Q: I received “Subscription saved, but failed to mail login credentials. Please contact us and well submit your credentials manually.” What does it mean and how should I proceed?

A: In short it means that the system saved your subscription, but failed to mail the login credentials to the email account given.

The most common reason for this is that you made a typing error with your email. Another possibility is that your email service provider is down / not responding.

In case of ‘free subscription’ you can proceed simply by registering again with correct email address.

In case of ‘premium subscription’ you should always contact us (use the form on bottom of this page).

Q: I just received an email from guy named Keijo (using @gmail.com email) asking if I’m having any issues with my login. Is this valid service or am I being scammed?

A: These emails are real, and I’m sending out these messages whenever the system notifies me that something might be wrong with the user. A usual example is when the user has subscribed but never logged in.

The reason I’m using gmail address for the contacts is that if the recipients system blocks emails from @stampcollectingblog.com (the usual cause of problems), then an alternative email must be used.

However, please be aware that under any circumstances I will never ask your login credentials and you should never hand them out to anyone.

Q: I received “Requested action aborted, because it seems this device has already got active signups. You can have only one active signup at a time.” What does it mean and how should I proceed?

A: By default free subscriptions are limited to one active account per user, and one way to monitor this is to use so called ‘device fingerprinting’ technology. If device with specific characteristics has been used previously, it (and any device with same characteristics) is locked for the next 12 months. Though the technology is not ‘full proof’ (ie. false positives will happen sometimes), it is accurate enough for the purpose.

If you are sure that you don’t already have an active free subscription, please contact us (use the form on bottom of this page) and we’ll manually create you a new account.

I lost (or can’t remember) my username / password!

Q: I lost (or can’t remember) my username/password. How do I get a new one?
A: Just leave a message using the form on bottom of this page, and I’ll get back to You.

THIS HERE IS MOST COMMONLY ASKED QUESTION. PLEASE FOLLOW THESE STEPS BEFORE CONTACTING FOR SUPPORT

Q: I have got my username and password, but I still cannot login. What’s wrong and how do I proceed?
A:  The first thing you must do is to identify the cause of the situation.

When you try to login, you should either experience a success, or receive some kind of error message such as ‘Login failed. Either your login has expired or you made a typing error. Please check your login credentials.

If you receive error message such as above, it is a clear indication that either your subscription has elapsed, or you have made a typo.   Please check the details of your subscription. Both username and password (as well as quick login link) are all case-sensitive (LARGE and small letters must be written as is).

If you do not see any kind of error message and the page seems to be loading up for more than 5-10 seconds, then you should close the browser  window and try again in few minutes time.  The situation can be caused by a number of things between your browser and SCB experiencing heavy stress and/or slow load times.

If you do not see any kind of error message, and the pages loads up quickly but you still fail to login, then either your web browser or some proxy server in your network is serving old/outdated/false pieces of information.  To clear up this old information you should do two steps:

Step 1: visit https://www.stampcollectingblog.com/premium-logout.php
This page will try to remove all SCB related cookies and storage data from your browser. You can try re-login after completing this step.
If this step works do not proceed to step 2.

Step 2: Manually clear up browsers cache. This page by Google Support provides advice on how to do it with Chrome and other browsers https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/32050?co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&hl=en

If all this fails to provide a resolution (or feels too complex), please leave a message below and you will be assisted in person.

Q: Why is there no option for me to reset my password? Why do I have get in touch with you?
A: Simply because that’s the way things work here.

Q: I just received an email from guy named Keijo (using @gmail.com email) asking if I’m having any issues with my login. Is this valid service or am I being scammed?

A: These emails are real, and I’m sending out these messages whenever the system notifies me that something might be wrong with the user. A usual example is when the user has subscribed but never logged in. The reason I’m using gmail address for the contacts is that if the recipients system blocks emails from @stampcollectingblog.com (the usual cause of problems), then an alternative email must be used. However, please be aware that under any circumstances I will never ask your login credentials and you should never hand them out to anyone.

I want to change my username / password, how do I do it

Q: How do I change my password or username to something I could easily remember?
A:  You can’t do it for the time being.

If you have forgotten your password or username, then see the previous section.

The main philosophy behind fixed (one year) usernames and passwords is relatively simple. A number of studies (and security breaches worldwide) have shown that most people are lazy when it comes to passwords. They either use very simple passwords (such as ‘password’) or rotate the same password from service to service (which can cause severe issues if any of the services experiences a security breach). Having fully arbitrary data (which expires periodically) is much better for the security of everyone.

Custom usernames are also a bit complicated because a lot of people rotate the same aliases from service to service. This makes them an easy target for possible misuse attempts.

So all in all it is recommended best practice to stick with the username and password given.

Below are some handy tips /tricks that can make your life easier if you read SCB on personal/private computer or mobile:

First, all you have to do is sign in once and NEVER log out. Since you are the only one using the particular device/account, nobody else can access your information.

If you still prefer to sign out every once and awhile (or you use some security program that cleans all cookies every now and then), you can create a browser bookmark/favorite containing pointing to your quick login:
1) Find the email containing your login credentials
2) copy the quick login link
3) Create a new bookmark to your browser manually (see browser vendor websites for detailed help: Chrome, Firefox, Safari)
4) Now whenever you want to login, all you need to do is click that specific bookmark.

Alternatively you can create a shortcut of the quick login link, and place it to your desktop/home screen. Just like bookmark, whenever you want to login, all you need to do is click on that specific shortcut.

EVER NEVER USE THE ABOVE TECHNIQUES WITH PUBLIC/SHARED COMPUTER (LIKE LIBRARY PC).

Payments

Q: What is this KK Mediat company that I see on PayPal, and on my receipt ? I thought this was your personal blog?
A: This is my personal blog. And KK Mediat has been my business (providing B2B services/solutions) for the past 12 years.

It’s easier for me to accept payments like this through my business than in person. Additionally, I get my accountant to do all the ‘boring’ paper work with taxes etc 😉

Q: I don’t use PayPal. Can I pay otherwise?
A. Yes, you can.

PayPal allows you to pay directly (using your Debit or Credit card) without becoming a becoming PayPal member. When you click the ‘Subscribe now’ button, this is what the page you will land upon looks like:

paypal-debit-credit-payment
Notice the area circled on red. If you click that button, it will take you to step where you can do a one-time payment with your debit or credit card.

Alternatively, If you live inside EU, you can pay using IBAN bank transfer. Just drop me a comment below, and I’ll email the banking details required.

Q: Can I get a receipt for my purchase?
A: Yes. You will get an receipt of your purchase to email associated to your PayPal account shortly after your purchase. Please do notice that this receipt is different from the one You get from PayPal.

Q: I checked my email. I did not receive any kind of message or receipt. What’s the problem?
A: Very likely the email message has been marked as spam / junk mail.

First, check your email’s trash / junk mail folder. Sometimes messages get appointed there.

If that fails, then the message(s) have been held/removed by your ISP. In that case, please leave a message using the comment form below, and I’ll get back to You.

Q: Does my membership renew automatically?
A: No. Once your subscription period (365 days) is over, then it’s genuinely over and you need to subscribe again.

Q: I changed my mind, and I’d like to get a refund. Is it possible?
A: No. Due to nature of this service refunds are not provided.

Q: Can I sell or transfer my Premium subscription?
A: Yes, you can. However, please remember that You may not sell / transfer the same subscription more than once. If any misuse of subscription account is noticed, that specific account is closed down immediately without advance notice.

Q: Can I purchase more than one Premium subscription?
A: Yes, you can. There’s no limit how many You can buy.

Please do note that each subscription is handled individually, and having multiple subscriptions WILL NOT extend your subscription period.

Other problems

Q: What counts/does not count as usage in trial subscription

The following pages are excluded from the 12 page reading limit:

– Homepage
– Category/index listings
– Resources (which comes with limited data for free members)
– My collection (and all sub-pages)
– Subscribe and subscriber FAQ/help
– Newsletter subscription
– About
– Search
– Digital perforation tool

All other pages consume the personal reading limit.

Q: I just signed up with trial/paid membership, but when I try to view an article it just takes me to front page. What’s wrong.

A: This is due to known bug/feature with some browsers. If you have tried to view the specific article as non-subscriber first, and then come back to view it again as trial/premium-subscriber, some browsers (Google Chrome included) may return the previous responsecode from local cache.

A work-around is to clear browsers cache from old and invalid data by following these steps:

1) Sign out of SCB.

2) Clear your browser cache. This page by Google provides required steps for number of devices and platforms.

3) After that login as usual, and you should be able to view the page.

If you cannot find answer to your problem above, do not hesitate to contact and ask for help using the form below. There are no such things such as “dumb questions”.
108 responses on “Subscriptions – Help and FAQ”
  1. James K. Oliver wrote at November 2, 2017:

    Hi Keijo:

    I have recently reinstated my premium membership, but I am having no success logging in.  I’ve tried your several “fixes”, but no luck thus far.  Suggestions?

    All the very best,

    Jim Oliver

     

  2. Keijo / Stamp Collecting Blog wrote at November 2, 2017:

    @Jim… I just sent you email with some advice.

    -k-

  3. Jerrel Baxter wrote at November 2, 2017:

    I have just completed payment via PayPal for a Premium subscription and wanted to find out when the subscription will activate.

  4. Keijo / Stamp Collecting Blog wrote at November 2, 2017:

    @Jerrel… The activation process is almost instant, as everything runs automatically. Once the system gets acknowledgement of successful payment from PayPal, it creates the account and sends the credentials to email associated to Paypal account. By now you should have received Premium credentials to your inbox .

    If the message is not found on your inbox nor junk mail folder, then your ISP has likely blocked the message/email, or is holding it on delivery queue for undetermined period (usually few hours, in extreme cases even few days). According to technical specifications upon which whole email delivery is based upon, the receiving ISP should notify message sender on all delays and possible rejections, but a number of big companies (such as AOL and Yahoo!) don’t bother due to huge amounts of spam.

    Anyway, if you don’t see the message in your inbox, just leave a message, and I’ll pass you the credentials using alternative methods.

    -keijo-

  5. Jerrel Baxter wrote at November 3, 2017:

    Keijo says:
    @Jerrel… The activation process is almost instant, as everything runs automatically. Once the system gets acknowledgement of successful payment from PayPal, it creates the account and sends the credentials to email associated to Paypal account. By now you should have received Premium credentials to your inbox .

    If the message is not found on your inbox nor junk mail folder, then your ISP has likely blocked the message/email, or is holding it on delivery queue for undetermined period (usually few hours, in extreme cases even few days). According to technical specifications upon which whole email delivery is based upon, the receiving ISP should notify message sender on all delays and possible rejections, but a number of big companies (such as AOL and Yahoo!) don’t bother due to huge amounts of spam.

    Anyway, if you don’t see the message in your inbox, just leave a message, and I’ll pass you the credentials using alternative methods.

    -keijo-

    Strangely I still haven’t seen an e-mail regarding the premium account as yet. 

  6. Jerrel Baxter wrote at November 3, 2017:

    Found the e-mail with the login, it went to the PayPal authorization address.

  7. Keijo / Stamp Collecting Blog wrote at November 3, 2017:

    @Jerrel…

    Found the e-mail with the login, it went to the PayPal authorization address.

    As it was supposed to 😉 Happy to hear its working all ok.

    -k-

  8. Peter Payne wrote at January 5, 2018:

    Hi Keijo,

    Very little time for stamps at my end too, but that’s mainly down to having an unwell wife to look after.  Priorities are priorities!

    The reason I’m writing is that I recently renewed my premium subscription and everything worked fine.  However, I’ve changed emails since last year and would be really happy if you could replace my old email with my new address.

    Many thanks in advance and keep up the good work!  I fully intend to participate more as and when that becomes a possibility.

    Peter

  9. Keijo / Stamp Collecting Blog wrote at January 5, 2018:

    Hi Peter,
    I just updated your email to system, so the next newsletter should drop into your new inbox.

    Take care,
    -keijo-

  10. Daniel wrote at January 8, 2018:

    Keijo,

    First off, happy new year to you, all your loved ones and to all SCB subscribers.

    Just want to bring something to your attention: I renewed my premium membership on December 3 and have lost 3 days since my old subscription was good till December 6.

    Thanks

    D

  11. Keijo / Stamp Collecting Blog wrote at January 8, 2018:

    @Daniel… By default the system does not extend existing subscriptions, as each one is treated anew. As such I recommend renewing only on the very last day of validity, otherwise you loose some days (unless I do a manual intervention to fix up the lost days). And yes, fixing this is on my to-do list. It’s just the usual ‘so much to do, so little time’ excuse.

    But lucky for you, all December subscriptions get a Xmas bonus from me, and thus even your subscription will be valid till 31Dec 2018. I just had not gotten around to activating this extended period, but just did. It should take into force the next time you login.

    Happy 2018 to you as well & hope you enjoy the articles & other stuff,
    -k-

  12. Gene aka DJCMH wrote at March 1, 2018:

    K,

    Lost my username/password 🙁

    DJCMH aka Gene

  13. Keijo / Stamp Collecting Blog wrote at March 3, 2018:

    @Gene… Sending you email soon.

    -keijo-

  14. Aleksandar Dragicevic wrote at April 3, 2018:

    Sorry… I forgot my password…

     

    Aleksandar

  15. Keijo / Stamp Collecting Blog wrote at April 3, 2018:

    @Aleksandar… It seems your (trial) subscription expired over a year ago, so unfortunately no password exists for that. Just sign up with paid Premium subscription at https://www.stampcollectingblog.com/premium and you’re all set for year of stamp fun 🙂

    -k-

  16. Anthony Brown wrote at May 1, 2018:

    Hi – could you give me a new login code please – for some reason my old one doesn’t seem to work any more!

    Many thanks, Anthony

  17. Keijo / Stamp Collecting Blog wrote at May 2, 2018:

    @Anthony… Email coming your way.

    -keijo-

  18. Cecil Reams wrote at May 3, 2018:

    Hello, cant find my user name or password.

  19. Keijo / Stamp Collecting Blog wrote at May 3, 2018:

    @Cecil… Email sent your way, please check your inbox.

    @everyone… I’ve deleted a bunch of older support request to keep the page simpler/shorter. If I removed some response that was helpful to you, please ask again 😉

  20. Kevin Welch wrote at May 17, 2018:

    Good afternoon. I’ve lost my user name and password. If you can help, I’d appreciate it.

     

    Kevin Welch

  21. Keijo / Stamp Collecting Blog wrote at May 18, 2018:

    @Kevin… Email is on its way to you. Please check your inbox for message titled ‘Stamp Collecting Blog credentials’ (and if you cannot see it, check also junk/spam folder as it might end there).

    -k-

  22. Brian Heidrich wrote at June 13, 2018:

    Keijo

    my membership expired and I want to renew but now I can’t login – i had this setup so I never had to login.  Now that it expired -I can’t login.

     

    Let me know so I can renew today.   Thank you. Brian

  23. Keijo / Stamp Collecting Blog wrote at June 13, 2018:

    Hi Brian,

    email is on its way to you.

    As guidance for everyone with same problem, the solution here is very simple. Just go to SCB home page and subscribe like you did on the very first time (see below image).

    image

    Once the payment has been made, new credentials are delivered to your inbox (this should happen almost instantly, on very rare occasions there can be delay of few minutes).  Then log in using the new credentials, and the system should remember your device/login for the next 365 days (unless you specifically log out, clear the cookies or change device in between).

    -k-

     

  24. James Sanders wrote at August 13, 2018:

    Hey, I have had to get a new phone, so I don’t remember my username or password please send a link so I can reset both. Thanks

  25. Keijo / Stamp Collecting Blog wrote at August 13, 2018:

    @James… Email on its way to you. Please check your inbox (and if you cannot see my message titled ‘SCB credentials’ check also junk mail folder).

    -keijo-

  26. Dieter Obrecht wrote at August 15, 2018:

    Hello Keijo,

    have not used the blog for quite some time, because I am sick already for a long time.

    Wanted to log in today but have not written down my username and can’t unfortunately not remember it.

    Thank you in advance for updating me.

    Dieter, London

  27. Keijo / Stamp Collecting Blog wrote at August 16, 2018:

    Hi Dieter,

    I’m sending you email, but in case it never reaches you (due to spam etc. filters blocking email delivery from senders you are not connected with) please do acknowledge that your trial subscription expired about year back. So the only route onwards is to sign up with premium membership (18.40€/year or equal in your currency). Just go to SCB homepage, click on the big tomato colored circle with inscription “Subscribe now /Premium membership”, and you’ll be guided through a sign-up process.

    -k-

    PS. So sorry to hear of your health issues.

  28. JEAN DUNNE wrote at August 16, 2018:

    Hi Keijo

    I’ve tried everything to log in to SCB but still cannot succeed. Tried to change my log in details but no joy.  I renewed y subscription through Paypal in July so that is not the problem.  Please check that the subscription payment has gone through to your account.  so frustrating.  Hope you can help.  Kind regards

    Jean

     

  29. Keijo / Stamp Collecting Blog wrote at August 16, 2018:

    Hi Jean,

    it seems you are trying to log in with expired (=old) credentials. When you signed up in June, you should have received new set of credentials delivered to your inbox. But I’m sending you email.

    -keijo-

  30. Dave Jenkinson wrote at September 14, 2018:

    Hi Keijo,

    Have just signed for the Premium membership but never got my email.  I think I may well have had an older non-Premium account under my email address which may have caused the issue.  Not a clue what the password is for that though.  Any help would be much appreciated.

    All the best.

    Dave Jenkinson

  31. Keijo / Stamp Collecting Blog wrote at September 15, 2018:

    Hi Dave,

    according to what I see, the email has been dispatched & received normally (gmail is of those few major services which actually reports if there’s some kind of delivery error). So most likely the email was put into spam folder, or it has ended up on the Social or Promotions tab. In all these scenarios you can fix the “issue” with gmail by opening up the message, and it provides you tools such as “this is not spam”, “this is not promotion” etc. after which the future emails end up to inbox.

    But anyway, I’m sending you email right after this with your current credentials. In case you don’t see the message, check also the spam folder 😉

    -k-

  32. John Stover wrote at September 18, 2018:

    I believe my annual subscription has expired.  What’s the best way to get you the money for this?  Thanks.  John Stover

  33. Keijo / Stamp Collecting Blog wrote at September 18, 2018:

    Hi John,

    to get another year of stamp fun just go to https://www.stampcollectingblog.com/premium#gopremium, click on the sign up now button, and follow the instructions on screen from there.

    And thanks for the support 🙂

    -k-

  34. Luigi Vitalini wrote at September 24, 2018:

    I tried to subscribe, but did not receive any response.

    Help!!!

    Luigi

  35. Keijo / Stamp Collecting Blog wrote at September 24, 2018:

    Hi Luigi,

    likely you missed the red notification on the page saying ‘Requested action aborted, because the email address has already subscribed‘. That’s why the registration failed… It seems you have already signed up with free trial in June, so you cannot create a new account. That said, I can and will send you your login credentials to your existing trial account. So please check your inbox for my message.

    All the best,
    -keijo-

  36. Franz Feigl wrote at September 27, 2018:

    Hello Keijo

    Time for me to renew! Is there a renew button anywhere that I am missing, which will fill in all pertinent information automatically? Your instructions also indicate that I should mention my current unique subscription key but unless I am looking in the wrong place I can’t see where to enter this information.

    But no worries. I just subscribe as a newbie in two days. I would do it now but I don’t want to give up two days of my current subscription as new subscription doesn’t kick in after my old ones has expired. I guess I am cheap.

    Franz

  37. Keijo / Stamp Collecting Blog wrote at September 27, 2018:

    @Franz… No worries on being frugal. What would this hobby become if we collectors started to use money lavishly 😆

    Renew button becomes visible 24-36 hours before the expiration (if I recall the time limit properly). Sadly it does not carry over the old subscription details (it is the price for not having automatically charged subscriptions on credit cards) – so renew only on the last day or once your current subscription expires.

    -k-

  38. JEAN DUNNE wrote at October 29, 2018:

    Hi Keijo

     

    Sorry to hear you are still having teething problems.  Hope it will be resolved soon.  My problem is once again that I am unable to log in.  I changed my log in details in August and have tried all suggested ways of logging in but no success, so would you be kind enough to give me new password etc.  thanks.

     

    Jean

  39. Keijo / Stamp Collecting Blog wrote at October 29, 2018:

    @Jean… Email on it’s way to you. Please check your inbox.

  40. Mike McNeill wrote at November 10, 2018:

    Keijo, have mislaid the e-mail telling me my new login and password details.

    Wonder if I might trouble you to refresh my memory or send me new ones.

    best regards

    Mike.

  41. Keijo / Stamp Collecting Blog wrote at November 10, 2018:

    @Mike… Email sent. Please check your inbox.

  42. John Blackwell wrote at November 15, 2018:

    Hi, Have you ever used outlook.com email platform from MSFT? If you haven’t … don’t even bother :/  I suspect that I don’t have an active subscription to SCB …. I’m not entirely sure however, because of my flaky tsunami email fail-up .. Could you check please? I’ve ‘been away for awhile’  .. you now how it is. I now need an active Subscription and many hours SCB R&R 😀
    RSVP John LB

  43. Keijo / Stamp Collecting Blog wrote at November 15, 2018:

    @John… Yeah, I know how it is, LOL.

    Re, your subscription. Yep, it has expired. Please renew and you are all ready to go.

    I’m sending you email as well.

    -k-

  44. Rob Howell wrote at November 16, 2018:

    Hi Keijo,

    Keep up the good work! I wanted to know how to renew my subscription, it is due by February 7, 2019. I just want to make sure to keep things going, I read everything on the blog as it’s posted.

    Best regards,

    Rob Howell

     

  45. Keijo / Stamp Collecting Blog wrote at November 17, 2018:

    Hi Rob,

    thanks for the praise.

    the recommended way is to allow the current subscription run to an end, and then do a new subscription. You should get an email reminder of account closure approx. 5 days in advance.

    -k-

  46. Anthony Hodgson wrote at November 30, 2018:

    Hi Keijo

    I have renewed my subscription, but have not received an email with user name and password.

  47. Keijo / Stamp Collecting Blog wrote at November 30, 2018:

    @Anthony… Sending you email right now. Please check your inbox.

    -k-

  48. Desmond Hill wrote at February 3, 2019:

    Hi,

    I have forgotten my login details – username and password

    Thanks

     

    Des

  49. Keijo / Stamp Collecting Blog wrote at February 3, 2019:

    Hi Des,

    email on it’s way to you. Please check your inbox.

  50. Cecil Reams wrote at February 15, 2019:

    Cant log in, has my subscription expired?

  51. Keijo / Stamp Collecting Blog wrote at February 16, 2019:

    Hi Cecil,

    yep. It expired late last week (You should have received email notification of the expiry).

    -k-

  52. Crispinhj wrote at February 25, 2019:

    Hi Keijo I suddenly can’t log in – I assume my subscription has expired. How do I renew it? All the best, Crispin

  53. Keijo / Stamp Collecting Blog wrote at February 26, 2019:

    Hi Crispin,

    yep, the subscription has expired.

    Re, renewal… Just go to homepage of SCB. There is (on top part of the page) a button that says “sign up now”. Click on it and you’ll be taken to Subscriptions page. There are three different plans (1,2 and 3 year options), and the rest is simply following the instructions on the screen.

    -k-

  54. Atle Skaar wrote at February 28, 2019:

    Hi Keijo

    I have forgotten my username and password.

    Best regards

  55. Keijo / Stamp Collecting Blog wrote at February 28, 2019:

    Hi Atle,

    I’m sorry to say but your subscription expired few months back. So there’s no valid username/password, but a new subscription is required. Please visit this page to get started with the signup process.

    -k-

  56. Brian Heidrich wrote at March 31, 2019:

    Keijo,

    i have a new device and need username password reset please

     

    thanks

    Brian Heidrich

  57. Keijo / Stamp Collecting Blog wrote at March 31, 2019:

    @Brian… Email on it’s way. Please check your inbox.

    -k-

  58. JEAN DUNNE wrote at September 10, 2019:

    Hi Keijo

    Please let me know if you are collecting subscriptions and still running you web site. I would like to continue my membership. Tried to log in but no joy.  Thanks

    Jean

     

  59. Keijo wrote at September 12, 2019:

    Hi Jean,

    yep – site’s still running, fees are being collected etc.

    It seems your subscription has expired some time back (automatic reminder of it has been sent succesfully, but of course I have no idea whether or not it was delivered to your inbox or shot down along the way).

    Sadly I’m still busy working my life, so no idea when new articles will be coming out. Hopefully later this autumn, but that’s just a wild guess, and can be hit or miss. LOL.

    Take care,
    -k-

  60. Kristin Merritt wrote at September 23, 2019:

    Just signed up for a new subscription but did not get the e-mail in my inbox.  I checked the junkmail, too.

  61. Keijo wrote at September 24, 2019:

    Hi Kristin,

    no notification of failed/bounced email delivery for me, so likely your ISP provider has shut down the email in stealth mode (sadly some ISPs do this if they suspect message is spam).

    I’ll send you cc-copy of the emails sent using another mail system.

    All the best,
    -k-

  62. Cecil Reams wrote at November 23, 2019:

    Hello, transitioning to a new computer, and can not find my user name and password – can you assist.

     

  63. Keijo wrote at November 27, 2019:

    Hi Cecil,

    no problem. Email on it’s way to you.

    Sorry wor delay. Busy times at work.

    -k-

  64. Lee Anderson wrote at December 9, 2019:

    Hi Keijo,

    Coming back to the blog after an over-long hiatus and I’ve forgotten everything for login.  I suspect I may be that ‘zombie account’ at this point…

    Help!

  65. Keijo wrote at December 10, 2019:

    Hi Lee,

    and sorry fo bit slow response. I’m bit busy at work…

    Yep. The subscription has been dead for 18 months. Definitely time for renewal (and thanks in advance 🙂 ).

    -k-

  66. James Oliver wrote at December 30, 2019:

    Hi Keijo,

    I have been off-line for several months.  I can’t bet my login/username and/or password to work.  My account expires 3/9/2020.

    Help would be appreciated.

    All the best,

    Jim Oliver

  67. Keijo wrote at December 30, 2019:

    Hi Jim,

    I’ve sent you email. Please check your inbox.

    Happy New Year,
    -k-

  68. Dennis Buss wrote at January 3, 2020:

    Hello,

    It has been quite awhile (several months) since I have received an email newsletter.  My subscription information above indicates that it expires 10 February 2020.  Can you determine why I have not been receiving the email newsletters?

    Thank you.

    Dennis Buss

  69. Keijo wrote at January 3, 2020:

    Hi Dennis,

    and thanks for the input/question.

    Reason is very simple – no newsletters have been sent in awhile. All relates to personal stuff I’m going through – see posts “Stamps and collecting as therapy – pt. 1 & 2” for more details. Though newsletter mailing in itself is fully automated process, it involves quite a lot of manual labour (somebody has to write editorial content, somebody has to schedule the system, somebody has to work and solve any technical delivery issues, somebody has to correspond if required etc. That somebody has been always me)

    I hope this situations outlines why the Subscription model is must have (it will keep the barebones of SCB up and running without my input), and why I have been trying to expand beyond the “one man model” (when that one man is down, all operations here stop because there is no paid staff or anyone else to take over operations).

    All in all I’m very grateful for remaining subscribers for their (financial) support as well as patience. Without it SCB would have shared the fate of many stamp websites when shit hit the fan. Eventually this too shall pass and normal life resumes, but like most serious personal stuff this is a process that takes as long as it takes.

    -k-

  70. Allen Bennink wrote at April 8, 2020:

    I paid for a two-yr subscription but thr receipt say one-year.

  71. Keijo wrote at April 8, 2020:

    Hi Allen,

    thanks for notifying a “bug”… There was just miswording in the (autogenerated) email template – it’s now all fixed for future subscribers.
    The subscription end date in your message as well as in the system is correct (2 years from subscribtion date).

    -k-

  72. John Blackwell wrote at November 27, 2020:

    The Prodigal Subscriber Returns ;o) Hi Keijo, I hope everything is going well with you. Has the Subscriber base been growing during COVID-1984?

    Please can I change my Default Email to my own as the Paypal email is one that belongs to my Wife.

    RSVP
    John

  73. Keijo wrote at December 28, 2020:

    Hi John,

    sorry for slow response. Been a busy end of year (on the move once again etc).

    Email address changed succesfully.

    -k-

  74. John Blackwell wrote at January 12, 2021:

    Keijo wrote at December 28, 2020:
    Hi John,

    sorry for slow response. Been a busy end of year (on the move once again etc).

    Email address changed succesfully.

    -k-

    </div

    Just replied under your lovely post with Harriet. All the Very Best Mate B-)

  75. David R Tanswell wrote at January 20, 2021:

    Hello Keijo

    I have subscribed to SCB this afternoon, but have had nothing from you.  Paid vial PayPal successfully.

    Please help.

    Regards

    David.

  76. Keijo wrote at January 20, 2021:

    Hello David,

    and thanks for chiming in. I just checked delivery report email of messages and found no delivery errors. So this is a mystery.

    Anyway, I’m sending you a cc-copy of the signup message from the system log/archive, and you should be up & running in no time.

    All the best,
    -k-

  77. Mel wrote at January 30, 2021:

    Hi Keijo,

    Hope 2021 is off to a great start for you!

    Just renewed my subscription but the new login credentials email has not come through.

    Kind regards,

    Mel

  78. Keijo wrote at February 9, 2021:

    Hi Mel,

    and sorry for weeks delay in reply. I was in middle of move (kind of still am, but at least the laptop/internet is now working).

    Email to you is now on it’s way 😉 Hope all is well with you & yours,

    -k-

  79. DAVID GOSMAN wrote at February 27, 2021:

    I need to pick a new password. Mine has expired

    Thank you,

    David Gosman

     

  80. Keijo wrote at March 1, 2021:

    Hi David,

    email to has been sent, please check your inbox for my message.

    All the best,
    -k-

  81. Heikki Väänänen wrote at May 10, 2021:

    Hi Keijo.

    I renewed my subscription (May 9, 2021 14:07:28 PDT), but didn’t find the answer e-mail as usually.

    Regards,

    Heikki

  82. Keijo wrote at May 10, 2021:

    Hi Heikki,

    and thanks. I’ve sent you copy of new/current credentials through my personal email.

    Looking through the send messages logs it seems Hotmail + Live have placed a range of Digital Oceans’s (company where servers are located) IP-addressess on blocklist. This is the classic throw the baby out with the bathwater sitch Sigh. Bit ironicially, the individual SNDS-feedback (by Hotmail/Live) states ‘Your sending IPs have normal status’. LOL… But I’ll contact SCB’s ISP and see what they can and are willing to do to fix the sitch.

    -k-

  83. Bryan Lima wrote at July 5, 2021:

    Hello,

    I just subscribed about 30 min ago — have not received credentials via email yet.  Checked spam folder, etc. but still no luck.  I’m sure they will arrive immediately after sending this email, but JIC please send via email.   Bryan

  84. Keijo wrote at July 7, 2021:

    Hi Bryan,

    and sorry for bit slow response. I was enjoying the annual family vacation/trip with my kids, and thus did not check the emails in few days.

    Looking at delivery log everything seems okey/green from SCBs system. So likely the issue is RoadRunner/TimeWarnerCable system filtering the messages to kingdom gone without any notifications to sending party. Nothing new under the sun, sadly.

    Anyway, I’m sending you a copy of the signup messages through my personal email account. They contain your credentials, receipt of purchase etc. Your subscription has been extended with few extra days to make up the lost time (and bit more).

    Hope you enjoy your time with SCB.

    All the best,
    -keijo-

  85. John Collins wrote at December 17, 2021:

    Hi

    I paid my membership but have lost my details. Would you be able to reissue a password to me.

    Kind regards

    John

  86. Keijo wrote at December 18, 2021:

    Hi John,

    sure, no problem. You got mail. Please check your inbox.

    -keijo-

  87. Richard Taylor wrote at April 23, 2022:

    I believed I bought a one year subscription through PayPal, but I have never received confirmation or an email to set up the account for access. I don’t want to pay again. Please advise how to proceed. Thank you.  Richard Taylor

  88. Richard Taylor wrote at April 23, 2022:

    Tried to purchase one year subscription with PayPal. Have not heard from you. Please advise status. Thank you. Richard Taylor

  89. Keijo wrote at April 24, 2022:

    Hi Richard,

    and thanks for getting in touch with the login issue.

    As the whole subscription system is automated, your account has been ready to go the monent payment was received (which happens almost real-time). The reason you did not receive any email notification of this lies within your ISP (Charter Communications). It seems they are blocking any email from the hosting provider SCB (and millions of other websites) are using as “possible source of spam”.

    Unfortunately the only way to get over this is to leave a support ticket/message here (as you did), and then I will need to manually send you a carbon copy of the email system did sent you. Since there is just one of me (and I do have life+work besides SCB), usually it takes from 24-48 hours to get a reply from me.

    So by the time you are reading this, you should have received an email (from my personal gmail account) with topic “Stampcollectingblog.com credentials”. It contains everything you need to get started with your account.

    -keijo-

  90. Gene Borden wrote at June 28, 2022:

    Hi Keijo,

    How are you doing? Can you give us an update?

    I check the board regularly hoping you’ve posted an update. Would hate to see you totally vacate the hobby. I miss your incites and always-excellent opinions.

    Hope all is well with you and your family.

    Best,

    Gene

     

  91. RAVINDRAN VENKATAKRISHNAN wrote at June 29, 2022:

    Hi,

    I seem to have forgotten my login details to your site. Could you please send me the details?

     

    Ravi

  92. Keijo wrote at June 29, 2022:

    Hi Gene,

    all is well. Just superbusy with work (leading inhouse marketing team) & life (wedding ahead in summer 2023).

    As far as stamps & collecting… both are moving onwards, but at much slower pace than I would hope for. Besides finding the time to write about things, the biggest obstacle is figuring out the space. The stamps/stocksbooks and books corner are right how I want, but the extras and “stamp cave” not so much. I actually ended up dumping my “stamp desk” few months back simply because it was not a good match (=way too big) for this new home. So now I need to find (and buy) a new stamping desk.

    But I will try to “activate” myself towards end of summer one way or another.

    -k-

  93. Keijo wrote at June 29, 2022:

    Hi Ravindran,

    are you sure you have signed up? Because based on quick browse I cannot find login matching the email you used to comment.

    -k-

  94. Vedat Gulasi wrote at April 30, 2023:

    Hi , my name is Vedat Gulasi, I have sent a couple messages to introduce myself, but haven’t received any replies.? I don’t know if you have received them.? So if you can send me a link to introduce myself pls , maybe I didn’t use the right form? , pls any information on how to send and receive messages, would be greatly appreciated thank you. Regards Vedat.

  95. Keijo wrote at May 7, 2023:

    Hello (again) Vedat,

    I did approve and respond to your earlier message. It was just on a different page…..

    And my apologies with bit slow response this time. I did encounter COVID once again.

    -k-

  96. Randy Rogers wrote at September 3, 2023:

    Trying to login to my account but password has expired!

  97. Paul Campbell wrote at September 4, 2023:

    Hi Keijo,

    I’m back to stamp collecting and I can see that your Blog is a necessary resource. Can you sign me up again?

    PaulC

  98. Jozef Kojdiak wrote at September 5, 2023:

    Good day,

    I just paid for your services for one year via Pay Pal…may I know when I will have active access to read your interesting pages?

    Best regards

     

    Jozef Kojdiak

  99. Jozef Kojdiak wrote at September 5, 2023:

    Wie kann ich mich richtig anmelden?

  100. Keijo wrote at September 5, 2023:

    Hi Randy,

    true, your subscription has expired quite a while back. The route onwards is to resubscribe SCB Premium.

    -keijo-

  101. Keijo wrote at September 5, 2023:

    Hi Paul,

    the recommended road onwards is to sign up with unlimited SCB Premium subscription. Alternatively you can sign up with the freemium version, but it comes with limits how much you can read. The choice is yours.

    -keijo-

  102. Keijo wrote at September 5, 2023:

    Hello Joseph,

    It seems you have typo in your PayPal/Subscription email (folatelia instead of filatelia). That is why the automated email containing your credentials has failed. I will send you new credentials manually.

    Und hallo, Ich sprechen Deutch auch 😉

    -keijo-

  103. Jamshed wrote at October 28, 2023:

    Hi Keijo,

    hope all’s well with you. Is there a way to subscribe through using cc (not Paypal)? Thanks, Jamshed

  104. Keijo wrote at November 4, 2023:

    Hi Jamshed,

    sorry for bit slow response. I’ve been busy this week…. IBANN bank transfer is one option, but only if you reside within European Union.

    -keijo-

  105. Tom Chimera wrote at December 22, 2023:

    I have forgotten my password

  106. Keijo wrote at January 10, 2024:

    Hi Tom,

    sorry for slow response. I was going through some health woes…. I am not seeing any active/inactive accounts linked to email you gave. Could you please restate the email you have used to sign up.

  107. Robert Temple wrote at February 12, 2024:

    Have forgotten user name and password

  108. Keijo wrote at February 17, 2024:

    Hi Robert,

    it seems your previous subscription has expired and thus the credentials you may have are no longer valid. Re-subscribing is they way onwards.

    All the best,
    -keijo-

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