NEOCOLLECT WEB SITE SHUTS DOWN

The NeoCollect website was taken down in early February, after six years of operation. The website was originally conceived in 2008 as a way for collectors of all fine arts, antiques and other valuable collectibles – including but not limited to numismatic items -- to manage and share their collections, and to connect with other collectors. It took the basic concepts behind museum management software, streamlined it for collectors of just about anything, and added some functionality that one might describe as “Facebook for your collection”. While hundreds of collectors signed up and tried it, and a small but loyal user base became quite attached, the economics of operating the site became unsustainable. The Internet landscape – particularly with the transition to mobile devices -- evolved too rapidly for NeoCollect to continue operating as a viable independent entity.

Last October, we wrote to the users to let them know that NeoCollect would no longer be available for use after the end of 2014. During the fall, we explored the possibility of combining NeoCollect into the American Numismatic Association’s “My Collections” website feature. Unfortunately, these discussions did not pan out. There were structural and code (computer language) differences that would have cost the ANA a lot of money to overcome. Also, they felt that the ANA website already had some of what NeoCollect offered (e.g., friends, messaging). We even explored enabling NeoCollect users to simply migrate their NeoCollect collections to ANA’s My Collections database in a partial fashion, but that did not work out either.

In late-December we followed up, advising the NeoCollect users that operation would be extended to mid-January, and then further extended operations to February 1. We had provided users with instructions on how to download all of their text data into an Excel spreadsheet, and some also found ways to download their photos. We also referred users to a few of the available collection management software packages, such as:

• Collector Systems (http://www.collectorsystems.com/) – a cloud-based collection management program available for $45 or $85 per month to individual collectors depending on the product selected.

• Past Perfect Museum Software (http://wwww.museumsoftware.com/) – the world’s leading software program for collection and contact management, used by many small museums and historical societies, available for $870 (or $1,245 including the Multimedia upgrade that allows you to include images).

• ArtVault Software (https://www.artvaultsoftware.com/) – another desktop collection management program available for 1,690 Swiss Francs (about $1,710).

While we didn’t endorse any of these programs, they at least represented potential collection management alternatives worth exploring.

The NeoCollect code and all of the collection data and photos were saved, should a comparable site someday emerge and Neocollect’s users decide to upload their data. At this point, the existing sites with collection management functionality follow one of two basic approaches. Some, like the PCGS Registry and HobbyDB establish a finite, specifically enumerated list of collectible items and you essentially check off what you have, in what condition. So for those with data-and-mintmark coins, these sites have the complete list and you just check the appropriate boxes. Others, like the ANA’s My Collection and the newly announced Heritage MyCollection site (which I believe were conceptualized by the same individual) are more open-ended, but extremely rudimentary and not yet easily usable.

As I say about many things in life, it’s easy to see what going to happen in the future, but very difficult to say when it will happen. I do believe that something like NeoCollect will eventually emerge again and ultimately become the standard for all sorts of collectors to manage and share their collections – I just can’t say when!

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
NEW WEB SITE: NEOCOLLECT.COM (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v12n08a04.html)
USER REVIEW: NEOCOLLECT.COM (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v12n14a16.html)
NEOCOLLECT.COM INCORPORATES E-SYLUM FEEDBACK (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v12n15a16.html)

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