集邮是一种兴趣，也是一种学问，同时也是一种投资。通过收集、研究各种邮品，集邮者除了学会世界的历史、地理、花草鱼虫以及人物等相关的知识以外，还可以培养出一种禅定的情趣和修养耐性。估计全球有 3000 万集邮者。

邮品不仅包含邮票，还包含邮政机构发行和使用的封、片、简、戳等邮政用品。邮品形式多样，包括首日封、国际邮资航空信封、纪念封、原图卡、明信片、小全张、小本票、小型张、纪念邮戳、邮柬等。

对于一些较小的国家（例如列支敦士登）来说，集邮者是主要的财政收入来源。由于香港的功夫电影流行，还有一些非洲国家以李小龙及成龙的功夫明星出版邮票，此外朝鲜亦以**著名歌星邓丽君为题出版邮票，赚取外汇。有些国家会专门针对集邮者发行设计精美的限量邮票，其邮票生产量往往超过邮政需求甚至根本不用于邮政，则被列为“有害邮品”。****年11月13日至12月14日，万国邮政联盟在美国华盛顿举行了第20届UPU大会进行“有害邮品”的讨论并通过《适用于万国邮联会员国的集邮准则》，其中“建议C80”即根据1984年汉堡大会通过的公约条款第九条规定“邮票发行的条件”所制定出来的7条邮品发行准则，并定期公布有害邮票、邮品的名单。

Stamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps and related objects. It is related to philately which is the study of stamps. It has been one of the world's most popular hobbies since the late nineteenth century with the rapid growth of the postal service, but is now in decline with the rise of the internet which has sharply reduced the number of postal items arriving in households. Stamp collecting proved to be an almost perfect hobby for collectors because there was a never ending stream of new stamps as each country sought to advertise its distinctiveness through its stamps. Because some stamps became rare a thriving international trade in stamps was created. While stamp collectors are of all ages, it has been particularly popular hobby among children, many of whom continued the hobby as adults.