The Banana Label Catalog is a community project, and I’m always happy when collectors upload their latest finds here. But adding a label is only a small part of what makes the catalog work. Behind it is a lot of ongoing work: checking and classifying labels, completing information, maintaining the database and website, managing users and permissions, dealing with technical issues, and developing new features. All of this takes considerable time and money. This is already explained in detail elsewhere, so I won’t repeat it here.

What should actually be obvious to everyone is that I have very little time left for collecting and trading. Most of my hobby time goes into maintaining and developing the catalog for every one else. I simply cannot do all of this while also spending additional time sorting duplicates and arranging trades. That means I depend on the collecting community for new labels. If the catalog is to help all of us discover, document and exchange labels, the exchange has to work both ways. If nothing comes back to my own collection, the whole thing eventually becomes rather pointless for me personally. And I think - in addition - it is unrealistic to expect me to invest so much time and money into this project without receiving at least some personal benefit in return.

There is no membership or usage fee for the catalog, but that does not mean that using it comes at no cost. If you find the catalog useful and spend some time here, I think it is only fair to contribute something in return. You can easily see which labels I am still missing. If you have duplicates, please put them aside for me and send them from time to time. They don’t have to be rare labels or large quantities – just a fair contribution to keep the exchange going.

And yes, the gold medal next to your username should be a natural sign that you support the catalog and the work behind it. If you don’t have a gold medal, please think about how you would like to contribute to the time, effort and costs behind this important resource for our hobby and let us know what you have in mind.