Comments on: USPS Announces The “Forever” Stamp: Is It Worth Your $0.39?

By: A P

A P — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 22:42:19 +0000

A “First Class” stamp IS NOT A FOREVER STAMP.

If it doesn’t say FOREVER on it, then it does have a fixed value, whether printed or not. I once had my rent check returned to me because of this.

My disgust for the USPS has only increased since then. In fact, “delivery confirmation” confirms that I received a package from them last Saturday… except I didn’t.

By: Mark

Mark — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 22:14:19 +0000

I just had a single page letter stamped with a ‘USA First-Class’ Forever stamp, returned with the note “Return to Sender postage due 2c.”
So much for ‘Forever’

By: SeaWife

SeaWife — Sun, 24 May 2009 22:37:43 +0000

Why go and stand in line at the Post Office for a lenghth of time when one can buy stamps via mail.
I’ve done this for years. At the onset, pick up the special envelope from the P.O., maybe a few, to keep on hand. Whenever the stamps run out just fill in your information, along with your check, mail it in to the P.O. and within 4 – 5 days time they will be delivered to your home with your regular mail. (The envelope is paid for by the P.O.) They in turn will supply an add’l envelope each time with the return stamps. This works for me very well. I just be sure to requisition stamps before I run out.
Simple. No problem at all!

By: Jon

Jon — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:08:07 +0000

I don’t really agree with this. I mean, the forever stamps appreciate at the rate of inflation + a little bonus if you buy right before the increase?
There are a lot of places you can put your money that should do better than inflation (or so I hope, or I’ll probably never retire), and therefore a lot better than forever stamps.

By: oscar

oscar — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 01:51:07 +0000

what was the price of the 1998 First Rate Postage Stamp?

By: Kyla

Kyla — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 02:15:49 +0000

Oh how stamp-hoarding penny pinchers loathe people like me who dive into the couch cushions to recover mangled, grime-encrusted stamps and then plaster the envelope – borrowed from a neighbor – with a ridiculous number to ensure the correspondence reaches its destination.

Those extra stamps could have made you $0.18 in the year 2064.

I can feel you cringe.

By: Schwamie

Schwamie — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:41:57 +0000

While this post might lead to me losing the “bargain” than I currently get, you are able to go on e-bay and purchase “postage lots” that sell stamps of rates that are currently not being used for less than face value (ie 29c and other odd denominations). There is then the issue of getting the additional odd denominations to make up the difference but you can usually get these lots for anywhere from 5 to 10 percent under face. This can definitely be worth your while if you need a lot of postage.

By: R P

R P — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:16:47 +0000

quite interesting that you took the time to graph price increases and run survey all price adjustments.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 02:50:36 +0000

I am a 17yr employee of the postal service and I can tell you that if your letters are going through without the correct postage it is due to one or two things. I sort the mail and because I work in the back, I do not keep up on all of the stamps like I did when I worked the counter. Most clerks recognize them, some of the older clerks do not have a clue.

When we recognize that the letter is short paid, we put separate it as postage due. The letter carrier picks up their keys and other accountable items and 9 times out of 10 your letter carrier is paying the short-paid amount. The carrier would rather pay it and be done with it than knocking on the door, waiting for someone to answer, then dig in their purse etc. The carriers are on time constraints and if they have to knock on every door to collect 2 or 3 cents, they will never make it back off the street.

Also, a lot of companies have postage due accounts and if something comes in short-paid, it may be deducted from the account. It makes sense for them because instead of your mortgage payment being returned for 2 cents and ultimately becoming delinquent and being assessed late fees, they just pay it.

Most people, however, do keep up with the correct postage. The forever stamp is new and not very bright. The newer, more popular stamps are easily visible for us and we can see the value of the stamp posted on it. Rather than bother, most employees just let it slide. It is not smart to do, because gasoline costs a great deal and the company is losing revenue.

Lastly, the post office is not subsidized by the government and the company cannot operate with a huge profit, the sale of postage and the sale of ‘bulk mail’ is what sustains the postal service.

By: cdg

cdg — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 08:58:13 +0000

“I plan on buying a few hundred “forever” stamps just before the next rate hike, but not more than I could use in a year. This lets me maximize the benefit of beating a rate hike, but doesn’t lock me into an “investment” that merely stays the same as inflation.”

So, assuming the annual postal rate hike is 1-cent (as it is this year), your investment will return a whopping (200 x 0.01 = ) $2.00, which (assuming you use these stamps evenly over the next year) is a only a 1.22% return. You could do far better than that by leaving the money in almost any money-market account. Even 90-day treasuries are returning 2.56% today.

This is another case of false economy (for the consumer) and a royal rip-off by the post office.

By: emjaycee

emjaycee — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 22:12:39 +0000

Said “TD” on June 20, 2007: “If you think that the Lady Liberty Flag stamp with no value printed on it is a forever stamp, you’re wrong. Despite not showing an exact value, it is worth 39c only, and as of June 2007, you have to add a 2c stamp to make it valid.”

Assuming that’s correct, I think the USPS would find themselves in a difficult position if they wanted to take a “hard line” and insist that a stamp is only worth a certain amount when the value isn’t printed on the stamp.

By: reza

reza — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 00:01:21 +0000

but usps is actually for profit. when they switched over, they became much more efficient.

By: Helen

Helen — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 13:28:51 +0000

I bought two rolls of Crops in the spring and I’ve been using them ever since. I probably go through 20 stamps a month or so and nothing’s ever been returned or refused. But I got told yesterday at the post office that I should have been putting a 2 cent makeup stamp on them. So.. if the stamp doesnt say “Forever”.. it aint.

By: TD

TD — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 22:22:07 +0000

If you think that the Lady Liberty Flag stamp with no value printed on it is a forever stamp, you’re wrong. Despite not showing an exact value, it is worth 39c only, and as of June 2007, you have to add a 2c stamp to make it valid:
https://hdusps.esecurecare.net/cgi-bin/hdusps.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=2556&p_created=1060975374&p_sid=hYCXEevi&p_accessibility=0&p_sid=XHtHwzBi&xssl=1%3Cbr%3E%3C/a%3E

The first forever stamp ever printed in the United States is selling for 41c today, and they have the word “FOREVER” printed on it. If that word is not on your stamp, you do NOT own a forever stamp, period.

Of course you can’t save money by buying a large amount of forever stamps today, because the USPS price increase is actually below the inflation:
http://www.slate.com/id/2166475

By: JP

JP — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 01:50:11 +0000

You people have too much time on your hands to be thinking this long and hard about stamps!

By: Laughing atyou

Laughing atyou — Wed, 30 May 2007 20:23:43 +0000

Are you kidding me??? WHY would anyone stock up on stamps?? Let’s say you buy 300 stamps ($123) and save them all and down the road the price of stamps ends up at 50 cents. To buy the same amount would cost you $150, so you would save a whole $27. What’s the point??

The average stamp user would only save a few dollars at best, and that’s only assuming they don’t lose them, use them, or forget they have them between now and then. There is no big profit to be made trying to sell these stamps to people who didn’t take “advantage” of the forever stamp. There’s no major gain to be made by saving them to “beat” the next price hike.

Need stamps? Buy them, use them, get on with your life.

By: Forever Stamps

Forever Stamps — Sun, 20 May 2007 20:34:36 +0000

Older first-class nondenominated stamps (no price)are not valid at current first-class rates. The value of these stamps were “frozen” at the old rate at which they were purchased.

http://foreverstamps.com/what-is-a-forever-stamp-faq-guide/

By: jj

jj — Sat, 19 May 2007 21:04:19 +0000

Given that the cost to move postage is partly tied to the price of fossil fuels, the tight historical corrolation between postage and CPI may not hold-up indefinitely.

By: Dave

Dave — Sat, 12 May 2007 03:58:01 +0000

First class mail does not subsidize bulk mail. It is the other way around. First class mail has to be sorted first and delivered the day it gets to the carrier even if it takes overtime. Junk mail can be delayed for days until time allows. More importantly most first class mail is forwardable and most junk mail is wasted when a customer moves. 15 years ago we were told that the USPS makes about a penny profit per letter but it costs about 43 cents to forward the average letter. presumably it is more now. Considering that most customers are pretty poor about notifying correspondents (some even notify the USPS first!) when they move a fortune is spent forwarding this mail which is in the overall cost of postage. I don’t understand why the customer isn’t simply charged for this and/or the service limited to 30/60 days. People would likely be more timely in their notifications.

By: mytwocents

mytwocents — Sun, 06 May 2007 21:16:24 +0000

Trent, A solid writer does not get emotional over their articles feedback. You are incorrect and are still incorrect. Read your Title again. It is incorrect and missleading.

“Writing is an art, most people can’t paint either” Truman

USPS Announces The “Forever” Stamp: Is It Worth Your $0.39?