The USPS Forever Stamp: A Myth
On Monday, May 14th, the price of a first-class stamp went up from 39 to 41 cents. As such, you have the usual flurry of people rushing to post offices to buy booklets of 2 cent stamps. In addition to that, the US Postal Service unveiled their new Forever Stamp.
For 41 cents, the stamp can be used to mail a piece of first-class mail at any point in the future regardless of future rate increases. So basically you can buy a thousand Forever stamps now and still be able to use them decades from now. This sort of savings for consumers is all but a myth.
You are expecting consumers to adopt a buy-hold strategy. Now with these rate increases, the cost of a first-class stamp was raised 8 times over a 20-year period. So would there be any significant savings? Probably not unless you buy the stamps in bulk.
Now I was thinking that such an idea should have been introduced years ago. I thought there was a time we bought first-class stamps without any number-cent showing. Wasn't that the forever stamp in name? Like there was a time where that first-class stamp did not have that 37, 39, or 41 cent number displayed, right? Years ago, I remember having a couple of American-flag stamps but they did not have any cent-designation, but they were definitely first-class stamps. I'm thinking that the USPS accountants were penny-pinchers and did not want customers using older stamps without paying the today's cost of them.
So this "Forever Stamp" idea is good but why should we still have a 41-cent stamp alongside it? Get rid of that one, and make the "Forever Stamp" permanent. If you buy a couple of booklets now, and the rate goes up, you save a couple of bucks.
Comments
Posted by: Joel
Posted on: May 15, 2007 10:59 AM
I remember the stamps you were talking about, but their reason for existence was different than the forever stamp. Instead of forever, they had a designation on them, like "First Class E". The reason was simple... the rate wasn't established when they started printing them! They need to start printing those puppies long before the date to have the supply available, and then they go on sale for that rate as soon as it is announced making "E" whatever value was decided. The forever stamp makes this easier. They can just keep printing those without regard to the rate.
The downside of the "E" and the "forever" stamps is that they cannot be used for anything other than first-class letters. You can't take 10 of them and paste them on a package to make $4.10. You also cannot use them on international mail.
Posted by: skd
Posted on: October 2, 2007 03:03 PM
I think you can use the forever stamps to mail packages and internationally
Posted by: rtatac
Posted on: December 14, 2007 07:34 PM
Can the Forever Stamp be used for International Mail?
Any nondenominated stamps (except for those that bear unique markings, such as First-Class Presort, Nonprofit Org.) may be affixed to items that are sent to foreign countries. The postage value of such stamps is linked to its appropriate domestic rate (e.g., the Lady Liberty and U.S. Flag stamp has a postage value of 39 cents). The postage value of the Forever Stamp will be the domestic First-Class Mail single-piece 1-ounce letter rate that is in effect on the day of use. Since international postage rates are always higher than the comparable domestic rates, additional postage would have to be affixed.
Source: http://www.usps.com/mailpro/2007/marapril/page15.html
Posted by: Stamps
Posted on: February 16, 2008 04:37 AM
Thanks for this very informative post! Looking forward to getting my own copy of this stamp for my collection :-)
Posted by: daniel b
Posted on: May 1, 2008 08:59 AM
To clarify the policy on packages, I emailed the USPS...(BTW, The 3:41 AM response time is...interesting....)
Can the Forever stamp be used on non-1 ounce, first class mail after May 12...
Response (Peggy F) 05/01/2008 03:41 AM
Dear DANIEL,
Thank you for contacting us about the use of the Forever Stamp on other just 1 ounce letters.
Yes, you can use the Forever Stamps on other mailings. If you have a 3 ounce letter, you can put 1 Forever stamp and two $0.17 stamps with it. Or you can just put two Forever stamps on the letter.
If I can be of assistance to you in the future, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Thank you for choosing the United States Postal Service®.
Regards,
Peggy F
Posted by: ckl
Posted on: July 13, 2008 10:20 PM
where can i buy it?