Stamp Questions Archives - Page 2 of 2

Forever Stamps are stamps that you can use forever! They’re non-denominated, meaning that they don’t state their monetary value. Instead, they come bearing the word “forever”, written with a diagonal strikethrough. The first Forever Stamp came out in 2007, holding an iconic illustration of the Liberty Bell as a strong symbol of economic independence. If you bought a booklet of these stamps when they came out, you can use them today without any extra cost. Clearly, this system made the process much easier. By 2011, its unprecedented success coaxed the USPS into standardizing the Forever format for all one-ounce stamps, except for coils of 500, 3,000, and 10,000 stamps. What Was It Like Before Forever Stamps? To better understand how Forever Stamps revolutionized the industry, we’ll need to rewind time. Before 2011, all postage stamps had a specified monetary value denoting the first-class shipping price at the time. With the ever-growing inflation, the shipping prices were always increasing. That forced the USPS to periodically print new stamps with updated prices. Let’s provide real examples to put things into perspective. Starting from January 2006, people used to pay $0.39 for the one-ounce first-class postage. One year later, in May 2007, that price went up to $0.41. If you wanted to use a 2006 stamp in 2007, you had to get an additional $0.02 stamp to cover the price difference. Why was that bad? Well, first, you had to visit the nearest post office more than once to send a letter. And second, USPS had to allocate whopping loads of money to print those extra stamps, causing serious bouts of plummeted profits. The Available Forms of Forever Stamps Here are the shipping classes offered by the USPS in the Forever category. Shipping ClassText On Stamp2020 ValueFirst-ClassFOREVER$0.55First-Class Additional OunceADDITIONAL OUNCE$0.15Two-Ounce First-Class TWO OUNCE$0.70Three-Class First-ClassTHREE OUNCE$0.85First-Class InternationalGLOBAL$1.20Postcard RatePOSTCARD$0.35 Saving Money With Forever Stamps By default, Forever Stamps provide substantial financial and logistical value. Nevertheless, some people approach Forever Stamps as a form of investment. By stocking up on these stamps, you’ll save a seemingly considerable amount of money. How much, exactly? Well, to know that, we’ll need to trace the history of the US postage rates. Announcement DateOne-Ounce First-Class Rate February 3, 1991$0.29January 1, 1995$0.32January 10, 1999$0.33January 7, 2001$0.34June 30, 2002$0.37January 8, 2006$0.39May 14, 2007$0.41May 12, 2008$0.42May 11, 2009$0.44January 22, 2012$0.45January 27, 2013$0.46January 26, 2014$0.49April 10, 2016$0.47January 22, 2017$0.49January 21, 2018$0.50January 27, 2019$0.55 Based on the previous data, if you bought a booklet of 20 Forever Stamps for $8.20 in 2007, it’ll be worth $11 today — this might not seem like a large difference, but it’ll add up with larger amounts. So all in all, you can save money by buying Forever Stamps in bulk. Making Money With Forever Stamps The fact that Forever Stamps increase in value by time begs a crucial question: Can you earn money by reselling your stock? I know what you’re probably thinking; this might seem like a silly question at first. If any product increases in value, reselling it in the future will undoubtedly earn you some cash. But how will that “cash” compare to the inflation? Let’s see. Postage Rate vs. Inflation Rate As you probably know, the prices follow a quite steady inflation rate. Between 1991 and 2019, records reveal that prices bounced with an average of 87.71%. If you calculate the inflation percentage for the postage rates, you’ll find that the price increased by 89.6% within the same timeframe. Economic jargon aside, what does this mean for your investment? After doing the math, it turns out that investing in Forever Stamps will generate less than a 1% profit each year — that’s way tinier than almost all known investments. To put things into perspective, if you buy 100 stamp books for $1,100 today, you may resell them the next year for $1,111 only! The Unfortunate Reality of Postal Business To further prove my point, let’s take a look at the USPS’s annual revenue reports starting from 2007 — the year in which Forever Stamps were launched. Year Net Profit2007$5.1 billion loss2008$2.8 billion loss2009$3.8 billion loss2010$8.5 billion loss2011$5.1 billion loss2012$15.9 billion loss2013$5 billion loss2014$5.5 billion loss2015$5.1 billion loss2016$5.6 billion loss2017$2.7 billion loss2018$3.9 billion loss2019$8.8 billion loss If the company itself couldn’t make ends meet for 13 years, do you think you can do it? Where Can You Buy Forever Stamps? You can buy Forever Stamps at the nearest post office! I know that this sounds obvious, but it’s actually the method I recommend the most. If postage seems somewhat overwhelming, the workers at your local post office will swiftly guide you through it. If the nearest post office is considerably far, you’ll probably find discounted stamp books at Walmart and other large retailers. You can also ask at grocery stores, pharmacies, banks, and office suppliers. If you want to abide by social distancing rules, you can purchase any of the available designs from the official USPS store. DIYers will appreciate the service of Stamps.com. Unlike USPS, Stamps.com won’t physically ship the postage stamps to you; they’ll send a digital version that you can instantly print on labels, envelopes, or plain paper. To Sum Up What is a forever stamp? It’s a stamp that you can use anytime in the future without any additional costs. If you often use the mail, buying these stamps in bulk will save you a considerable amount of money. On the contrary, investing in them with the intention of reselling will hardly be profitable.