What is Digg?56 Comments
- maximusGeek, on 10/11/2007, -3/+40And we assume that stamps and paper mail will exist for ever.
I personally only send my correspondence via the pony express or telegraph. - jjk5, on 10/11/2007, -2/+25I sent a reply to this via carrier pigeon. It won't arrive for a few weeks, so take my word for it that it is hilarious.
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -1/+18People. That's who.
- theWrkncacnter, on 10/11/2007, -0/+15The point of the article is that it's a better use of money to invest it in a bank or something and buy stamps only as you need them.
The value of the forever stamp is its convenience - not having to add up values of old stamps to get the current postage. I think. - gungaroo22, on 10/11/2007, -0/+15skyshock21 - Good luck emailing a check. Or emailing documents that require a signature.
There are still many practice applications that normal mail is used for. Also, real cards are SO MUCH less annoying than e-cards. - RyeBrye, on 10/11/2007, -3/+14The only time it makes sense to buy tons of them is right after they announce a rate increase and before it goes into effect.
- whiledo, on 03/25/2009, -0/+10Well, it certainly won't be the ROBOTS.
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7Anybody who thinks it is a good idea to buy Forever Stamps as an investment is a fool. At less than 3% average increase per year, stamp prices increase lower than even the most conservative investments. I get a 50% bigger return on my money in my SAVINGs account for crying out loud.
- jermm, on 10/11/2007, -1/+8The Forever stamp is for people like me. People who might send 5 pieces of mail a year, and want to have stamps the last forever (not having to run to the post office).
(Damm, I spelled pieces wrong the first time) - geekee, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5Investing money in stamps only is favorable if the postage rate increases faster than other investment options gain value. That's not factoring in risk, however.
- Rhino2, on 10/11/2007, -2/+7
The article doesn't consider the "collectablity" factor.
If you had a 1000 stamps in Prefect Mint condition that where 30 years old, that might be worth more then their "face value" to a collector.
Specailly if the Forver stamp was discontiuned or hard to find.
Not that investing in collectables is ever a sound investment stagery to begin with!
My retirement fund is all full invested in my Transformer and Go Bots collection! - inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4The downfall is what you give up for that $1900 in 30 years.
Sure, it is better than sewing your money in your mattress and waiting for 30 eyars. But it would be almost IMPOSSIBLE to not earn more than 3% interest by investing your money in other ways. Even low or no risk investments. Most money market accounts are more than 3%. CD are often more than 3%.
Let me put it this way. In 2037 I sure as hell expect my investments to be worth more than twice what they are currently worth. If not, a whole bunch of Generation Xers like myself are going to be screwed come retirment time. - scrumpy, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4Let's see, I'm 30 now, I'll likely live to be 84. Thank you digg death calculator!
So if I find one of these stamps that I bought today in 50+ years. In 2061 when postage is $8.21 for first class mail, regardless of inflation, I'll still feel like I'm "stickin it" to the man. - cherrick, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Except that that's only a 3% return on investment. That just barely keeps pace with inflation(assuming it continues to meet the target), making it the worst possible investment.
- griz, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3So let me get this straight, rather than you keeping your money and making interest on it, you give it to the post office so they can make interest on it. By buying a bunch of these stamps, you are hedging against inflation, yet still losing interest. If it was to your advantage, they wouldn't be offering it. It's obviously to their advantage to get your money.
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3It is also a good thing for them. The more people that use Forever Stamps, the fewer envelopes will have insufficient postage for the few weeks following a new increase. It costs far more money to manually check letters that are rejected by the automatic machines, and then resend them to the sender than it does to send a letter with proper postage.
And since the post office IS a not for profit business, anything that saves them money is a good thing for us as well. It means fewer rate increases in the future. I mentioned this in the last post about stamps a few hours ago, but personally I think they should do away with all the other stamps and ONLY offer Forever stamps. That would eliminate accidental insufficient postage entirely. And who really cares about having Hershey's Kisses on my stamps! - Stochio, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3It's somewhat ironic that the person that needs the article the most thinks that it's a dumb article. Yes?
- fishbulb95, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4I worked at a mailing service for a few months, and after sending out a few thousand letters per day, you realize how much the increase actually has an effect on business.
- fuzzmeister, on 10/11/2007, -3/+6More importantly, who will be sending a letter in 30 years?
- theWrkncacnter, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3you'd end up wasting time and paying more for sticky paper and ink than it takes to buy the 41¢ stamp.
- BuckarooBanzai8, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3Is this article implying that someone is going to "invest" in stamps like they do in stocks? Like someone is going to spend $5K on Forever stamps for themselves and their entire family? Forever stamps aren't about investing, They're about not having to deal with all those silly 1 cent, 2 cent and 3 cent stamps anymore.
The only time I use stamps are to pay bills that I can't pay on line (rent and 2 or 3 other bills.) If I'm going to send a postcard or something I'm already away from home and away from my stash of stamps. A roll of 100 stamps will last me years. Forever stamps are perfect for someone like me. I shall "invest" in some shortly. - strictlybogart, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2ahh, putting the 'telegraph' in at&t
- weeeezzll, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3I'd rather just put my $1,000 in mutual funds and earn that much in a 2-3 years.
Lets see what the rate of return is here. Let's start by being nice and assuming that after 30 years the stamp values have doubled, making your $1,000 investment turn in to $2,000.
That's only ~2.4% which sucks... - inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Except that it wouldn't work. You won't be counterfeiting the ultra violet code printed in the stamp that tells the machine that it is a validstamp. Andhten when it gets taken out of the automated process to be checked manually, they will discover the coutnerfeit and arrest you.
Surely you don't think that mailman check all envelopes with their own two eyes to check for proper postage.
Besides, if you were going to coutnerfiet, why would you need a picture from the internet! Buy a frickin' stamp and scan it! - Stochio, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2@hd. That's a really good idea. Dugg.
- bubba9999, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2They'll be too busy killing the last few people.
- BESTenemy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Duke's not impressed!
http://img169.imageshack.us/my.php?image=foreveroh5.jpg - scrumpy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2I think that the USPS is hedging that mail will soon be irrelevant.
- thegoldenavatar, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1@gungaroo22
Maybe not email, but I work for a company that develops software designed to send both checks and documents that need approval/signatures electronically. - DrMonkeyLove, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1...by pushing them down the stairs.
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I don't think those are SUPPOSED to work. However, it is far from an exact science. I read something several years ago that the codes used on the stamps (printed in UV ink) are repeated on a rotating basis so they don't have to constantly change their readers. Also, often, the code for a 10 cent stamp may be the same as the one for the first class stamp. That article I read tested it and found that something like 50% of letters mailed with 5 cent or 10 cent stamps were accepted. That was even higher than letters that were mailed with stamps that were just a few cents under the current rate. So it sounds to me like that could have been why your stamps were accepted.
Or to be honest, they may have seen it, figured it was an honest mistake and decided to give you a pass. After all, it takes pretty much the exact same resources for accept a letter, mark it Insufficient Postage, and retrun it to send than it does to take a letter and deliver it to the recipient. (Except of course if you are sending a letter cross country, but your water and garbage bills are probably in the same state.) And since the cost of doing this is generally whatever the current stamp price is, by treturning it, they are losing money anyway. For example, to take a letter, return it for insufficient postage and then take it and deliver it would cost 41 cents X 2 or 82 cents. But they would receive only 80 cents. 39 for the first, and 41 fo the second. If they just accept the first one anyway, it costs them 41 cents and they receive 39 cents.
Either way they are out 2 cents. So as long as you are not trying to get away with something, they probably will let it slide some times. - PhoenixAvatar2, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1My point is that the forever stamps weren't intended to be used as investments so I don't know why this guy is calling them out or something.
- whiledo, on 03/25/2009, -0/+1Finally, a chance to ask a question I've been wondering about. On several occasions, I've had stamps that just say "First class" on them rather than a postage. They are the ones they print during the transitional period when moving from one rate to the next. Sometimes they have a year printed on them.
My question is - aren't these already "Forever stamps"? I've had some that I bought two postage increases ago. And they still seem to honor them without any problem. I've never gotten a letter returned for not having enough postage. I searched quite a bit and could never find a definite answer on this issue. I think the USPS would rather you assume they won't be enough and hope you'll stick on a few more stamps.
As others have pointed out, the "Forever stamps" will probably appeal to those who go through about an 18-stamp book over the course of a few years. I really only use them when I have to mail in the water and trash bills. Both of those come quarterly. So my typical stamp consumption is 8 a year. These transitional stamps I've been using for a while are marked 2006, so I must have gotten them before the postage increase in January 2006. And I still have several left. It's more of a convenience than an investment. When I do have a stamp with a marked postage value, most of the time I have to LOOK UP postage to make sure it hasn't changed. - whiledo, on 03/25/2009, -0/+1@hdtvdust
I really don't believe that explanation. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice plausible one. But I don't think it's the real one.
The stamps do not have a printed cent value. They say "First Class". In other words, their printed value is that of sending a letter first class mail. I believe it would be fraudulent for them NOT to accept them as postage for a first class letter. Additionally, there's no good way to determine how much additional postage would have to be added if for some reason they weren't good for first class mail.
So I believe they are basically "forever stamps." It would just be nice to find something on the USPS website confirming or denying this. - sjbdallas, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1yeah, the big problem is when you buy a book or sheet of stamps to mail one thing, then don't need a stamp for another year but the rate has gone up so you need to buy 2cent stamps to add to the book you bought last year. At least when you buy a book of forever stamps, you won't need to do that.
Anyone looking to invest in this crap is a moron and if they're that interested in investing like that, i have whole bucket of beanie babies i'd like to unload. - sjbdallas, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1What, robots won't have bills to pay? When robots rule the world, everything will be free?
- qwertydvorak, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1@Gungaroo22: "Good luck emailing a check."
i do it all the time. i don't even have any checks for my business account. i just go to the bank website and tell them to send a check. i get that check back with the statement at the end of the month. - Jerky1312, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1What "myth" are they talking about? No myth was addressed. The article goes on about how its a bad investment to purchase alot of forever stamps, as if there is some sort of gold rush for these stamps. The point of the forever stamp was to simply reduce costs of producing 2cent stamps or however much it would take to fill the void in pricing of the stamps. They create a forever stamp, now they don't have to worry about those problems and having to announce to everyone how they should go about the pricing chance. It also looks good in the eyes of the cusumers, during a time they might be upset about yet another price hike. Personally, I think having a forever stamp wasn't necessary, in that they could have accomplished their goals by simply providing a few month time period for everyone to use their old stamps, without worry of them being sent back. You would have people find ways to use the stamps before the time expired for them, in which they might not have rushed to do so before. Also, most people aren't sitting on a stock pile of stamps, so they wouldn't worry about a great loss in revenue, as the it would offset the costs from reprinting 2 or 3 cent stamps, the long lines for purchasing those new stemps. They would simply print out new stamps and charge the new price, until the old stamps either diminish in circulation.
- rbiel22, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0yeah skyshock21 I buy stamps. SOOOOO Sorry I don't use email like everyone else. stupid.
- theletterg, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1Apparently...The USPS does not care about counterfeiting Stamps....Like WRKncacnter said...To much investment for no return...http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/2007/sr07_011.htm (usps site with a download for a HIGH RES...version)
although i still think some folks are dumb enough to try....
- ppatel, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0the only reason to buy these is so you don't have to use those damn penny stamps with the $0.39 stamps your stuck with.
- theillest1, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0The forever stamp is a great idea for an average joe such as myself that only uses stamps a few times a year. It's not like I'm about to spend $10,000 on these suckers so I can "lock-in" the low low rate of 41 cents for the rest of my life. Additionally, as others have mentioned it's quite convenient to not have to worry about buying extra 1cent/2cent stamps when the rate increases--which seems to occur too frequently for me since I barely use all the stamps in my book before getting caught up in the next increase.
January 10, 1999---33¢
January 7, 2001---34¢
June 30, 2002---37¢
January 8, 2006--- 39¢
May 14, 2007---41¢ - chrisc262, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0that about sums it up
if the USPS wasnt making money by creating this "forever stamp" they never would have done it
they are probably hoping people hoard them so they can increase their revenue - Kremzeek, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0@Rhino2: If you had a 1000 stamps in Prefect Mint condition that where 30 years old, that might be worth more then their "face value" to a collector.
I think I'm probably the only one here who is geeky enough to collect stamps, so I wanted to weigh in. You have to remember that there are billions of these stamps made, and lots of collectors consuming them. The value just doesn't hold up the way people think it will.
The only real way to make money with collectable stamps is to buy high quality rare stamps. Just about anything produced after 1930 (there are exceptions) is only bought by dealers for postage. Most dealers won't even pay face value for common stamps. Like I said, there are exceptions, but the vast majority don't sell for very much. - Wolfie351, on 10/11/2007, -3/+2The article also states that there has been "some talk" about people buying years worth of stamps. What people are they talking about? I have yet to meet or read about anyone who wants to hoard stamps.
- edebolt, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0Forever Stamps? Is that an STD?
great investment idea. I will go out and max my credit cards and load up on stamps. Yeehaw!!!!! - theletterg, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1no *****...but someone will try....
- PhoenixAvatar2, on 10/11/2007, -7/+6This article doesn't really seem to apply to normal stamp usage. The author talks about using these stamps as investments, buying thousands of stamps and waiting thirty years to use them or sell them and then he says that after buying $1000 in stamps and waiting 30 years, you'd end up with $1900 based on the rate the price of the stamp has been increasing. I think that proves the value of the new stamps right then and there, there's now downfall to them, barring the first decrease in stamp prices in something like seventy years. It's a pointless article with a sensationalist headline. Buried.
- etnu, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0The USPS is government backed. They aren't actually trying to make a profit -- at best they're trying to break even. One of the few government organizations that actually manages to.
- rbiel22, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0no I don't think so. not news worthy enough. nerds.
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