Speculating on stamps won't be the way to make money.... People are just not going to seek you out to by a book of stamps to save a buck, that is the bottom line. Plus, in the future, when you think they will be worth more, people will actually be buying less, leaving you holding the bag.

With online bill pay exploding, stamps are the "classic car" of the time. I am know using 8 stamps per year now, down from 12 per month and Companies mostly use meters.

Good Luck, And remember, you don't see too many movies where the stars are frolicking in a bed full of stamps!

<<One good way of making money out of this whole business might be to stock up on the 39 cent stamps and then sell them to philatelists on eBay after a few years when there are none left in circulation.>>

since the '20s thats been a losing proposition. you don't see deep discounts on "old commemorative stamps" on eBay?

Speaking of stamps This may be the future

No money for stamps? Advertiser will help you



Amsterdam: For Dutch consumers who wish to save 44 euro cents (30 pence) on posting a letter, there is a solution: an advertisement on the back of the envelope.
Dutch advertising company gratis-post.nl will begin offering consumers a pack of five envelopes with free stamps next month that they can use for standard letters up to 20 grams.

The envelopes carry advertisements on the back, and the person requesting them also has to agree to receive advertising by mail or email from the participating companies, a company spokesman said.

The company says the offer is unique in Europe.

Copyright 2004 Reuters Limited.

It sucks going to the post office and waiting in line to buy a 2 cent stamp. Not only do you waste more then 2 cents in gas you also waste 20 minutes of your time and a minute of theirs. The cost to produce the 2 cent stamp plus the cost to sell them has got to be more then 2 cents. This is a major waste of your time and of the postal employees time. Not to mention the guy behind you who needs to mail a package and now has to wait on you to complete your purchase of your 2 cent stamp. It all adds up to a complete waste of time and resources. The forever stamp is a good idea. Even better would be that they say that the current stamps are "forever" also. Might as well start off now!

karjoli1 said:Speaking of stamps This may be the future

No money for stamps? Advertiser will help you

Amsterdam: For Dutch consumers who wish to save 44 euro cents (30 pence) on posting a letter, there is a solution: an advertisement on the back of the envelope.
Dutch advertising company gratis-post.nl will begin offering consumers a pack of five envelopes with free stamps next month that they can use for standard letters up to 20 grams.

The envelopes carry advertisements on the back, and the person requesting them also has to agree to receive advertising by mail or email from the participating companies, a company spokesman said.

The company says the offer is unique in Europe.

Copyright 2004 Reuters Limited.

If this starts in US, then buying the stamp to stock up will probably be the worst investment.

With the way things are headed - emails replacing personal letters, online bill pay replacing mailed in payments, online rebates, etc - it seems the personal need for stamps will continue decreasing.

The last time I mailed something, it was a package. The time before that, it was a money order and I needed to overnight it (Express Mail). I have a stack of stamps at that I still haven't used.

WalStMonky said:Libero said:Eventually a private company is going to figure out a way to do what the PO office does for less $. Then the forever stamps won't be worth anything.

It used to be very much against the law to try to compete with the Post Office...did that change?

Huh..? Aren't Fedex, UPS, DHL considered as compete with USPS ?
They just can't beat USPS's price to do regular mail.
There are local private carriers everywhere too. I see that as compete with USPS, Fedex, UPS, DHL.

WalStMonky said:Libero said:Eventually a private company is going to figure out a way to do what the PO office does for less $. Then the forever stamps won't be worth anything.

It used to be very much against the law to try to compete with the Post Office...did that change?
It still is against the law to compete with the Post Office in the carriage of First Class matter. However, 39USC601(b) authorizes the postal service to issue suspensions of this restriction.

The USPS did in fact issue a suspension in 1979 for "extremely urgent" matter and certain other matter. The suspension is contained in 39CFR320.6. This suspension was issued about the time the postal service introduced Express Mail.

Specifically, 39CFR320.6(c) says that "It will be conclusively presumed that a letter is extremely urgent and is covered by the suspension if the amount paid for private carriage of the letter is at least three dollars or twice the applicable U.S. postage for First-Class Mail (including priority mail) whichever is the greater." 39CFR320.6(d) also requires that such letter contain the words "Extremly Urgent" or "Private Carriage Authorized by Postal Regulations (39 CFR 320.6)" on the outside of the box. So if you ever wondered why FedEx envelopes have the words "Extremely Urgent" on them, now you know.

Under this definition, you can FedEx your Christmas cards in July and they will be considered extremely urgent and comply with the law.

About once a year or so, the Wall Street Journal prints a story about some business that gets busted for violating these regulations. They rant and rave about the horrors of the postal monopoly. The article never mentions that the solution to the problem is simply to issue the shipping department of the company a rubber stamp that says "Extremely Urgent."

Wouldn't this be the same as using a non-denom?

rseiler said:A summary with some additional data (oh, Priority Mail, why do you hate me so?):

The rates taking effect May 14 include:
- Letters, bill payments, greeting cards: 41 cents for the first ounce, up from 39 cents.
- Wedding invitation (2-ounces), 58 cents, down from 63 cents.
- Postcard, 26 cents, up from 24 cents.
- Priority mail flat-rate envelope, $4.60, up from $4.05.
- Express Mail flat-rate envelope, $16.95, up from $14.40.
- Parcel Post, 1-pound package, $4.50, up from 3.95.
- Bank statement, 2 ounces, presorted, 45.9 cents, down from 54.4 cents.
- Utility bill, barcoded, 31.2 cents, up from 29.3 cents.

RE:
Wedding invitation (2-ounces), 58 cents, down from 63 cents.

Is it marked on the outside and subject to inspection?
Never heard of that, do they open the envelope to e sure it is a wedding invite?