Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Hello Forever

Earlier this month, Associate Press, as well as many other outlets, reported the traditional first-class stamp is being phased out and replaced with so-called "forever" stamps.

It was confirmed by PMG Donahoe at his official installation on Friday.

The first Forever Stamp was introduced in April, 2007. The change is designed to make mailing letters convenient for consumers, especially during price change transitions.

What do you think about this news? Comment here.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like the forever stamps. Having to re-value them when rates change is not real fun...but is still a good thing. Wonder if anyone did a CBA when we first started using forever stamps to see if we lost revenue because customers weren't having to buy make up postage?

Anonymous said...

I am just curious..If they are "Forever" stamps. How come I can only use them once?

Anonymous said...

The first few months after the next price increase are going to be a pain culling out the old "non forever" stamps but hopefully there won't be a price increase until we are all able to get our stock of regulars used up. I'm wallpapering parcels to get my inventory cleared. I don't have enough left to make it worth my while to wait for a destruction cycle (I hate doing destruction returns LOL) but I have more than I want sitting in my inventory. I want to get rid of all the regular forty-fours ASAP so I can get up to my max accountability with forever stamps. The forever coil is a huge hit. I have sold 70 coils in less than 2 weeks and I can not get a single customer to buy anything but the forevers right now! Even the ladies who like "pretty" stamps. The evergreens are the favorite of my women customers right now and the guys want the bells or the coils. I say KUDOS to the USPS for making this move.

Anonymous said...

I think they make perfect sense and should have been implemented long ago. I believe if a CBA were done now, it would show that it costs the USPS more to sell a two cent stamp than we would stand to make from the transaction. By the time you include printing them, packaging them, shipping them and paying someone to stand there and sell them I'm sure we're way ahead with the forever stamp. On top of all that, I feel this will be seen as a goodwill gesture to our highly valued customers - they don't have to stand in line for a handful of two cent stamps, and they won't tie-up the line for others trying to conduct their business. Win - win!

Anonymous said...

I feel that this is a good move, but I am concerned about the scammers out there that will be using penny stamps on their letters and we won't catch it. With all of the designs that are on the stamps, how many of us will be paying that close attention to the stamps when they come through?

jasmine krotkov said...

I think the move to Forever stamps is great for consumers, and great for employees who will no longer have to fuss with re-valuing old stamps or marking up short-paid mail. I only wish the PS would use this opportunity to publicize the fact that stamp price increases only keep pace with inflation - this would correct public opinion about how we work.

Anonymous said...

I think this is a smart move. People will still "stock up" when they get wind of a rate increase, and we're pretty darn good at catching short-paid postage. To the poster above, I think I would notice a letter that came through with only a penny stamp on it. I think it saves us money in the long run NOT having to sell the 1 or 2 cent stamps, and it's certainly a convenience to our customers!

Anonymous said...

i think the forever stamp is great--especially when i reach to send payment to a bill and do not have the extra 'cents' stamps BUT i also really really like the comic stamps and the heart stamps and many of the other design stamps. It just all depends on the type of person you are and what you like.

grannybunny said...

All new commemoratives will be Forever Stamps, but I assume we'll still issue definitive First-Class stamps too. Does anyone know if this is correct?

Anonymous said...

I like this alot! This will be less confusing when they do a price change and think of the wages it will save us from having to wait on the nickel and dime (or should I say penny or two cent)customers.

Candice Stevens PMR said...

I love the FOREVER stamps and it will end up saving the post office money by not having to return a bunch of letters as psotage due.

To the comment above about wanting to "get rid of 44 cent stamps ASAP", we don't send our old stamps in for destruction, we use them up on packages instead of using Priority, $2.00 or $1.00 stamps. It saves money not having to have all the old stamps destroyed. Just make sure there is room on the package for all the stamps.

Anonymous said...

So what a pain for those of us in eMoves offices. Trying to keep track of the stamps we sell that go into 007 and which go into 090.....UGH!
I do NOT like it.

Francs said...

I like all first class stamps are made at current "forever" price and can be used as first class rate and then have in increments of 25 cents. So no one have to worry about pennies and also minimum stamp printed from APC also should be 25. I saw it was
20c anyway. No one should be allowed to sell forever stamps at lower rate than postal service otherwise someone can sell stamps than Post office. Already they advertise it is cheaper at stamps.com with free digital scale. Now that is confusing. Why not allow even if someone by mistake send a mail with first class stamp after the hike allowed to send it anyway like forever stamp and hence have less customer dis-satisfaction. Do you want a loose long time customer for not having 2 cents increase paid if he made a smart move of buying a forever stamp or he is penalized being a fan of a particular picture why he bought it in first place.

Anonymous said...

I like the idea, but we need to get rid of the 007 AIC code. Otherwise, it's going to be a pain keeping track of all the stamps we sell by ones and twos!