Can i still use 39 cent stamps or do i have to buy the new Forever stamp?
The 39 cent stamps will do fine. The forever stamps though will be worth 41 cents but can be used to pay postage for any future amount. So theoretically, if you buy one and keep it for 10 years and the rate goes up to $2.00 a letter. You can use your forever stamp!
Are all stamps "forever" stamps now?
No, only stamps that are marked “Forever” are forever stamps.Stamps with the “Forever” designation are as good as a single current First Class stamp with numerical price printed on it. The only difference is that if the cost of a First Class letter goes up (as it always has) you don’t have to add another stamp that’s worth a few cents. That “Forever” stamp is good for a First Class letter today, next year, 500 years from now, in other words forever. Of course, if the letter is overweight, oversized, not at least 30% longer than wide (ie. square), stiff, lumpy, bubble wrapped, or otherwise non machinable it would need additional postage just like in the old days.That Forever stamp was a well thought out idea. It will have some people buying many Forever stamps thinking that they won’t have to buy another stamp for a long time even if the price goes up. Guess what, the Post Office suddenly has more cash on hand.
Can I still use 2017 Forever Stamps?
The “Forever” stamp is good for the one ounce rate of First Class Postage - forever. It makes no difference what year the stamp was issued nor the year it was issued. If the stamp, when issued cost 45 cents and the rate for one ounce has risen to $1.00, that stamp will cover the $1.00. First-Class Mail
If I bought Forever stamps in 2016, are they still good today?
They’re fine. You’ll have no issues sending a letter as long as it’s three 8.5x11 sheets long or less, give or take. Forever means what it says on the tin: it doesn’t matter when you bought them, or how much they cost at the time. They’re good to go.The Forever Stamp program was initiated specifically to make it so people didn’t have to worry about this: if the rates go up before you use all the stamps, you no longer have to go in and buy several $0.01 stamps to make up the difference. Forever Stamps have since become the default standard. They make things easier on everyone, and actually save the postal service a little money.
1" by 1" big forever stamp?
It's not a postage stamp. It's part of the packaging for the booklet of 20 stamps. If you look at it you'll see the words '20 First Class Stamps' and a point-of-sale barcode.
What is the difference between the stamps that say forever on them with the pic of the bell & other stamps????
The difference between the bell "forever" stamps and other first-class postage stamps is that the "forever" stamps are just that - they can be used without additional postage regardless of how much a first-class stamp may go up. In other words, if ten years from now a first-class stamp costs $1.00 you can still use the "forever" stamps without paying any additional cost. The "forever" stamp will carry the same amount of pages as any other current first-class stamp. For either, postage is not based on number of pages but on weight. You may be interested in this article from the Washington Post. Nothing lasts forever -- except, just maybe, the cost of mailing a letter. Postal officials pitched the idea of creating a "forever stamp" that would be good for sending first-class mail no matter how much -- or how often -- the cost of a postage stamp goes up. The announcement came on the same day that the Postal Service said it would seek to raise the price of a first-class stamp for the second consecutive year. The forever stamp, which would cost the same as a first-class stamp, would provide a hedge against future postal rate increases and end the search for 2- or 3-cent stamps that usually follows a price increase. Consumers could squirrel away forever stamps for months or years; they essentially would gain value every time rates increase. The cost of a first-class stamp has gone up 13 times since 1974, when the price was raised from 8 cents to a dime. "A lot of people will be placing their bets on these stamps," said Pete Sepp, a spokesman for the National Taxpayers Union, which wants private delivery services to be able to compete more directly with the post office. "Given the prospect of endless Postal Service . . . rate increases down the road, I imagine they will run out of forever stamps. They won't be able to print those stamps fast enough." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con... s
Can I use Forever stamps to send a letter to another country? I have looked for the answer on the postal service website, but I can't find the answer. Does the postage on international mail need to be an airmail stamp, or can I use any stamp?
Chun Man Ng is correct. I have worked for the Postal Service for 25 yrs and have heard Bob Brown's basic argument since the advent of the Forever stamp. The reality is when it arrives in the destination country the postal workers there won't have any more clue as to what the correct postage from another country is than a postal worker here knows what is correct coming from outside the US. So, when mailing a 1 ounce international letter from the United States the current postage required is $1.15 or 3 Forever stamps is more than enough or 2 Forever stamps and any combination of additional stamps totalling .17 cents. Non-denominated postage was approved for use on international mail by the Universal Postal Union in 1995, 12 yrs before Forever stamps were introduced by the U.S. Postal Service. Forever stamps were first sold on April 12, 2007 and have always been valid on international mail, provided there was sufficient postage to cover the current international postage rate.
Are Forever postal stamps a good investment?
Consider the indirect costs of purchasing, time to receive (if you order by mail), the cost of storage allocable to them from among the total costs related to the rest of your home or office expenses (space occupied and heat/air conditioning required), and the lost interest you would have earned if the money had stayed in an investment fund. Where will you be when the cost of postage drops? That has happened, although not recently. What happens when you take them from storage to use them and they are stuck together? What happens when you get to a point where you don’t mail much anymore that needs stamps and you can’t use all you stashed away? If you only bought a small quantity, to avoid this waste, then you spent a lot of time for almost insignificant return.Now, if you bought only Forever items that are issued in small quantities, usually to entice collectors, they’d have more value than postage face value - you could earn decent money that way by selling them to others, rather than use them on envelopes. You have to philatelically know what you are doing to make this work.
Can I still use the stamps that I bought at the post office 2-3 years ago?
Yes! In fact you can use any unused stamps that have been made since 1847!1847 was when the first stamp was introduced by the US Government Post office. Older stamps have “gum" on them which you'd have to wet with your tongue or a damp sponge and stick to your package or envelope. Newer ones are self adhesive like stickers. Make sure to check to see if you have stamps with denominations, as it currently costs 50 cents to send a letter. If you have a Forever stamp, it holds the current value enough to send a letter. Smaller denominations just gotta be sure to add up to 50 cents!
How many “Forever” stamps are needed to mail a letter from the U.S. to Finland?
International postage for a regular letter weighing 1 ounce or less (and not “stiff”) is $1.15. You can pay that with a variety of stamps that add up to $1.15, such as a “Global Forever Stamp” or 3x regular Forever stamps (in which case you’ll be paying $1.65!).Another option is paying less than $1.15 by buying “discount postage”. Usually that is left-over stamps from up to 50 years ago that are now selling for less than face value. At local stamp shows here in Dallas, many stamp dealers have entire sheets of stamps with face values ranging from 3¢ to 29¢ for sometimes as little as 50% of face value, but they worth face value if you use them as postage (reason? -> because so many people stockpiled mint stamps years ago in the hopes that they’ll fund their retirement and are now finding out that there is not much of a market for them, so dealers pay about about 20–30% of face value and sell them at 50% to 80% of face value).