US Forever Stamps

USPS first issued the forever stamp early in 2007. The stamps are immediately recognizable as they will not contain a price denomination but will have the word ‘forever’ written instead. The forever stamps are suitable for regular everyday letters which can weigh up to an ounce.

All new first-class mail stamps issued by USPS, from now on, will have the forever logo and no sign of a postage monetary amount. You can use a forever stamp immediately, or at anytime in the future without having to worry about new postage rate charges. Previously, when the US postage stamp price changed you had to top-up your old stamps by adding stamps of one or two cents in value to match the new rate.

All new first-class stamps are Forever Stamps

It was inconvenient if you had a lot of the previously priced stamps bought and had to purchase all the add-on stamps of low denominations to make up the new postage rate. All have changed for the better now as your forever stamps are good to go for anytime in the future regardless of the price prevailing at the time you stamp your letters.

By buying forever stamps now you are likely to make a saving as the current 44 cent stamp price is liable to change in 2011. Your stash of forever stamps will retain their value indefinitely as they will always match first-class US stamp prices.

Unless you post an awful lot of letter you are unlikely to make a huge saving by buying a lot of forever stamps in advance of any price hike. By law (as per the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act), the USPS cannot increase postage stamp costs to levels that are higher than the prevailing inflation rate. The consumer price index will keep the price of postage stamps on track with earnings so the opportunity for profit by either the consumer or USPS itself is slim. Increases in the postal rates over that past 50 years have been lower than the rate of inflation.

Some countries have tried this type of stamp issuing but only on a small scale, with little success, compared to the US model. Other postal issuers such as Great Britain’s Royal Mail and German Deutsche Bundespost have versions of the forever stamp in the guise of 1st class stamps. Neither of them is as progressive as the USPS brand, which are the benchmark in postal services.

For the consumer the advantage is that you need never have to buy those fiddly one and two cent stamps needed to enable you to use old stamps. For the producer (USPS) the need to produce millions of low denomination postage stamps, following a postage price hike, is greatly reduced. Even though the designs used (or images) for the forever stamp change throughout the year, the stamp remains recognizable with its forever lettering on it. For the philatelist it brings more unusual stamp variety to the stamp collecting hobby. Forever stamps are here to stay with us, forever, and make good worthwhile purchases too.