Do stores make a profit selling postage stamps?

Factual Questions
1

Do stores buy postage stamps at a discount, and then make a profit selling them at face value? That’s the only way I can figure why stores would sell stamps in the first place.

2

I assume that is the entire basis for stamp retailers like Stamps.com.
Stamps.com has arrangements with USPS to acquire postage at volume discounts that they then distribute to their membership.

3

The particular company/store I work for the answer is no. The store pays exactly the same price for stamps that our customers do. We make zero profit.

So why do it? It’s a customer service thing - our customers want the convenience so we supply it in hopes that it will encourage them to come back and spend money on other stuff in the store that helps us profit.

Loss leaders are the same thing - selling at or below cost on one item to encourage other purchases as well.

It if didn’t work no one would do it.

4

Yep. Job one is to get customers into the store.

5

It’s the same in the UK. I remember a very grumpy newsagent giving me a lecture about why he doesn’t stock stamps as there’s no profit in it as he has to pay face value for them. That may be true, but there was profit in the ciggies, drinks and snack that I later bought from somewhere else that did stock stamps.

With the new-ish forever stamps there is an opportunity to profit by buying in bulk just before a price rise. It’s not like they take up much room or need special storage conditions.

6

thats why a lot of little stores used to have those little machines that looked like the mailboxes hanging up on the all somewhere … they’d sell a 25 cent stamp for 45 cents because the thought was if you needed to buy it from a convenience store it was important

But I think the government made price rules on selling stamps so you cant raise prices too much

I loved when mom would give me a 5 dollar bill for maybe 75 cents of stamps I could fill a bag of stuff…

7

I can remember when many, if not most, supermarkets (at least where I lived) let you pay your utility bill through them. ISTR some of them even let you cash your paycheck for groceries and give you the entire remaining amount back as change with no service fee.

8

You can still do this in many places.
Did you mean there was no fee to do this?

9

That’s correct. There was no fee or service charge by the store.