# First Class Stamps Going Up 10% on January 27 So Stock Up on Forever Stamps **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 11, 2019, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-class-stamps-going-up-10-on-january-27-so-stock-up-on-forever-stamps/827569 "2019-01-11T04:01:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-class-stamps-going-up-10-on-january-27-so-stock-up-on-forever-stamps/827569/21 "2019-01-11T22:04:38Z")
> [@peedin](#): > > I send about 3-4 birthday cards per month, and have a handful of bills that I send through the USPS. However, I AM hoarding the Elvis and Janis Joplin commemorative stamps… There is absolutely no need to hoard Elvis, as you can order them online (unfortunately I can’t find Janis): > **[Stamps | USPS.com](https://store.usps.com/store/results/stamps/_/N-9y93lv?Nrpp=48)** > > Shop our selection of Stamps on the USPS.com Postal Store There are 86 stamps, listed–the majority of them Forever. So for a mere $801.75 you can order 100 booklets (a nice round number) of 16 stamps each–a total of 1600 Elvis Forever stamps ($1.75 for shipping). [Unfortunately if you only wanted to order 1 of those booklets they would still charge you about $1.50 shipping] ---
**Author:** ![Mrs\_Ducky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrs_ducky/32/6227_2.png) [@Mrs\_Ducky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs_Ducky)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-class-stamps-going-up-10-on-january-27-so-stock-up-on-forever-stamps/827569/22 "2019-01-11T22:28:46Z")
I have 347 stamps in my arsenal. I pay bills for my father-in-law, who is in a nursing home and lately have been paying bills for my next door neighbor who is in rehab and probably going into a nursing home, in addition to our bills. I’m stocked up for a while. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-class-stamps-going-up-10-on-january-27-so-stock-up-on-forever-stamps/827569/23 "2019-01-12T00:34:30Z")
But wait! There’s good news. The cost of a two-ounce letter is going down from 71 cents to 70 cents! And a three-ounce letter is going to be a whopping bargain: down from 92 cents to 85 cents. Start kicking yourself now for stocking up on those [two-ounce forever stamps](https://store.usps.com/store/product/buy-stamps/celebration-corsage-S_563004). And if you bought any [three-ounce forever stamps](https://store.usps.com/store/results/stamps/0-92/_/N-9y93lvZ1gt3g0e), tsk-tsk. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-class-stamps-going-up-10-on-january-27-so-stock-up-on-forever-stamps/827569/24 "2019-01-12T00:46:08Z")
They should just raise it to $1 per stamp and be done with it. Get them to stop complaining that they’re operating at a loss and maybe improve their service. Mail service is a convenience not a right. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-class-stamps-going-up-10-on-january-27-so-stock-up-on-forever-stamps/827569/25 "2019-01-12T00:53:29Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > But wait! There’s good news. > > The cost of a two-ounce letter is going down from 71 cents to 70 cents! > > And a three-ounce letter is going to be a whopping bargain: down from 92 cents to 85 cents. > > Start kicking yourself now for stocking up on those [two-ounce forever stamps](https://store.usps.com/store/product/buy-stamps/celebration-corsage-S_563004). > > And if you bought any [three-ounce forever stamps](https://store.usps.com/store/results/stamps/0-92/_/N-9y93lvZ1gt3g0e), tsk-tsk. My retirement plan of investing in stamp futures just went down the drain. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-class-stamps-going-up-10-on-january-27-so-stock-up-on-forever-stamps/827569/26 "2019-01-12T16:08:00Z")
Thanks for the heads up, **PastTense**. I buy stamps for my 92-year-old father, who’s in a nursing home and whose favorite pastime is writing letters. He uses about 400 stamps per year. So by purchasing stamps today, I saved $20 this year. Worth the trouble IMHO. Whoever thought up the idea of Forever stamps was brilliant. The USPS does a great job, and they’ve really stepped up with package delivery. I prefer to receive packages via the Post Office than via USPS. ---
**Author:** ![SamuelA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@SamuelA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SamuelA)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-class-stamps-going-up-10-on-january-27-so-stock-up-on-forever-stamps/827569/27 "2019-01-12T16:15:51Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Yeah, I could probably get my bank to issue checks (haven’t bothered to look into it), but that doesn’t seem to be all the much more convenient than writing it out myself. _Traceability_. Also, all these withdrawals are in 1 log. And for vendors and things where the spending is tax deductible, you can easily look up a year’s worth of transactions from the records on your bank’s website so you can claim the tax deduction. Similarly, if someone claims you owe a fee because you didn’t pay in time, the _bank’s_ records will show when the check was mailed, thus taking the onus off you onto the post office. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-class-stamps-going-up-10-on-january-27-so-stock-up-on-forever-stamps/827569/28 "2019-01-12T19:31:40Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > So you say, but _I’ve_ never heard from you… 😛 > 😃 PM me and we can make that happen. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-class-stamps-going-up-10-on-january-27-so-stock-up-on-forever-stamps/827569/29 "2019-01-12T19:57:30Z")
In Canada, domestic stamps are $1, stamps to the States are $1.40, and overseas stamps are $2.50(!). I know this because I recently wrote a letter to my cousin in England. 🙂 So a mere 55c? Ha! ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-class-stamps-going-up-10-on-january-27-so-stock-up-on-forever-stamps/827569/30 "2019-01-12T20:21:11Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > They should just raise it to $1 per stamp and be done with it. Get them to stop complaining that they’re operating at a loss and maybe improve their service. Mail service is a convenience not a right. Mail service is a very important service of the government. The post office is actually older than the constitution. We take it for granted now, but being able to communicate with other people in the country for a very reasonable cost was something that truly did change our nation, in what I think are positive ways. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-class-stamps-going-up-10-on-january-27-so-stock-up-on-forever-stamps/827569/31 "2019-01-12T20:36:12Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **PastTense** : > > There are 86 stamps, listed–the majority of them Forever. So for a mere $801.75 you can order 100 booklets (a nice round number) of 16 stamps each–a total of 1600 Elvis Forever stamps ($1.75 for shipping). [Unfortunately if you only wanted to order 1 of those booklets they would still charge you about $1.50 shipping] Huh, what shipping company do they use? As for me, I’d consider it a bad thing to not be able to mail an envelope at all, so if I were running low on stamps, I might buy some… but I think it’s been years since I’ve actually had occasion to stick a stamp on something. And the frequency of stamp use is probably only going to decrease in years to come. It’s within the realm of possibility that I’ll never even use some of the stamps I already have lying around, and against that I have to weigh… the possibility that if I do run out, I might have to spend a couple more bucks when I eventually buy more? Meh. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-class-stamps-going-up-10-on-january-27-so-stock-up-on-forever-stamps/827569/32 "2019-01-12T21:32:12Z")
> [@SamuelA](#): > > _Traceability_. Also, all these withdrawals are in 1 log. And for vendors and things where the spending is tax deductible, you can easily look up a year’s worth of transactions from the records on your bank’s website so you can claim the tax deduction. That’s what quickbooks is for. And my bank doesn’t have an easily searchable history log. I can look to see when I bought something at home depot or somesuch, but I can’t look to see all the times when I bought something from home depot, not without actually going through line by line. I _can_ do that with a vendor’s report on quickbooks. > [@](#): > > Similarly, if someone claims you owe a fee because you didn’t pay in time, the _bank’s_ records will show when the check was mailed, thus taking the onus off you onto the post office. That could be slightly useful, but only assuming that vendors are willing to take my bank’s word for it for an excuse. For anything important, like my rent checks, I use registered mail. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-class-stamps-going-up-10-on-january-27-so-stock-up-on-forever-stamps/827569/33 "2019-01-12T22:08:11Z")
I actually kind of enjoy addressing and stamping envelopes. There’s like a tactile sense of accomplishment in it. But when I think about it, I haven’t done it for probably a year. It’s only once in a blue moon that I get some correspondence that can’t be handled online. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2019, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-class-stamps-going-up-10-on-january-27-so-stock-up-on-forever-stamps/827569/34 "2019-01-13T00:50:21Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > In Canada, domestic stamps are $1, stamps to the States are $1.40, and overseas stamps are $2.50(!). I know this because I recently wrote a letter to my cousin in England. 🙂 > > So a mere 55c? Ha! Last year (okay, the summer of 2017), I wanted to send some money to charities in Fort McMurray, AB after the big forest fire. When trying to do so online proved fruitless, I decided to write $25 checks to the Salvation Army and Habitat for Humanity and mail them. I was quite shocked to find that postage to Canada was $1.35, but I paid it and sent them off. At the end of the year, I got tax receipts for whatever the exchange rate was when the checks were received at cashed - $29.xx for one and $30.xx for the other. I have an online resale business I run out of my home, and 99%-plus of those packages are shipped via USPS, and I will continue to do so as long as it’s the cheapest and most reliable method. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2019, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-class-stamps-going-up-10-on-january-27-so-stock-up-on-forever-stamps/827569/35 "2019-01-13T06:32:49Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > Guess I’m part of the reason the USPS is going broke. > [@k9bfriender](#): > > Guess I’m one of the few reasons the USPS is still viable at all. The Post Office still makes plenty of money. The ONLY reason that there’s any fiscal issue is because the idiot Congress saddled them with a requirement to pre-fund 75 years worth of pension payments. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2019, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-class-stamps-going-up-10-on-january-27-so-stock-up-on-forever-stamps/827569/36 "2019-01-13T14:53:56Z")
We buy a sheet (12) of the Chinese New Year stamps every year. We still haven’t used up the 2017 ones, so I guess we use less than one stamp a month. We used to pay quarterly property taxes and life insurance premiums by mail. But that’s all online or autopay now. The last stamp we used was for the town census. There is an odd medical bill or two a year. Responded to an IRS inquiry. Twice a year payments to the Math and Piano schools. Nothing else I can remember. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2019, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-class-stamps-going-up-10-on-january-27-so-stock-up-on-forever-stamps/827569/37 "2019-01-13T19:18:24Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Last year (okay, the summer of 2017), I wanted to send some money to charities in Fort McMurray, AB after the big forest fire. When trying to do so online proved fruitless, I decided to write $25 checks to the Salvation Army and Habitat for Humanity and mail them. I was quite shocked to find that postage to Canada was $1.35, but I paid it and sent them off. > > At the end of the year, I got tax receipts for whatever the exchange rate was when the checks were received at cashed - $29.xx for one and $30.xx for the other. > > I have an online resale business I run out of my home, and 99%-plus of those packages are shipped via USPS, and I will continue to do so as long as it’s the cheapest and most reliable method. Oh yeah, interesting thing, in the US, anyway, you get to write off stamps as well as tax deductions. > [@Flyer](#): > > The Post Office still makes plenty of money. The ONLY reason that there’s any fiscal issue is because the idiot Congress saddled them with a requirement to pre-fund 75 years worth of pension payments. I was mostly saying that in jest. But it is the case that fewer people are using the USPS, and that is having an effect on their bottom line. So, looked at my bank, and I don’t see anywhere that allow me to get them to cut checks for me. I may need to ask about it. Not that it is that big a deal, but did just write out and mail my quarterly payments. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2019, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-class-stamps-going-up-10-on-january-27-so-stock-up-on-forever-stamps/827569/38 "2019-01-13T19:53:57Z")
I was at the PO anyway to send a package, so I bought Forever stamps, why not? ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2019, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-class-stamps-going-up-10-on-january-27-so-stock-up-on-forever-stamps/827569/39 "2019-01-24T01:55:17Z")
Just a reminder: You have until this Saturday to buy some one-ounce Forever Stamps at the old price. Get 'em while they are cheap. And if you have any letters between 2 and 3.5 ounces to mail, wait until Monday and get a bargain! ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2019, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-class-stamps-going-up-10-on-january-27-so-stock-up-on-forever-stamps/827569/40 "2019-01-26T17:50:51Z")
You know what’s bullshit? A forever stamp is worth 55 cents and it costs $1.15 to mail a letter to Canada. I have to use three forever stamps over the extra five cents since I’m obviously not going to the post office just to save 50 cents. #firstworldproblems [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-class-stamps-going-up-10-on-january-27-so-stock-up-on-forever-stamps/827569.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-class-stamps-going-up-10-on-january-27-so-stock-up-on-forever-stamps/827569.md?page=3)