How much does it cost to develop, print, ship, inventory, secure, sell, and cancel a stamp used to mail a letter? What about the stamps that are never sold? The Postal Service destroys billions of stamps each year because they are obsolete. In FY 2008, the Postal Service printed 37 billion stamps, which cost $78 million to print. In that same year, they destroyed old stamps, some of which were printed more than 10 years ago, that were valued at approximately $2.8 billion. Those stamps were printed, shipped, counted multiple times in various inventories, and finally shipped back for destruction under secure conditions. How much does this cost and does the Postal Service benefit from the expense?
Are there better alternatives to stamps? Business customers often rent postage meters and use permits for bulk mail. Now, the advent of online postage vendors has given individual customers an alternative to stamps. Customers that use online postage can customize their postage and incorporate approved language or pictures.
Loading ... Loading ... Loading ...Not everyone has access to a computer. What can we do for people who do not have access to online postage or who simply do not want to use online postage? One answer may be simplifying the Postal Service’s current stamp inventory. What if all postage stamps were “Forever Stamps”? Stamps would never become obsolete and have to be destroyed, and production costs would never eat up their contribution to overhead. After a rate increase — now generally an annual event rather than every 3 or 4 years — there would be no 1-cent or 2-cent stamp shortages or rush to produce the next generation of denominated stamps.
What about stamp collectors? Would philatelic sales suffer if the Postal Service reduced the denominations it offered? Commemorative Forever Stamps could be issued in limited quantities to satisfy collectors. Some commemorative stamps could be sold locally, while others could only be ordered and shipped direct from a central location. Forever Stamps that marked holidays or other special events such as birthdays would be very useful for people who wanted to stock up. And what could be more appropriate for wedding invitations than “Forever Love” stamps?
Do you know of a better method of postage payment, convenient and available to everybody that could be implemented?
Tell us what you think.
This topic is hosted by the OIG’s Field Financial East directorate.
Topic was revised to indicate that 37 billion stamps not $37 billion worth of stamps were printed in 2008.
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The convenience of postage stamps is without dispute. The clunky, inconvenient online procedure to purchase postage is no answer to this situation. Several thoughts:
To lower costs, print stamps with ordinary gum on the back–that’s right: lick-n-stick! This must be less expensive than self-adhesives, and they’re better for collectors as well. If the USPS is concerned about reuse by unscrupulous persons (of inadvertantly uncancelled but postally used stamps), the use of difficult to soak gum is an option (think of the 11c printing press from the 1970s “Roots of Democracy” series and all of the “Transportation” coils of the 80s/90s).
As to the “waste” of stamps returned for destruction, there’s a solution, one that collectors might not like, but certainly a way to recoup the cost of production (and maybe a little extra to boot): cancel-to-order! Many other countries do this, maybe the US should get on the bandwagon. Those extra stamps remaining unsold are returned as usual, but instead of burning them, these stamps are “postmarked” and sold at lower prices as collectibles. This would be a great way for collectors to get full sheets of commemoratives for their collections (imagine a CTO sheet of twenty of the $17.50 Express Mail stamps!!), and the USPS would be able to sell excess stock to break even–or better. To work best, gummed stamps would be nice, though self-adhesives would be okay.
In order to stimulate interest in collecting, encourage clerks to sell the many issues produced–not just those ridiculous “forever” booklets! No wonder the USPS whines about excess inventory–customers always get the same design over and over and over…
Finally, stamps could be wonderful public service tools–to educate users about…almost anything! Imagine a series (or a booklet set–even rendered as “forever stamps!) with images of poisonous snakes, or a set with plant names under images of common plants native to our fair land! As so many people would potentially see commonly sold stamps, these little bits of paper are under-utilized as information vehicles in and of themselves. Let’s dispense with the “Liberty Bell” and use that space in the faces of stamps for something constructive instead!
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A follow up to my earlier post, regarding the USPS and its budget:
I never fail to be annoyed by the proliferation of excessive “junk mail” shipped in bulk–and at big discounts. The USPS is a government agency, but not everyone is given equal treatment. If I want to mail a letter to a friend, I pay full price (currently 44c). If some junk mailer wants to send the same size and weight of letter to everyone in the state, they’ll pay…what, 10c each?? Ironic that “good” mail costs more to send than unwanted junk!
To fix the budgetary problems facing the USPS, management should equalize the rates–maybe lower the rate for the “ordinary” customer and raise the rate for bulk mailers–so everybody pays the exact same rate! If a bulk mailer has something he wants to send to me (and to you, and to your neighbor…), it should be worth the regular First Class rate to him. If not, he thinks twice and reconsiders sending the avalance of junk mail clogging the system–and my mailbox!
On a similar note, a return to an AirMail-like service would be nice. Right now, regular letter mail is 44c. The next step is straight up to Priority Mail at $4.95! That’s too big a jump in price between two adjacent levels of service. In the U.K., postal customers select First- or Second-Class postage. A little extra for slightly better service would be a nice touch. Remember domestic AirMail service in the US? Advertised as adding “prestige” to mailings, this incurred a small additional cost per mailing piece, but it made the recipient feel like the piece so mailed was “special” somehow. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could, for say, an extra 50% (which would currently be 66c), send grandma’s birthday card with a little extra flourish while not breaking the bank at Priority Mail rates?? A point to ponder.
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YES WE NEED STAMPS – as someone else said not everyone has a computer or for that matter the ability to get to the post office. Stamps in more than 2 Denominations since the postal service has An extreme pricing matrix there need to be stamps to cover all or most of the pricing points. Now as for the forever stamps I dont feel that ALL stamps need to be forever , But take clues from the UK and others where they have made some Commemerative stamps forever stamps this would I feel increase interest in stamps and Stamp Collecting of which I am a Huge fan
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1. Stamps serve an important role in promoting a country’s cultural identity, political goals and in its citizens’ shared nationalism. Like its currency and coinage, stamps convey a sense of identity.
2. The problem is not the stamps or the number of new stamp issues, but rather, the distribution of the stamps, the administration of stamp inventory at each USPS location, and consumer confusion. That should be simplified and streamlined.
3. So-called “forever” stamps are useful to the public, but the real problem is a confusing collection of rate rules that the public cannot understand and that perplexes the USPS clerks. The typical citizen is forced to deal with increasingly complex rate stamps solely because the business communityhas insisted, rightly, on cheaper mail rates.
Reduce the rate confusion, and you will reduce the need for so many stamps.
4. Abandon the print-your-postage on-line experiment. Have you used it? By the time I enter all the information, and paid extra for a special label to print it on, I have actually wasted more time than if I has dimply bought a stamp at the post office or taken one from my drawer.
5. Panes of stamps should probably disappear. All stamps should be printed in coil or booklet form. Stand in line at the post office and you will see that is all people want: “I’d like a book of stamps.” Panes of stamps haven’t made sense in years.
6. Postage meters make sense for large and medium sized-companies, but they have never made economic sense for the rest of us. Rental of the equipment is expensive. My secretary could steall $120 worth of postage from me a year, and I’d still break even.
7. There is much more low-hanging fruit for the OIG to pay attention to. Why suffer the political firestorm of fussing with America’s stamps? Instead, ask yourself why people prefer UPS and FedEx to Priority and Express Mail. Ask yourself why businesses have slashed their workforces and the USPS is bloated with redundancy and too many employees.
Leave the stamps alone.
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Many of the smaller post offices could, and should be closed down. Also, Saturday delivery is a joke: eliminate it.
Do away with all of the cheap and junk mail, or subsidize the invention of a combined mail box/incinerator. We don’t need this litter!
Finally, one new stamp a year, issued in booklet form, and available in many venues would serve the purpose quite nicely, thank you. There is absolutely no reason to print so many meaningless stamps each year.
It should be noted that I have been a stamp collector for 30+ years. There is enough older and foreign material already in existence to keep me busy for a long, long time, without the annual “dumping” of new issues by the USPS.
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I think stamps are a necessary part of postal service. In addition to their obvious utilitarian use, the have always been used to celebrate and commemorate. I don’t think, though, that the USPS should issue 90 different stamps each year. I think the reduction in the number of issues, along with an expansion of the forever concept would help reduce costs. It would be foolish, though, to think that this is going to solve all of the post office’s financial problems. A leaner, more efficient work force, cost controls and an emphasis on taking back some of the market from UPS and FEDEX should be higher priorities.
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1. Limit commemoratives to at most 12 per year (one a month). Make commoratives commemorate something important in US history. (THis eliminates cost of designers, etc.)
2. Limit regular postage as well. Don’t need a dozen different regular issues at same price. Use KISS method.
3. Make the stamps attractive (for example – Lewis and Clark) and not Homer Simponish. Attractive = people wanting to purchase the stamp.
4. Advertise each stamp with a newspaper or web announcement.
5. Cut Saturday service.
6. Cut the cost of postage for a year. Drop price down to 40c or even 30c. Just like when lowering taxes the income in fed goes up, so with stamps – lower cost, watch the usage increase and usps coffers actually bulge.
7. That’s a start!
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I really do not know why stamps must be destroyed – They all should be sold – overproduction can be changed.
Put the seperation backing on stamps and allow them to be bundled and sold to collectors, kids and whoever.
Rather than the cost of destruction and overprinting – cancel the stamps, bundle them and sell them at a lower cost.
Additionally, close some non-profitable locations – change the number of delivery days. I can live with 5 days of mail.
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1. We need stamps in several denominations to cover the cost of handling, transportation and speed of service desired by the customer.
2. The price of the stamp should reflect the actual cost of “mailing” the piece. A “Forever” stamp is convenient for mailing letters but if it actually costs less to mail something, such as a post card, then the customer should have the choice. The cost should be borne by the size, weight, shape and speed of service desired by the customer.
3. We need stamps!
4. A better system of ordering and distribution of stamps is needed to meet the needs of every community. It only makes good business sense to “sell” the product rather than look for ways to “cut back” or “reduce service” to contain costs.
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I am a stamp collector and I definitely do not think that stamps should be discontinued. I purchase each new issue of US stamps for my plate block collection, often saving full panes. This is pure gravy for the USPS — I require no service for these stamps that I put in my albums. I also think our stamps serve as great educational tools about our country’s history, art, literature, science, etc. I led a children’s stamp club for many years and the children found the stamps of great interest and fun. I myself have learned a great deal about art, literature and history from postage stamps as well as enjoyed their beauty. Post offices should have the current commemoratives available for purchase — let people see and buy the variety of stamps we have. I am a retired postmaster and many of my customers would ask me about the new issues and enjoyed learning about them. It is frustrating for postmasters now who would like to sell more commemoratives but cannot get them. How can you operate a business when you do not have the product to sell? Not everyone goes online, not everyone has other options for purchasing postage. Keep the post offices supplied with stamps and encourage their use.
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I am a stamp collector and purchase a large number of stamps which never see postal use and which thus are an important source of revenue for the postal service. I could accept a reduction of the number of some denominations, especially the very expensive and rarely used ones.
Postage stamps are art in miniature and important for promoting America across the world. They should not be abandoned.
Fewer stamps would be destroyed if commemorative stamps were sent to all post offices. Many only sell definitive stamps. Commemorative stamps should be publicized and promoted, thus avoiding the need for destruction. Destruction could also be avoided if all stamps were forever stamps–sales could continue until all were sold.
Please use water soluble gum on all stamps. Soaking is an important part of building a collection of used stamps. I know that this is not a source of revenue but failure of stamps to soak off paper may generally discourage stamp collection in general including the collecting of mint stamps.
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To Whom It May Concern,
I am a stamp collector and sell items on the internet. I always use stamps, not meter strips, when I mail items to my customers, and Postage is the second highest cost for my business.
If the Post Office wants to save money let me offer you a couple of suggestions:
1) do print as many of each stamp. This will increase the value to collectors collectors will purchase more of them and for the most part they never get used thus the Post Office makes 100% profit on these items.
2) Stop issuing garbage stamps i.e. Simpson’s, various Holiday stamps.
3) when you are done with an issue don’t burn them reduce the price and sell them for example 80% of face. This is what business does. Something is better then nothing. How much money could you put into the coffers doing this. It is no different then the Forever Stamps being purchased at $.41 and being used at $.44.
4) Train the window clerks to sell more of these stamps and get away from meter strips.
5) How about taking all of these stamps you have to destroy and imprinting new values on them this has been done in the past.
I go to the Post Office each day to mail produce, and people complain on long lines, and no machines to purchase stamps they have to stand in line to buy them as you don’t have enough window clerks. Do a little time study when there is a time with long lines get more clerks on the windows keep the wait down to 5 minutes.
If you don’t the situation will take care of itself No customer service no business that is a basic rule of business.
All it takes is a little common sense.
Another suggestion: How about doing what I have to do. No money no salary. In other words take a pay cut for Upper Management.
Thank you for the opportunity to post my suggestions.
Don La Berteaux
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I believe that all first class stamps should be Forever stamps. Prepaid stamps are an interest free loan to the USPS (and profit if never used). Since postage rates track inflation, the USPS gets the correct current value of the stamps whenever they are used. By having definitive and commemorative first class stamps track the current rates, the cost, overhead, and environmental impact of printing 1 or 2 cent stamps (and people driving to the post office to buy them and overhead associated with small sales transactions) would be eliminated.
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Because of the complexity of postal rates, mort than two denominations of stams are required. Forever stamps are OK for first-class but unless many different forever stamps are available (confusing) different classes and levels within each class require different stamps.
Stamps are probably not really required except for people who do not have internet acfess or choose not to use it, however I believe they are worth their expense for the advertising (of our country, people, geography, history, etc.) value. Especially for foreign destinations of mail.
As a collector, I would like to see stamps continued but feel not so many different comemoratives are needed-maybe six per year at most.
I would like for self-adhesive stamps to be discontinued – they would seem to be very wasteful of paper (multiple layers, one of which is often thrown away) and resources (energy) to manufacture. Licking stamps is no big deal; those who think so can use sponges, etc.
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The Postal Service is going about saving money the wrong way — harming the consumer. Here are my thoughts on saving money.
1) The Postal Service should be abolished and we should return to the United States Post Office Department, whose budget would be directly controlled by Congress and whose administration would be under the control of the Chief Executive, the President. The independent postal system has failed and is a bureaucratic nightmare with a Postmaster General, a Board of Governors, a Postal Regulatory Commission, and a Postal Rate Commission.
2) Abolish the forever stamp. I read a report that about one-third of the USPS’s current deficit is traceable to the forever stamp.
3) Remember that stamp and postal history collectors are a big chunk of sales from the USPS. Unsold stamps should not be burned, but should be sold through an enhanced philatelic service.
4) There are too many stamps being issued each year. Reduce the number of stamps, especially of the silly things (i.e., vintage mahogany speedboats) and politically correct themes, and you will have a smaller surplus of stamps to begin with.
5) Reverse the postage rates so that all the junk mailers pay 44c each and people who send letters or greeting cards pay a much smaller rate.
6) The mere idea of abolishing stamps is absurd – not everyone has email access to print downloadable stamps. Stamp collecting is a huge hobby around the world and has been for a very long time.
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“The Seven Best Reasons to Collect Stamps”
An Article Quoted from the Mystic Stamp Company
“1. Stamps Are Fun.
One of the very best reasons to collect stamps is for the pure fun of it. Stamp collecting is fun because it’s personal – you collect the kinds of stamps you want, the way you want to collect them, whenever and wherever you want to. There’s no right way or wrong way.”
“When you collect stamps, you’re in complete control. It’s one corner of the world where whatever you say – goes. Your stamp time is your own, a time to relax, escape the everyday routine, and expand your horizons. And stamp collecting always has something fun to offer… sorting, arranging and mounting your stamps, acquiring new ones, finding out the intriguing stories behind your stamps, exploring the fascinating world of watermarks, secret marks, errors, perforations, and so much more.”
“Collecting stamps is challenging and personally satisfying. You’ll experience the thrill of the chase as you finally acquire that special stamp you’ve been looking for and then another and another… Whatever your interest, stamps provide you with an oasis of pleasure in an often hectic world.”
“2. Stamps Are Affordable.
Imagine owning a genuine U.S. postage stamp that’s over 130 years old! It depends on how many were issued so long ago, how many have been snapped up into permanent collections and how many actually survive today. That means even very old stamps can be very affordable, especially in postally used condition. Used stamps have a real history and romance all their own. Who knows where they’ve been and what news of momentous events of the day they’ve carried? They even could have been used by a President, prominent scientist, or beloved entertainer – the possibilities are endless. And you can afford all this history.”
“3.Stamps Are History.
Every time you open an album, stamps take you wherever you want to go in our nation’s past… the plains of the Old West, the Space Race, the White House, the American Revolution, the battlefields of the Civil War, and so much more. Stamps chronicle 19th and 20th century America like nothing else.”
“Like tiny mirrors, stamps reflect our historical heritage and our heroes, as well as our culture and our achievements. They reflect what we as Americans feel is important, who we honor, what events have shaped our lives and the lives of everyone on this planet. Our accomplishments, hopes and dreams… conquering space, discovering medical cures, preserving our environment, making the world a more peaceful place. U.S. stamps are a tribute to all this.”
“Stamps are souvenirs of our past – history you can hold in your hands.”
“4. Stamps Are Travel.”
“Stamps show us traveling the globe as well as taking our first tentative steps into outer space… exploring the frigid icefields of Antarctica and the eerily beautiful landscapes of the moon; celebrating the diversity of America from exotic Hawaii north to Alaska, with the variety of 48 great states in between; discovering the Pacific Ocean and blasting off aboard the space shuttle; flying across the Atlantic to Paris with Charles Lindbergh and floating above the clouds in a lighter-than-air ship called the Graf Zeppelin. You can satisfy your wanderlust just by sitting in your favorite chair, opening your album and browsing among your stamps.”
“5. Stamps Are Art.
Having a stamp collection is like having a miniature art gallery right in your own home. Many older U.S. stamps are masterpieces of the engraver’s art, while modern stamps use innovative, multi-colored designs and even computer images to get their message across. U.S. stamps exhibit the work of artists like Norman Rockwell, Georgia O’Keeffe, Peter Max, Winslow Homer, and Frederic Remington, to name just a few. The portrait of every late U.S. President is found on at least one U.S. stamp. So if you love art, you’ll love stamp collecting. And remember, you’ll be preserving these tiny works of art for future generations.”
“6. Stamps Are Valuable.
Some stamps are tremendously valuable. A stamp may be worth thousands of dollars because it has a tiny printing error, or because only a few examples survive. These stamps are fun to look at and dream about, and who knows, maybe one day to own. And since there’s a little bit of a dreamer in every one of us stamp collectors, we all fantasize about owning a great stamp rarity or finding a stamp error hiding out in our own collection. But even if you never discover an error, you can own hundreds, even thousands of beautiful and important stamps.”
“7. Stamps Are Important.
The issue of the world’s first adhesive postage stamp in England revolutionized the way mail was sent. After May 6, 1840, the cost of sending a letter was paid by the sender instead of collected from the recipient. The price was just one British penny per ounce, rather than being based on distance. This change enabled the common man to communicate much more affordably. Mail volume more than doubled in the year following its issue.”
“But stamps are important not only because they enable us to communicate through letters; stamps are a statement about who we are as Americans. They are symbols of our struggles and our strengths – of victory in war, progress in peace, and faith in the future.”
“Best of all, stamps give the gift of a fun, happy and healthy hobby to us and 20 million other Americans.”
A Stamp Collector
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Get rid of stamps?
What an outrageous question.
Stamp collecting has been around for over a 100 years. It’s part of life.
Just put a little thought in what you produce. Saving money will come natural.
The correct question should be…
GET RID OF THE POST MASTER GENERAL?
I think YES is the answer to this question…just because he made the ridiculous suggestion to stop producing stamps.
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I have four solutions regarding the budget problems by the post office:
1. Stop printing and selling so many varieties of the “Forever” stamps. The varieties only have differing perforation and slight color changes from one another that are only important to stamp collectors. The number of stamp collectors who would buy these different varieties is comprehensively so low that it would never make a difference in helping the budget woes of the Postal Service. Instead, print and sell only two varieties of the Forever stamps-one vending and one regular over the counter booklets.
2. Stop printing and selling what are called definitive stamps other than the Forever and Flag stamps. It seems to make more sense in saving manual time for postal counter clerks to use meter labels for varying postage costs rather than figuring out all of the possible different combinations of hands-on definitive stamps to use. So definitive stamps are a total waste of time and money to print and use.
3. Stop printing and using Priority and Express Mail stamps. These are a complete waste of production money because I rarely see them used on any priority package.
4. Print and sell what are called commemorative stamps in place of the definitive stamps. In my opinion, they are more meaningful anyway because they commemorate some important person or event that has greatly influenced the United States history. Also with printing these kinds of stamps, someone needs to quit being stubborn and once again start producing stamps that are easily soaked off the envelopes with water. The Postal Service has lost countless stamp collectors due to the policy of producing only non-soakable stamps. The continued use of this policy will alienate stamps collectors to quit buying and collecting stamps and in turn additonal future revenue wil continue to decline. On the other hand, I realize that water soluble adhesive will mean an increase in production costs. But at the same time, commemorative stamp sales may dramatically increase to offset the cost by a change in this policy.
4. Stop Saturday delivery. I call it “junk mail Saturday” because that’s 99.9% of the kind of mail I get on Saturdays.
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How to save costs?
1. Stop making so many varieties of each stamp. As a collector, less varieties leaves me with more money for other stamps.
2. Stop making so many denominations. Start by picking the 5 that are used least and drop them.
3. Quit making so many different stamps. We don’t need comics or Disney characters on our stamps. Stop using definitives. I will ONLY buy commemorative and Christmas stamps.
4. Stop Saturday delivery. I can get that junk mail with my other junk mail Monday – Friday.
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From where I sit, stamp collectors contribute heavily to the money taken in by the USPS. With no new stamps, there will be no new children collecting. No child usually starts out collecting old stamps. They usually start with the big colorful cartoon stamps that have recently taken over the USPS. Every stamp purchased and not used, is profit for the USPS. This will end if there are no longer stamps to collect. And why is it that customer service is ALWAYS what suffers in a financial crisis? If you upset enough customers who take their business elsewhere, aren’t you committing a self-defeating act? Isn’t the only purpose for the existence of the USPS customer service? What other reason can you have to justify your existence? Our local PO doesn’t open until 10AM now, making it impossible for anyone going to work to use it. Our local mail delivery went from 10AM to sometimes 5-5:30 at night. We don’t even know our carriers anymore. Doing away with stamps would not only destroy collecting, it would be just another nail in the coffin of the USPS. Who knows? Maybe it deserves to disappear?
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