I love reading comments! They make Bargain babe a conversation about saving money, not a one-sided rant. So to show my appreciation I’m going to highlight one comment each Friday.
Here is the inaugural comment of the week. (If you have not been reading the comments, just click on the “comments” link at the bottom of each post. My sister says they are the best part of the blog!)
I chose this comment, written by a reader called AB, because s/he explains why my urgent plea to buy Forever stamps is off base. I argued that the upcoming 5 percent rate hike meant hoarding stamps was savvy.
I can’t believe I just got into a huge fight with my wife about this after she came home and exclaimed that her purchase of the “forever” stamps was going to save us a “significant” amount of money and they were always going to be valid, no matter how long it was in the future they were used! I think the public needs to understand this a little better. This is nothing more than a marketing scam.
1. Do you save money? Well, if you buy the “forever” stamps just prior to a rate change and use them after the rate change, you save whatever the difference was times how many you used. But, how many will you actually use in that time frame? For argument’s sake, let’s say that every family mails one letter a day; given the newest rate increase ($.02,) that’s a savings of $.10 a week. Ten cents! To save $10 would take 100 weeks or almost two years. Hardly significant.
2. But here’s my bigger argument and why I call it a scam: The implication of value is in the name “forever,” but that value is almost completely vapor that gets you to buy into buying larger quantities at one time for what amounts to a miserly discount. This implication suggests that you will be, essentially, saving more money the longer you use those stamps into the future, but except for the very rare occasion, that’s not going to happen! Unless you use stamps at a massive rate (not anywhere close to true for the average person/family,) buying super-large quantities isn’t likely (because of the significant cash outlay,) and the stamps you do buy (my wife bought 60) will probably be used up well within the period before the next rate hike, leaving the savings at the original difference between when you bought them and the first rate hike after that. So, fundamentally, “forever” is a lie.
We saved $1.20. Hope we don’t lose any of those stamps in the year it will take to use them up!
AB’s logic has me nearly convinced I was wrong and that Forever stamps are not a great deal at all. What do you think?
Welcome to Bargain Babe! I’m Mara, and I’m so glad you’re here. I am an obsessive bargain hunter and penny pincher, and I am determined to live a full life without EVER paying full price.
If you buy them now with the intent to use them, the savings amount is probably trivial and not worth all the excitement.
However, some quick googling and Excelling (is that a legitimate verb?) tells me that postage stamp prices have gone up approximately 1100% over the last 50 years. If that trend continues, then the rate 50 years from now would be $4.84; in this way, “Forever” stamps bought today for 44 cents would save you $4.40 per stamp in 50 years.
The amount of rounding and assumptions this calculation makes is quite probably ludicrous, and you would need to purchase a vast quantity in order to pass this kind of an investment along to your kids/grandkids. However, if we assume that the US Postal Service will always be around, and will always honor their promise, then there might be *some* potential to make some money over the looooong term. 🙂
Since I pay almost all my bills online and correspond via email I use about 2 stamps a month! Forever stamps aren’t going to save me much.
With people using less and less snail mail the “forever” stamp is probably a net profit increase for the post office since it encourages people to buy more stamps sooner (due to the time value of money).
Seems to me there’s also convenience factor involved here. How much gas is saved in not having to make another trip or two to buy more stamps? Add that to the amount saved, plus time spent on the trip(s), maintenance on the car, and – it’s still not much, but for me, I like convenience so why not.
Certainly not worth a huge argument with the wife. C’mon. STAMPS???
The forever stamp is much more of a convenience than a cost savings. I use so few stamps that that my current book of stamps is actually several years old. At least with the forever stamp, when they raise the price again I won’t have to run out and buy a 2 cent stamp.
I agree with SaveBuyLive,
convenience is something I value in this area.
I have moved several times in a small amount of time
lately and have not been able to find those frugal
two cent stamps or 1 cent stamps so that my current,
but out of date, stamps that I can find, will be able to
be used. So to go out and buy stamps that are the right amount to send is too un-handy. I sometimes end up
just using two higher priced ones and send off the letter.
How’s that for not saving money! If I had forever stamps
(which I didn’t know existed) I would always know
I didn’t have to scrounge around for 2 cent stamps
EVER again.
Forever stamps cost the same as regular first class stamps. Common sense says buy the forever stamps because they last forever! Regular fist class stamps may require you to purchase additional postage when the rate goes up. Duh!! When they cost the same, BUY THE ONES THAT WILL LAST FOREVER.