Here's an explanation.

http://www.stamps.com/usps/forever-stamps/

You can use them for any package as long as you put enough on the envelope - package - bubble envelope to cover the postage due.

I don't know, why they could not have started forever stamps decades ago! I like them. ;)

Stamps always have a monetary meaning, even if they're forevers. You can use any stamp published by the United States Postal Service for its face value, except for "official stamps" which are used by government offices and the like, and are not allowed to be used by the general public. There are some bulk rate, pre-sort, etc., stamps that are supposed to be used by those with a bulk rate permit, and often come in fractional denominations, but if you throw one on with some other stamps, they take it for face value, and often even forgive it if it's shy 0.2 cents.

If it says "Forever" it's worth whatever a one ounce first class stamp is worth on the date of mailing, no matter what you put it on. People do "mail art", and mail weird crap to each other, with a tag with the address and postage. You can put it on a rubber gecko. :)

Other "forever" type stamps include Global Forever, which is worth whatever the one ounce international rate is on the date of mailing, but which you can use on your first class package instead. Just make sure you don't have conflicting notices of airmail or something. That is, if the stamp says airmail, write "first class ground" clearly on the package. There are also 2nd ounce stamps, large envelope stamps, etc., that use the forever model, and can also be used for other kinds of postage at their monetary value of that date. If you look closely, you'll see the issue date on any of these stamps, but the forever model means you don't need to know or care.

Moni, I used to wonder the same thing. They've been doing it forever in places where there was enough inflation to make it a hardship to buy stamps, tokens, etc.

heck now i'm doing fil's bills and ours, i'm buying more than ever...so no forever here, lol...I do buy them at Costco...save a few bucks over post office...

I pay local water and PG&E by mail since they tack on a fee that is far more than the cost of a stamp and a check for online payments unless you have automatic withdrawal. I don't do automatic withdrawal for anything. Everything else gets paid online. You would think the local water company and PG&E would join the 21st century like the other utilities. I even pay my bills by credit card with no fees in the other county where I have a house.

I pay thru my bank's bill pay, and PG&E has no trouble with that method, and no extra fee.

Moni they have been around for decades.

I just bought the new Elvis ones

Forever stamps were first issued in 2007, eight years ago.

Forever Stamps

Elvis and Ingrid Bergman are the latest commemorative stamps to be issued. Paul Newman is soon to be released.

I like them, too--no more buying 2 cent stamps to add to the outdated ones. But I had no idea that stamps can be purchased at other locations for less than the USPS charges. Do you buy them by the book?

I'm a bit of a stamp freak. I don't collect, but I love to buy and use commemoratives. It just makes mailing things more fun, at least for me. I always have a surplus, so it's nice to know they'll increase in value when stamp prices go up. My postal clerks were happy when the forever stamps first came out, as it makes their work easier.

For Costco it's a "loss leader". Something they sell for less than its cost to them in order to entice shoppers.

Costco saves you a quarter, as in 25 cents, on a package of 100 stamps.

Postage is postage, use them wherever you need postage. I've never had an issue.

AFAIC we've been getting ripped off for a long time. Prepaying postage meant we bought the delivery of a 1st class letter and if you didn't use it for a few years shouldn't mean there's an expiration on it. It's about time they did the "forever" thing, which was done to sell more stamps anyway since people got sick of postal increases and started buying smaller amounts of stamps.

I've been using the online and bank for bill-paying for years now and it's great. My bank will also send a check if they can't do electronic transfer for me so they pay the postage, check fee and envelope, rather than me. Very convenient and it's certainly a savings on postage using online. 10-15 payments per month means nearly $5-$7.50 per month just in postage, plus there's a small cost in envelope and I often tape the envelope shut for extra security, again a minimal cost but a cost nonetheless. Plus the gas and vehicle costs to take them to the mailbox or post office since I don't like putting them in the house mailbox unless I can keep an eye on it for safety. There has been too many times where kids and even not-so-kids have messed with the mail and I don't always get out and about every day. And for me it's not worth keeping 22¢ stamps around so when I need additional postage I sacrifice the cost of another stamp.

In any case, I've quit sending Christmas cards, and use fax, email and instant messenger for a lot of communication so I use very few stamps these days. Even mail-order purchases are usually credit card or PayPal so my mail system use is very little and I'm very pleased about that. I got totally disgusted with the Post Office when they couldn't get a newspaper to me in less than 10-15 days so I don't want to give them any more business than necessary.

Cynic, from the post office's point of view, you never pre-bought a first class delivery. If you paid 18¢ for a first class stamp in 1978, you got a stamp with 18¢ printed on it which was worth 18¢ no matter if you put it on a first class letter, as part of the postage on a package, or as part of the fee on an airmail letter. It was just 18¢ in the form of a postage stamp. It's still worth 18¢ today. 18¢ isn't worth 18¢ today (1978's 18¢ would be 66¢ today), but it's worth the same amount of postage as if you found a dime, a nickle and three pennies that you'd left in a pocket in 1978 and used it to buy a stamp now. The post office is not in charge of inflation.

plllog, if what you say is true, then why are there "forever" stamps? :)

Susan - I'm with you - I also like to buy commemorative stamps. I order them online from USPS because they have a much nicer selection than my local post office. They do charge a small fee but it does make mailing a little more interesting.

Cynic, pillog is absolutely right I just recieved mail with two old stamps one was 20cents and the other was 29 cents. They added up to 49 cents the price of a "forever" stamp. The stamp prices remain the same but the cost of mailing the mail can change

Cynic, Forever stamps are for inventory control. First, an apology: I misremembered the postal rate in 1978. That was the change to 15¢ (for one ounce, first class, normal envelope), and 18¢ was in 1981. I should have looked it up.

So, lots of people who aren't given free stamps by philatelists (and even some who do, case in point, moi), like to just have a single sticker to put on a normal envelope and not think about postage. Congress doesn't like it when the postal service wants a big jump in postal rates, even though the current first class, first ounce rate is 49¢, which is well below the buying power the 55¢ that the ugliest definitive, Oliver Wendell Holmes, 15¢ stamp had in 1978 (it's puce). That brings us to the ever changing postal rates. A make up stamp is a minor inconvenience to individuals to put on their bills, but it's a big deal for businesses who want to use stamps (rather than metering), and especially the custom ones. In addition, stocking all those make up stamps, and predicting how many would be needed, was a big problem. I remember when there were shortages. There are a lot of timing issues to keep stamps flowing while clearing out inventories.

Plus, people like the change from a stamp being worth its face value to a stamp being worth its purpose. While you did not actually buy a ticket for first class delivery in 1978 with the 15¢ stamp, you do with Forever stamps. That's why they've expanded the program to include second ounce and oversize envelope stamps, as well. That only counts for the stamps in the program. Denominated stamps continue as usual.

I have other ideas about Forever stamps. This is speculation based on other things I've seen re business and governmental finances. p=log, are your comments real info or also speculation?

Here's what I think:

-USPS operates at a deficit. Any opportunity to get customers to pay for services in advance helps the otherwise negative cash flow.

-Selling Forever stamps is an equivalent for USPS of Gift cards - the business gets paid now, and hopes that some meaningful percentage of the tokens for future goods/services is either lost or not fully used. Don't underestimate how true (and profitable) this is for businesses that push gift cards.

-It's a political bonus when asking Congress for a rate hike. You can imagine hearing this in a Congressional hearing: " Yes, we know the increase will hurt lower income citizens and small businesses, but they're welcome to buy Forever stamps before the rate hike takes effect."

PS - most all businesses, except maybe some small ones of Mom and Pop size and others with very low mail volume, use postage meters, not stamps. It's cheaper.

Snidely, you're probably right about the motivation, although I'd add something about an advantage to USPS employee efficiency.

One can also save money by setting up a USPS account and printing postage-paid package labels. I do this a lot. There's no savings for Media Mail, so I pay the PO for those packages, but the USPS website offers a discount for Priority Mail and some other shipping options. I just tape the label to the package and put it in my mailbox.

This has made international shipping so much easier. No more filling out Customs forms in the PO; now it's a simple online process. With a discount!

The discount is to encourage you to do it that way. Saves 'em money.

S-lash, I was being a bit tongue in cheek but also do have real information, which could actually be false information from real sources, but I don't think so. You're right about selling ahead, but I haven't heard that people buy more ahead with Forever stamps on a normal basis. One can assume that that's so near a rate hike, and that does redound to the P.O.'s favor.

The businesses that use stamps do so for the look of the envelope, I presume. I get lots of non-personal mail with stamps. They're usually advertising of some kind, though sometimes business letters.