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Stamp prices going up in May

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Hudson_Hawk

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Heads up ladies. The USPS made their announcement today about new rates for May.

1 oz first class stamp goes up 2c (will be 44)
Postcard stamp goes up 1c (to 28)

Full details on their homepage. Forever stamps will still be sold for $0.42 until May.
 

Dreamgirl

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Those rats!
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I have once considered purchasing the Forever stamps for my future invites, save the dates. But I'm not even engaged yet. So I never did. Now I will reconsider that..lol
 

Hudson_Hawk

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Yea, the only problem is that the forever stamps are usually pretty ugly and not wedding related.
 

musey

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AGAIN!?!!

Geez Louise. They went up TWICE between our save-the-dates and the wedding. I have a bunch of leftover almost-enough stamps with cheesy doves on them (thought I could use them for thank-you notes but didn''t want to add those 2cent ones and clutter the nice envelopes) that look too ridiculous to affix to anything. Sheesh.
 

FrekeChild

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UUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why did I decide on oversized invites again?!?!?!
 

jkil0313

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there should be some legislation about the frequency of this happening...I feel like every time I go to the post office the price is different.
 

Blair138

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I KNOW! I was so mad when I found this out. I thought about doing FOREVER stamps for the replies but they are the liberty bell design and UGLY IMO. May is EXACTLY when my invites would go out so even if I mailed mine with old postage rates, I would have to put new postage on the replies...what a mess! I was thinking about having stamps specially made for the invites anyways because they are square. Can you do that where you make the photo stamp and have it be the specific amount of postage? Stupid post office!
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Honey228

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May 30, 2008
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Ugh, that''s unreal how often the rates go up. Though I was looking for postcard stamps today and the only ones I found were multicolor fruit ones. Maybe they''ll make a different design now.
 

SarahLovesJS

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Yelp!
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kittybean

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This is so annoying! I think I will have to put forever stamps on my replies as a good chunk will probably be sent in May, but some will likely be sent sooner. Too bad they are totally heinous.

At what point is your envelope oversized? I know square ones cost more. Mine are rectangular, but the invites are 8"x5".
 

modernsparkler

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I read the increase date is May 11th. I am hoping everyone sends their reply cards on time because our reply cards are due May 1st!
 

mayachel

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Regarding forever stamps...I stole this from Portfolio.com

If the Forever stamp had been introduced in 1978, you would''ve been better off spending the $0.15 on most anything else. At all points in the following 30-years the inflation-adjusted price of stamps was less than $0.15. There would have been no point in hedging against rising stamp prices.

For individuals, the economic loss is tiny, if you''d stocked up with $100 worth of Forever stamps in 1978 and used them over the next 30 years, you''d be out $2. But for the postal service, the overall gains would''ve provided a small boost to revenues. (People who would''ve put off buying stamps until after a price hike would now have some incentive to buy Forevers instead.)

Going forward, the Forever stamps still won''t make sense economically for consumers since rate hikes are capped at C.P.I.
40.gif
 

Hudson_Hawk

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Date: 2/10/2009 10:37:44 PM
Author: mayachel
Regarding forever stamps...I stole this from Portfolio.com


If the Forever stamp had been introduced in 1978, you would''ve been better off spending the $0.15 on most anything else. At all points in the following 30-years the inflation-adjusted price of stamps was less than $0.15. There would have been no point in hedging against rising stamp prices.


For individuals, the economic loss is tiny, if you''d stocked up with $100 worth of Forever stamps in 1978 and used them over the next 30 years, you''d be out $2. But for the postal service, the overall gains would''ve provided a small boost to revenues. (People who would''ve put off buying stamps until after a price hike would now have some incentive to buy Forevers instead.)


Going forward, the Forever stamps still won''t make sense economically for consumers since rate hikes are capped at C.P.I.
40.gif


For me, the cost savings thing is more mental. I feel like I''m getting a deal by using them. In reality though, the benefit/appeal of the forever stamps is the fact that you don''t have to constantly think of what denomination of stamp you''re using or whether you''ve used enough.
 

Lynnie

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Feb 17, 2008
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I agree the forever stamps are ugly, but I stocked up on them a few months ago. I plan on using them for the thank-yous. And I figure I lucked out that the Liberty Bell''s here in Philly, too.

I feel old when I say "I remember when stamps were 29 cents"!

What a mess it would be if your "mail invite" date is May 1st and your "reply by" date is June 14th! I guess you would just have to leave your RSVP envelopes blank? What''s the etiquette on that? Or use a 42c stamp plus a 2c stamp? UGH!
 

Dreamgirl

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Date: 2/10/2009 5:46:25 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
Yea, the only problem is that the forever stamps are usually pretty ugly and not wedding related.
I see your point. But who really cares what the stamp looks like? I didn''t create the stamp and I don''t think anyone would care or be like "OMG this stamp is ugly...I hate her entire invite!" lol If it saves money, I''d do it..
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teapot

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Jan 5, 2009
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I think the cost savings of getting the forever stamps will be substantial if you have lots of postage to send, but if you are the casual every user, it''s not worth it.
 

kittybean

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Date: 2/10/2009 10:37:44 PM
Author: mayachel
Regarding forever stamps...I stole this from Portfolio.com

If the Forever stamp had been introduced in 1978, you would''ve been better off spending the $0.15 on most anything else. At all points in the following 30-years the inflation-adjusted price of stamps was less than $0.15. There would have been no point in hedging against rising stamp prices.

For individuals, the economic loss is tiny, if you''d stocked up with $100 worth of Forever stamps in 1978 and used them over the next 30 years, you''d be out $2. But for the postal service, the overall gains would''ve provided a small boost to revenues. (People who would''ve put off buying stamps until after a price hike would now have some incentive to buy Forevers instead.)

Going forward, the Forever stamps still won''t make sense economically for consumers since rate hikes are capped at C.P.I.
40.gif
For me, using Forever stamps is definitely not about the cost. It is for a practical purpose: I want to put one stamp on my response card envelopes, and I cannot buy 44-cent stamps when I''m sending out invites. Forever stamps allow my guests to send the replies anytime before the response date. Forever stamps make economic sense when you are using them very soon after a postage rate increase has occurred, e.g. you paid 42 cents last week for a stamp that would cost 44 cents this week, and the rate of inflation has not yet risen enough to make the actual value of the 42-cent stamp equivalent to the higher-rate stamp. Buying Forever stamps to use two years from now doesn''t make much economic sense, but it might be worth it for the convenience.
 

DMBFiredancer

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Jan 12, 2008
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bumping this as a PSA for those sending invites this month. i didnt even think about it until a friend who was sitting with me just now said "this might be a dumb question, but what if someone sends their rsvp back after the rates go up and your envelope only has 42 cents on it?"

going to throw on an extra 1 cent stamp on the rsvp envelopes just in case....even though it looks so much better with just the wedding stamp
 

CNOS128

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Jan 28, 2008
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My reply-by date is less than 2 weeks into May. Most people will hopefully have responded before then, but just in case I added 2-cent stamps (Navajo necklace!) to my response card envelopes. Blah.
 
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