Note also that in the years since this particular blog posting/discussion started, the Forever Stamps are now available in a wide array of designs and single-sheet formats.

http://www.ocinsite.com/index.php/news/comments/all_new_first_class_stamps_to_be_forever_stamps

Therefore, our highly engaged bachelor will also have an extensive choice of imagery with which to express himself, not just bells and flags.

Keep ‘em coming, Chambeaux!

let me provide an example…man in his late 20′s to early 30′s, living on his own, full or satisfactory social calendar with pesky monthly bills such as rent, cable and “magazines” that for whatever reason have not been updated to automic payment or online billing. the forever stamp provides an additional value/feature that is that it requires only a lick and a stick …does this bachelor know of the current stamp rate, care, have the time to comb through old stamps and delicately place on a letter or have any will to find out the exact rate needed? i would think (through self observation) that the bachelor would instead of seeking to reduce cost or attempt to maximize stamps, simply throw on enough stamps that it “should” cover the amount (even if substantially more than needed) thus mitigating any rationality for which you have put forth to the contrary.

I’m not sure why the USPS has decided to release confusing U.S. Flag “First Class” stamps with no denomination printed on them, simultaneously with the Liberty Bell “Forever” stamps. With each postal increase, they only slightly change the image of the U.S. Flag, thus causing irritation to anyone except the hard core philatelists who delight in such minutia.

The First-Class Flags fly in the face of the convenience and user-friendliness that the USPS is trying to achieve with the Forever Stamp initiative. What’s also annoying is that those First-Class Flags come in super convenient rolls… as far as I know, the Forever Stamps do not. The U.S. Postal Service is essentially saying, “We’ve lost ground to carriers like FedEx, UPS, and the Internet. So, we want to make snail mail more convenient than it was before… but not in bulk.”

But let’s run the numbers.

If you would have bought a million stamps 10 years ago, at 25 cents apiece in 1998, that would have cost you a quarter million dollars. Today, those stamps would be worth $420k at face value. Your theoretical net gain (before selling at some discount) is $170,000, or 68% over 10 years. The compounded inflation rate for that period was, in fact, lower than 68%, but depending on which inflation index you use, it could take away a big chunk of your gross annual revenues ($17k per year… puh-leaze!), before expenses.

But why stop at a million stamps, or even 10 years?

Use Tom’s Inflation Calculator to scale this scenario in dollars or time. A hundred years ago, stamps cost 2 cents apiece. Twenty thousand dollars in 1908 would have bought you a lot of things… things that would be worth much more than $400k today… assuming you didn’t invest in horse-driven-buggy-whips…