Disgruntled Collector With The USPS

I started collecting U.S. stamps when I was 13 years old and am now 68 years young. So I have seen a few changes over the years.
I have became so disgruntled with the U.S.P.S. I wish they would be forced to go out of business. At least then the value of stamps that have already been printed would eventually catch up with the values Scott and other have placed and posted on stamps. They are way over inflated to the benefit the Big stamp companies and big time sellers in the market place. The number of stamps issued each year (over 100) and the number of each of those stamps that are printed are killing the Hobby of Stamp Collecting. Am I ticked you bet. Am I concerned about our Passion and Hobby. You Bet I am.

I don't think you really mean that you want the USPS to "go out of business" as the alternatives are far, far worst. The UPS and FedEx are not cost effective for the vast majority of people to send anything.

I'm not sure what you mean by the inflated values, except it can be a drain on the wallet to buy every new issue that comes out. I'm not sure what you mean how it benefits the big stamp companies/sellers. However, who says you have to buy all or any of the new issues that comes. I only every buy stamps from the USPS when I need postage which is quite frequent. Even then, if you don't include the press sheets all the new issues mint for the whole year are still cheaper than one's cable bill for a month or two.

As for the number of new issues that come out and killing the hobby is not likely. If that was a factor then stamp collecting in Russia, Poland and other east european countries would have died out in the 1960's. Collecting currently in those countries is probably a lot higher than the U.S. if web traffic can be used as a measuring factor.

Certainly the behavior of postal services around the world has killed collecting modern issues for me personally. But the negatives for me are self-adhesive stamps (I don't want them), poorly executed artwork (most US stamps look like crap to me), and the sheer number of issues. But collecting classic era stamps is alive and well in my home.

I think TinMan brings up a good point . The USPS was created by an act of congress way back when , around 1775 . It strength comes from the universal postal union a series of treaties with other postal authorial for the service of handling / delivering of mail. This is unique (treaties) and specific to postal authorizes around the world . Third party carriers like UPS , Fedex ,etc can't enter into treaties because they not governments. What I think ... we are seeing today is a " re-defining or restructuring " of the post office. A partnership with private businesses , private printers , to foster this re-structuring.

It is similar ( but not the same) to the breakup of ATT and the "baby bell companies" which provided the only telephone service in this country for years .

This restructuring does take a "toll" on the hobby and its costs.

Read this post. This has to do with the decline of Stamp Club Members.

https://goscf.com/t/34874

The APS is in serious trouble because the decline in it's membership.

Read this post

https://goscf.com/t/34453

These two links are what helped to bring me to being disgruntled with the U.S.P.S.

Now don't think I have figured this out . I'm only making a general statement here. Probably the past five or more years. If you bought one each of every form for all the stamps issued annually by the P.O. This includes Sheets, Coils, Books, Individual, Se-Tenants. Etc. Etc
issued. It would cost you approx. $200 a year. Then the P.O. in trying to generate more capital has resorted to the lottery gimmick with the New issued Inverted Jenny. This ploy is directed straight at the Collectors. Not the general public because they either are ignorant of or could care less.

Have you ever thought or considered how these Big stamp companies (Mystic, Kenmore, Golden Valley) and others can continue to sell Mint stamps 150 years old? They have to be copies or reprints. They weren't even in existence 100 years ago. Yet they all seem to have and are able to sell them. Why some of those Companies even advertise they are reprints using the original dies. I thought at the end of production the original dies were destroyed. Of course the reason the Stamps look so crappy and cheap now (lately, the past few years)is they are not Die cut anymore but computer generated.

If someone knows the answer please enlighten this old man.

Tinman .... I belong to the Bridgeport Philatelic Club ( one of several societies) . I have been a member for 30+ years . I am 46 years old . The club at the time I joined had 28 members most postal workers . My father was a member with me he died in 2007 . At that time there were 11 members in the club. I am the youngest their are four members today . The other 7 passed . This club ,the majority of collectors were US collectors one collected Vietnam . New collectors would come to the meeting but they collected Monaco , other foreign countries or stamps with paper ephemeral / Americana .... the club did not serve their needs and was unwilling to change and broaden its appeal. I sat and listened to arguments of change for at least 10 years regarding the appeal and structure of the club. We are down to 4 members and 3 are still unwilling to change.

Tinman: Declining membership in stamp clubs and APS in the most simplistic terms - collectors are dying off and younger people are not getting into the hobby in the numbers like that use to for a variety of socioeconomic/technological reasons we've all heard before. Very little has to to do with the postal service except for the lack of self-promotion and support for the hobby. Those new Jenny stamps - love them or hate them is an attempt to help stamp collecting even if it is misguided and a half-hearted attempt at production quality. I use them for postage so no problems for me personally.

Of course the USPS issues stamps for collectors - the vast majority of postal system worldwide do it. It's nothing new. I'm sure the 1947 souvenir sheet wasn't aimed at the general population either when it came out. I don't blame the USPS for coming out with a $12 sheet - they need the money badly. Sheets, booklets and coils is not a matter of trying to get the collector's dollars as much as trying to fullfil the needs of the general population and businesses who use the stamps - different formats for different functions and purposes. Imagine if you were a collector in the 1870's through 1930's - the bewildering array of perforations, dies, watermarks, paper types, secret marks, printings, etc. The Washington-Franklin stamps alone are a massive challenge and still are, but at least we have easy access to information about them. $200/year really doesn't sound like a lot to me and I'm far from rich. Again, if you were living in 1918 would you have been able to afford the $5 stamp. With inflation, today that stamp would have a face value of over $77.

As for the big companies, Mystic has plenty of older mint stamps as they are constantly advertising "buying collections". They get their material from collectors who sell or their relatives who do say after the collector has passed on. I'm sure many other companies operate in the same fashion. Everything is just recycled.

As for crappy modern stamps - that's what happens when you subcontract and no longer use the Bureau of Engraving.

As far as the gimmicks are concerned I don't think it is directed solely at collectors (mostly so but not entirely) I think that they are literally banking on the common "Joe" to take a chance on the "potential riches" of the right-side-up Curtis Jenny like they did after the originals were discovered back in the day. Of course it's a sales ploy they are a business -a failing business that's getting reamed in the butt by their pension plan (I believe?) and so they pass the reaming onto you and I and with any luck - "Joe".

The USPS is required by recent law to pay annually an UPFRONT 10 year advance on Healthcare Insurance Premiums of $5 BILLION which no other Government agency or private institution must pay. The USPS Pension plan is Social Security, with a Thrift Savings plan aspect of up to 10% of annual income, matched by the USPS up to 5% or if hired prior to 1986, by the Civil Service Retirement plan (same as Congressional Members but not their staff). Also, Congressional interference has prevented the USPS to institute costs saving programs or adjust their business to meet present economic or market needs. To continue on that the USPS should cater to hobbyists rather than to try market to the broadest universe for revenues is not understanding the basic responsibility of the USPS. It still only cost $.46 to mail a letter from Boston to Hawaii (& vice versa). How much is it to go from Montreal to Vancouver, $.56+/-??

The post office is not a Govt. business. It is a private entity that at one time was, though no longer is, Govt. subsidized. Postal workers do not pay a penny into Social Security. They never have. Federal law not just for Postal Workers but all private businesses that provide a pension program to their employees pay ahead into a fund that is vested (protected, Guaranteed) and that amount is based on the number of employees as well as the amount of the pensions negotiated. This includes the Post Office, the UAW as well as the AFL of CIO. Part of the P.O. problems have been mismanagement of funds and failure to keep the payments into the pension fund up to date as well as other things both brought on by themselves as well as things they had no control over. So I'm neither condemning the P.O. nor am I defending it. I am not saying the P.O. should cater to hobbyist but they shouldn't use them as a scape goat either. Instead of drawing collectors into their confidence, their corner. They have drove them further away by their actions and tactics. There are by far more collectors that do not collect modern stamps than there are that do. Now I rest my case but this action by the P.O. IS why I am disgruntled with the U.S. P.O. If it wasn't for all of the Advertising and all the Political junk that comes through the mail it wouldn't have enough traffic to deliver mail three days a week.

Not a blanket true statement. Postal workers hired after 1984 DO pay into SS (by now that is practically all of them). There are several different pension plans depending on when a postal worker was hired (That makes the whole thing very confusing). Those who pay into the system are eligible to benefits on the same requirements as anybody else.

-IBFS

I love modern stamps and I love the number of different stamps they turn out each year. It keeps me in the hobby more than anything else. I know they excite my young daughter. If she buys any more Johnny Cash stamps we could side the house with them.

Prices like I stated many times I would love to see the prices drop on the classics, can you tell I'm a collector and not an investor.

APS - it never worked for me so I never joined and probably never will.

Stamp Clubs - well I hate to be honest but they are boring. In addition they don't fit into my hobby or style of collecting. If you like them then keep active and make them less boring.

USPS - yep it has a lot of faults, but as long as they keep issuing stamps I will support them.

I think we all love engraved stamps, what is there not to like about them. But those day went out with the milk man, coal deliver man, pay phone, vinyl records and a host of other things.

I never know why people knock the big stamps houses, I mean it is simple if you like what they offer then buy from them. If you don't stop complaining and move on.

In any event my stamp collecting is healthy and robust for another 45 plus years I hope.

PS: I just keep it realistic stamp collectors are not and should not be the focus of the USPS. Though when they toss us something I like it.

Over here our Royal Mail has been producing "collectors' Items" for years. On another post the total options available for the Doctors Who stamps are listed. Stamp set, mini-sheet, Prestige book, presentation pack, generic sheet (?), and stamp booklet. If one of each item was purchased (Royal Mail's intent) the total cost to the collector for "The Doctors" would be £48.77 ($78.46).

In 2012 I believe there were 21 separate "commemorative" issues. At an average cost of, say, £40 ($64.35) per issue then the total cost of buying similar bundles of each issue would be around £840 ($1351.39). This excludes the cost of any First Day Issue. This is madness. What may be harder to find are cleanly cancelled, properly postally used examples of these Time Travellers. One thing is for sure, that amount of money would buy me a lot of nice classical stamps. Not as many stamps maybe, but they would be a whole lot better value for the money.

Terry

PS. Our Royal Mail has just been sold off, so with shareholders and a board of directors to answer to with increased profits this exploitation of the collector can only get worse. TC.

well Terry you just have to do what I and most collectors in the U.S. have done that collect U.S. stamps. Just Stop somewhere. I cut off at the year 2000. Some don't collect anything after 1990. With the self adhesives it has been a total turn off for those that do collect U.S. stamps. Very few collectors collect modern stamps. First they have no real value and they won't for bout 40 years and we won't be around then anyway. in my case nobody in my family cares anything about stamps but me. My wife won't even look at anything special I run across and put in my album.