Do We Still Need Postage Stamps?

Is there really any reason for Postal entities to spew
out a constant stream of new stamp issues?

Lets face it the real purpose of a stamp is the prepayment of mail not for the benefit of collectors.

Except maybe for small entities like Monaco, Liechtenstein, Andorra, San Marion where at one time
the main part of the national income was actually from stamps sold to collectors.

Alright, I can see the propaganda angle of stamps as used by the
Nazis and Communists.

Really any different than lets say the US Win the War stamp
or FDR's New Deal stamps ?

Or even Canada's stamps such as 1961 Colombo Plan stamp
or the Northern Development stamp which was basically
propaganda by the Progressive Conservative Diefenbaker
government to focus on the northern regions of Canada ?

Then there is national pride and to show the rest of the world
"Look how good we are, look what we have, look at us, etc"

Stamps might have served that purpose 50, 60,70 years ago
but not now.
There are many better ways for governments to try
and brainwash us nowadays.

Then why don't Post Office Departments just print one set of the main denominations needed
and only add ones for new rates?

For Canada lets say we would have one design with the flag on it
and the various denominations printed large and bold.
That's it.

Or better yet, just use labels and/or meters?

Meters?
Didn't some one on the forum mention that Canada Post is buying
thousands of Pitney Bowes meters?

Wasn't the new Canada Post CEO Deepak Chopra previously the CEO of Pitney Bowes,
Canada and Latin America division ?

I stopped collecting stamp new issues once they started looking like stickers with cut out corners and self-adhesive sticky backs. To me, real stamps have moisture/water activated gum and pin hole perforations which few stamps still have in some countries.

To me, this question is the same as "Do we really need to pay professional athletes so much?"

There is demand, and so people pay. Its simple economics.

I never understood the appeal of buying all the newest issues, but Canada Post has certainly been happy to keep satiating the appetite of the philatelic consumers. But to me, collecting yearly mint sets has no appeal, requires no knowledge, no time, no effort, no patience, and in the end generates no appreciation for the collection, because anyone can do it and all that is required is money. It's like stamp collecting on autopilot. For me, an enormous part of the fun and reward is the hunt.

Used all the way for me!

I don't think we need stamps anymore just like we don't need pennies. The younger generation would survive very well without them. The computer will creep more and more into our lives and takeover things like postage.
Tom

>>>>>>Lets face it the real purpose of a stamp is the prepayment of mail not for the benefit of collectors.

I don't agree. Postage stamps serve all sorts of purposes: national pride, event promotion, history commemoration, propaganda (internal and external) and perhaps others. For some uses, postage stamps are the poster stamps of the 21st century.

Of course, as well, philatelic sales (and sales to casual collectors) are a significant income source for all countries. In some small nations they are they are a main revenue source.
The simple postage function is met equally by printed labels, but watch customers in post offices. They often choose their stamps by subject.

I wish I were wrong but I don't see much of a future for letters
and therefore anymore need for stamps.

Everything that previously came by mail ; bills, post cards, greeting cards, personal letters etc etc
is now replaced by email, ecards, ebills etc.

And lets not forget the cheap telephone rates ,
like who writes a long letter to a distant relative anymore
when you can dial 10 10 710 and talk for 45 minutes
for 99c.
Or skype.

Basically lettermail has become obsolete just
like telegrams.
Telegram ? Does anyone under 30 even know
what that was ?

I mentioned before in another thread that Canada Post
basically wants to to fail or at least get out
of the lettermail business and concentrate
on parcels.
And I think the upcoming high rates is
going to make that easy for CP because
the volume is going to drop quite fast.

Couple of things lately kind of confirms this for me
Canada Post's add campaign for epost .




So here we have FREE digital mail through epost coming from an
entity that is in the business of delivering real mail not virtual mail.

The other day I saw a slick commercial on TV from Canada Post
which talked about how convenient it is to use the thousands
of outlets across the country to mail parcels.
No mention about letters, none. It was all about parcels.

I need stamps to mail payments as I refuse to do online bill payment. No security is security enough for me to trust a network with my account number over a mailman. That's probably just paranoia, but whatever...

I believe that lithograving is right on the mark. I think that there will be a small segment of the population that will still use a mail service because of need if such a service is still available. We all have seen the large percentage of people using cell phones to comunicste. These same people won't know what a letter is down the road. Emails and texting are instant communication tools that fit their lifestyle. CP loses money yearly and will switch their focus to other sources for revenue and I believe that parcels will fit the bill. So the postage stamp will follow CP mail service into the sunset.

Well looks like jogil, sdtom and serious collector more or less
also believe as I do that stamps are quickly becoming
obsolete.
Might as well start collecting labels and meters.

lithograving,

It seems you are deliberately trying to sour yourself on your favorite pastime. No matter what happens with CP, whether it fails straight away or somehow survives for the long stretch, one thing is absolutely certain; that is that the glorious stamps of the past will always be with us. Everything from 1840 to date will remain collectible and available (depending on how deep a persons pocket is of course). Now days, with stamps poorly designed and manufactured, and the application of lousy spray-on cancels, I don't believe we will be losing much if CP does away with letter delivery, IMHO. We will always have our treasures!

fjrosetti, the labels and meters comment was a poor
tongue in cheek comment on my part.

I agree there is plenty of good stuff out there which
will keep collectors busy for another 100 years even if
every country stopped printing postage stamps tomorrow.

But there is absolutely no denying that our hobby is
in deep trouble regardless whether stamps are still being
issued or not.

There is hardly any new blood in this hobby at least not here
in the US, Canada or Europe.
China and India might have still high numbers of collectors
but I think there its mainly speculative anyway.

Like how many kids today between lets say 7 to 14 collect stamp ?
One in a thousand? One in ten thousand?

I still use stamps for postage. I'm not so great with all the cellphone stuff. I miss telegrams.

lithograving,

It is very true that interest in stamp collecting is diminished with each succeeding generation; high tech hobbies, if you can call them that, are what motivate the young now.

Today's youth crave speed and immediate self-gratification in everything they do; for them stamp collecting seems way too slow and laid back to enjoy. And that's a depressing fact for a variety of reasons; I truly believe that this 'hyper-speed pace of life' is, sadly, the beginning of the end of humanity as we now know it.

Stamp collecting by individuals will greatly diminish as the years roll by until it settles into a small niche status much like, say, collectors of things from the past such as old musical instruments, old medical instruments, thimbles and so forth. If some of the folks on this forum live long enough they will see this come to pass,

I send about 10 letters per month so 63c = 6.30 per months.
If I were to use e-mailing, it would cost me 63$/month (internet) or 6.30 per letter. Of course I get side benefits with internet but lost the walking exercise to go to the post office, so I will probably end-up a net loss of $ and life combined...
I'll stick to stamp and try to convince our grand children that it is a wonderful hobby. If each stamp collector convinces 1 person to continue, then the hobby will survive

Once again I agree with lithograving (no young collectors are entering the hobby to replace us) and I have said it in other topics the cost of collecting stamps is hurting the hobby. It is a deterrent to new young collectors who must rely on mom or dad to cover the cost of their hobby. Sure you can do it cheaper but if your interest is collecting mint stamps of Canada it is going to set someone back a few bucks each year. I really enjoy my stamps but even I called it quites with all the new issues at the end of 2012. I have no idea how many collectors world wide purchase Stamps from the NPC but I feel the number is declining for a number of reasons. No new blood in the hobby, old collectors are passing on and the constant upward cost of collecting is driving collectors away. I have a large Canadian collection but in my fairly large family there is no interest at all in carrying on with my collection by any family member.

Many years ago, a wise man said to me: "eMail has become useless; if I want someone's attention, I send a fax".

Carrying that one step forward, I've resumed sending letters.

And if that bit of pMail does *not* require delivery in a particularly timely manner, I send it as a First Day Cover.

Yes, that costs me an extra 66c for every small batch of letters, but if I re-awaken someone's interest in the hobby, I'm happy.

Just doing my bit ;)

/s/ ikeyPikey