Buying Stamps Offers A Life Lesson On Simplicity

An article obviously written by a non-collector, yet it illustrates the average consumer experience of buying stamps at the post office for those who only use them for their intended purpose -- to mail a letter:

http://www.lodinews.com/opinion/col...945632d.html

wt1..Good article...YIKES

This would likely only happen to some poor soul, who is not a collector. Someone who hasn't heard of the scarce "inverted Inverted Jenny" release stunt.


-IBFS

Unfortunately, the clerk was not forthcoming or very helpful in explaining that the stamps were valued at $2 each, not 24 cents. Also unfortunate are the large number of postal clerks who don't and/or won't take time to learn about the Post Office's current products.

Don

From the aritcle:



For most people who might mail off a bill here or there, a sheet of $2 Jennys would probably last them a few years. I've said from the start that the USPS should have issued the Jenny as a Forever stamp so it saw more use. 99% of people have absolutely no need for a $2 stamp. A Forever stamp would have seen much wider exposure and might have piqued some curiosity in non-collectors, but with a $2 face value, very few non-collectors would even become aware of their existence.

Concidentally, I did use one on a mailing today - a 2 ounce package going overseas, so I overpaid the $1.98 rate by 2 cents. I mail a lot of stamps out that I sell on ebay - probably an average of about one mailing per day - and it even takes me several months to use up a sheet of (6) $2 stamps. No wonder they had to resort to a marketing gimmick to sell them.

Depending on the country, the 2oz rate overseas is $2.13 for Europe, China, Japan, Australia, Israel and some other places.

$1.98 is the 2oz. rate for places like Latin America, Africa, parts of Asia and New Zealand.

I've used hundreds of the $2 stamp so far and now cannot find them without traveling further afield or ordering them from the USPS.

Yep, this one was going to Saudi Arabia. I always check rates on USPS.com and the rate came up to $1.98 for that one.