USPS To Phase Out All Water Activated Gum (Wag) Stamps

The USPS has issued a plan to phase out all WAG stamps in favor of PSA stamps, although existing WAG stamps will be sold until the supply is exhausted.

Linn's Stamp News has summarized this here:

http://www.linns.com/news/breaking-...ick-US-stamp

What's particularly striking is the fact that:




If you wish to view the 6-slide USPS Power Point Presentation on the subject, it can be found here:

https://ribbs.usps.gov/mtac/documen...pensessions/

The true end of an era...

this seems dumb to me...don't we think the USPS could have paper made in the USA just as the govt has special paper made for US currency?

just shows that USPS cares nothing about the stamp collector except to get their money the easiest way (inverted jenny "lottery")

BTW.....since I collect stamps and covers for my own enjoyment regardless of cost or future resale considerations....I will continue to collect "old" water activated stamps, and not collect the new self adhesive types generally...if that makes me a slimeball then so be it.

Utter doublespeak. The USPS essentially said, in statements quoted in a separate thread on SCF relating to the withdrawal of the "Active Kids" issue--the one showing a skateboarder with no helmet, etc.--that the withdrawal and destruction of millions of stamps was no big deal because the raw material cost was so low. Something like $39,000 in paper and printing was represented in millions of stamps. So even if gummed stamps cost 1.15X that, we are talking about low amounts of absolute dollars. There must be another reason - low consumer demand, storage issues, etc., or perhaps they just don't want to be bothered, they feel they have converted the US public to self-stick and it's easier to have a single chain of supply to make a single type of product.