High Cost Of Recent Year Sets

Thanks for posting the link, kirks! I missed it when you updated it last December.

Most folks seem to reflect my sentiments.... I gave up on plate blocks and strips already.

I gave up on white ace pages/supplements a long time too and moved into regular lighthouse pages.

I would rather channel save my funds towards a nice Scott #2. I should be able to afford one in a couple of years.

Everybody seems to be in agreement that the USPS is awful to philatelists. Like I mentioned earlier, I spent over $200- for the 2016 stamps. But here is an interesting tidbit:

I have a 1958 Harris catalog. It shows Scott 1086-1099 (1957 - 14 stamps) could be purchased for $0.75. Meanwhile, the current MYSTIC catalog shows the same 14 1956 issues can be purchased today for $5.95. The percentage increase compares favorably with the CPI Index. The stamp increase is 793% while the CPI increase is 870%.

Of note, the 2016 commemorative stamps (80 of them!) costs $74.95 per MYSTIC. Discounted to 1957 prices, that would be $9.45. So there you go. The USPO cost us $0.75 while the current USPS costs us $9.45. All due to quantity. Ridiculous.

Jack Kelley

I would not consider Mystic an example of pricing of modern issues. They want $3.75 for a block of Jack o Lantern stamps that is still on sale at the post office. I see them ebay for as low as $2.60.

If one is looking for a somewhat reasonable source, consider Fort Pitt Philatelics' ebay offerings. You can usually get many prior year commemorative sets for not that much over face.

I have bought from FortPitts before and they are good. Their offerings are heavily bidded as well.

Lots seem to be going for around $20-$30 consistently which is roughly 30-50% of the Catalog.

However for some reason, they stopped offering 2014 or recent year sets.

May be they noticed these high prices too !

i discovered on the USPS postal store you can on many design buy a 4 block instead of the full pane of stamps. even 1/2 panes or even a strip off a coil. I just spent over 60.00 to fill in 2015 and 2016 I didn't know they had the option but they do. and if you send more then 50 shipping is only 1.75.

I am fairly new to all this, so to me this was a find.

While I admit that the US new issue program is inflated, some people might consider getting a whole herd of new issues a better deal that getting one old stmp for the same price. To each his own.

Exactly my point on page 1. Whether it is one premium stamp or a year set of mint stamps or a bulk lot of common used stamps, enjoying what you collect is all that matters.

I love buying large lots of off-paper stamps. I admit, I'm an accumulator. Since I stopped buying new issues, a few years I've spent the money instead on large bulk lots of used stamps. I found going through them (cost less than 1¢ each stamp) provided me with more than enough substitute enjoyment. It brought me back to my childhood collecting days of simple used worldwide stamp collecting without being overly concerned about what was missing, or condition, or how much the other stuff I couldn't get was going to cost.

I know some people who like doing puzzles but identifying stamps is a more educational type puzzle.

Eyes,

That's the only salvaging feature of collecting today's stamps. You get more stamps for your money. Plus there are a lot of W-F fakes out there. My 20th Century is complete except for 50-100 W-F's. Buying just one or two stamps a month wasn't worth it to me, given the fake factor.

Jack Kelley

If you buy direct from USPS:

2016 Stamp Yearbook: $64.95
2016 High Value Stamp Packet: $32.95
2016 Mail Use Stamp Packet: $45.95

Total $143.85

Plus you get the Yearbook with mounts.

It still doesn't get you to all the stamps you'll need for the Mystic album. Plus you'll get extras of ones you don't need. sic: 12 or 20 instead of one; one instead of 12 or 20. Plus the issue of strips.

Jack Kelley

I really had not considered collecting much beyond 1984 on US. If you caught one of my other posts I've started the process of consolidating 4 fairly extensive collections into one set of Mystic albums. I purchased the complete set through current with plans of continuing on after 1984 which is about where the current collections stop. The preceding posts are scaring the $$$ out my plans. I DO NOT collect for collection value (my heirs can worry about that). Are there a lot of members who still collect used on later years and if so how do you remove the adhesive backed stamps from paper?

I'm far from an expert or even much beyond an amateur but I have had good luck carefully peeling the stamps off the envelope then dusting with baby powder. I believe some question the baby powder and what may happen to the stamp in the future. I just tear the envelope up to the stamp perforations then peel at about a 45 degree angle.

Me feeling is the recent stamps will never be worth much anyhow and I wouldn't be around to know about it. I do mess one up occasionally so be fore-warned it can happen

For first class forever stamps and definitives, a potential solution is setting up a trading or sales group here or through a local club. For example, you gather 12 members, and during the year each member buys a full pane of only one or two forever stamp issues, and mails a single example at no charge to all other members. The other members do the same for other issues during the year, so by the end of the year you have most of what you need. Souvenir sheets, you'd have to get on your own.

I doubt that the anonymity of an online forum supports this model--there isn't enough trust--but it would work through a local club where people see each other face to face at regular meetings.

As an example, I just bought a pane of the JFK issue and the Grapes definitives from the USPS table at the Reno APS show. I don't need all these, just a single each. If I was in a trading group, I would send singles out to others. Since I'm not, I'll use the rest on mail, but it will take a while.

Chris