Modern High Priced Oop Forever Stamps

Have any of you paid 3x face value for a Forever stamp issue?

For example, I like the cartoon character Charlie Brown and thus purchased several Charles Schulz sheets when they were released last fall.

Since I am relatively new to stamp collecting, I was unaware until recently of a Charlie Brown Christmas Forever 20 stamp booklet issued in 2015. That booklet sells for around 3x face value currently.

Obviously from a postage perspective, it makes zero sense to pay 3x face value, but from a collectability perspective, do you think high priced Forever sheets/booklets hold their value fairly well?

It's hard to say what collectible will hold it's value well since it depends upon the whims of collectors and supply and demand. If the booklet is truly regularly trading at three times face there must be demand. Popular subject and limited quantities available. If it is worth it to you and it makes you happy that is what matters.

If you have any stamp shows/bourses local to you, check with several dealers there before grabbing one off of ebay. You may find that they are available "in person" at something less than the online prices. Especially at 3:30pm, when everyone is filtering out and you're still standing there with a crisp $20.

On the other hand, you might find out the opposite.

Only you can decide if it's worth it for you. And no one can tell you if you'll be able to sell it in a year or two for what you paid for it.

"Value is in the eye of the beholder"............famous quote from ???? (OK....I made it up just now)

Well, I am sure SOMEONE said it already..........so maybe I just repeated it.....

Many forever stamps are "on the buy". Look at Henry Gitner's extensive US postage buy list. Many dealers use his prices and requests to gauge the market

Really depends upon when or if PEANUTS will ever go out of syndication. A look to 3507 ($6.40 pane face, not forever) never hit 3x face until the 100th anniversary of birth for Sparky issued 9-30-2022. Until then the continuing strip keeps up the interest in all things Peanuts on this planet and, via NASA, beyond.

I have but one stamp mounted with appropriate expanded image (omage), framed, purchased from a seasonal art market held in a resort area. It is 3507, Snoopy as the WWI Flying Ace. It hangs on the wall behind a desk built into an alcove at the mountain house. While it maybe a reminder of stamp collecting; rather, it is an homage to brothers Henry and Martin, one who returned from being a machine gunner in a Balloon Company, to bring life to my mother and therefore me, and one, who returned from the trenches, to be honored during burial at Arlington. When I would stay with my maternal grandparents, my grandfather was assigned the chore to read me the comics before I could do so myself. At home that was my father's duty. In both cases, a cartoon was a cartoon to me if it had drawn pictures and text and that mean they both read me the editorial cartoons and then need to explain them to me.

I have my stamp, I do not see my interests impacting future value on Forever Peanuts. If I really need a Peanuts fix I hop up to the museum in Santa Rosa. I also pass a tall bronze Snoopy when I head in to buy dog food from the feed store there.

The true value of any item is the price at which a buyer can purchase it from a willing seller.

The true value of something is what the buyer can sell it for right after he buys it.
I just made that up.

I wonder if "forever" really means what it says, or will shadyness by the PO happen when the price to mail a letter reaches $5+. Then we'll have an unexpected "for security reasons" demonetization of forever stamps.

I guess over time the current supply will dry up (except for the chinese knockoffs), then we'll have $5 forever stamps "forever".

Just for fun,
Pat

The premium for US commemorative stamps of the past 10-20 years or so have shown to be a littler higher than those from the entire period of 1940 - 2000. I am NOT including errors.

However, it seems commemorative stamps' prices are affected by flippers -- a good example was the 2021 Heritage Breeds which sold out quickly online but would surface at post offices and those with a philatelic desk after the supposed sell-out. So, flippers took advantage of the APPARENT scarcity. There are more commemorative stamps thoigh from the period 2000 onward that have a better premium than from prior decades but spotty --- The Oscar DE La Renta stamps of 2017 usually run $19 - 25 for a pane of 20, Georgia O'Keefe stamp pane from farther back runs around $18 - 20. So a decent premium for a very recent stamp issues.

Another stamp type that has been doing quite well are the Priority Mail and Priority Mail express definitives - prices 50 - to over 100% face value with the 2019 having one of the highest premiums.

As some have suggested, stamp shows may offer the best deals and some dealers. I also have found summertime is one of the best times to find deals -- I mean it is warm and stamp collecting is not something you usually do lakeside, on the lawn, or under a gazebo on an ocean sidewalk. OF course people live by water but when the weather is warm, the sun out, and much open, the tendency is not usually to hole oneself with their stamps. So I imagine less people are shopping for stamps in Juily and August than other times of the year,.

Two ounce wedding related Forever stamps are getting a good premium of 2x face before shipping and sales taxes on ebay. These go to not collectors but wedding planners.

Edit:

Also imperforated singles from press-sheets of denominations over $5 are doing quite well.

It's not just Love stamps that the wedding industry is looking for. Check out this article on the Little Postage House: https://insideofknoxville.com/2022/...nto-stories/

Who knew themed weddings would have an impact on philately.

She's asking $5.75 for a C76 & $3.25 or $3.50 for 3 & 4c commems.

I have mixed feelings about this. It's different than someone trying to sell a "rare" one cent prexie used on a postcard for $100. Here, she is curating a custom service to find a selection of the right vintage stamps to represent and match a couple's personal history and interests. Her prices are high, but you are paying for the service, not the stamps. Some of the individual stamp prices are shockingly high though. Like the Wright Brothers 31c or Octave Chanute airmail for $9.25 each. This is contrary to her FAQ that says "exact price varies from stamp to stamp, but on average the cost is around three to five times the postage value of the stamps."
I'm hoping that the single-stamp prices are so high just to cover the minimum handling costs of small orders, and that a full order of stamps for 200 wedding invitations wouldn't cost $25.00 a set. But as they say, supply and demand. There must be enough people willing to pay the price for this service to justify her staying in business. No one is forcing anyone to buy from her, and she makes no claims about investing in stamps for profit. It is a niche business and I love the back story of giving up a career of a bigtown lawyer to instead do custom wedding invitations with vintage themed postage, I say good for you.

A lot of people suspend all efforts at frugality when it comes to weddings. They will spend more on flowers for a wedding than they ever would on a funeral. A farmer near me turned his barn into a wedding venue. It is booked for two years. About $15,000 for the weekend. No food nor drink nor entertainment included. Just the space and folding chairs. Oh, and free parking on the grass.

No doubt the manure on your shoes is free to.

They pick it up for a fee.