Do you remember back in the day, when buying and using postage stamps were a truly exciting process? You probably couldn’t wait to see what funny character or emblem was printed on the stamp for the week. In fact, you probably used to use stamps on a weekly or daily basis to send letters and cards to friends and family. However, with the advancement of technology everything changed and less and less people started taking advantage of postage stamps. Of course, things are now much easier, faster, and convenient, as you can pay bills online, speak to someone in another country, and even make video calls in just a matter of seconds from the Internet.
Why Buy Postage Stamps?
There are people out there that still take advantage of postage stamps, because it is what they know, and it just seems more personal to them. Maybe you are a collector, or you are just don’t trust technology. Whatever the situation is, there are a variety of different things that you need to know about stamps, before you go out and just start blindly purchasing them from the local box store or post office.
Postage stamps can be utilized to ship packages, letters and large envelopes within the United States and to international countries.
Understanding Forever Stamps
When you start your search for postage stamps, you find that there are a wide variety of different stamps available. One of the most popular and desired stamps available on the market is the forever stamp. While these stamps haven’t been around forever, they have grown incredibly in popularity since their creation thanks to their convenience and usability. These stamps were commissioned in 2007 by the United States Postal Service, and they do not expire. In addition to this they can be used to mail any first class letter, regardless of the postage rate.
For instance, it costs more and more every year to send out a heavier package. Just say that you were sending out a one-ounce letter in 2016, this might have cost you around .46 cents extra postage. Well, in 2017 that same one-ounce letter might now cost you .47 to .48 cents. However, if you have a booklet of forever stamps that where purchased in 2016, you don’t have to pay any extra postage fees, you would just simply be required to pay the 2016 postage rate.
How Can Stamps Be Purchased?
Along with offering a variety of different stamps, the post offices offer stamps in different amounts. For instance, you can purchase an entire booklet of stamps, which contains 20 stamps, or you can purchase stamps individually. If you want to just purchase one stamp, you have the option of doing so.
How Much Is A Book Of Stamps?
Now, you know about stamps and how they work, you are probably wondering how much they cost. Well, it is important to know that every year the price of stamps is increasing. It may only be by a few cents every year, but they are increasing. With that being said, depending on where you are shopping you can buy a single stamp for anywhere from .46 to .49 cents. A whole booklet, which is 20 stamps, can cost you anywhere from $20 to $23, depending on where you are shopping.
If you want to truly go all out and stock up, you can buy a whole roll of stamps, which contains right around 100 stamps. This could cost you anywhere from $53 to $55, depending on where you purchase them.
Can You Buy Stamps Online?
As mentioned above more and more people are taking advantage of the Internet to do just about every thing they can. In fact, you might even be wondering if you can purchase stamps online. You might be surprised to learn that there are a variety of different websites that sell stamps online. You can probably even find your local post office’s website and purchase stamps online through them as well. With that being said, the rates aren’t going to vary much, as compared to making the purchase in person.
Wherever you are ordering stamps from online, just do some research and make sure that you are buying from a reputable vendor. There are a lot of scammers online that will do anything to get ahold of your credit card and banking information, so it never hurts to make sure that you are being as careful as possible when shopping online.
Online/PC Postage
With all the technology available today more individuals are even taking advantage of what is know as online/PC postage. This is basically a software program that lets customers print their own stamps, shipping labels, and even apply them to the packages. In order to take advantage of this type of software you will need a high scale printer, access to the Internet, and a scale to weigh your packages.
Read: 1st Class stamps