Small Business Mail Advice
Buying Forever Stamps
For businesses that use stamps to mail business correspondence, the Forever Stamp offers a way to buy First-Class postage stamps that will be valid, regardless of how postage rates change in the future.
The Forever Stamp allows business owners to hedge against increases in postage costs.
For $0.44, the current price of a Forever Stamp, your business can buy a First-Class stamp.
Fast forward a year or two ahead, when First-Class stamps may cost, say $0.50.
You will still be able to use the Forever Stamp to send a letter, and you won't have to go through the pain or expense of having to tack on an extra $.06 worth of stamps.
The main benefits of stocking up on Forever Stamps are that you will save a little money and you are not going to have to worry about finding some one-cent or two-cent stamps to put on the letter.
Not only that, but putting, say, four stamps on a business letter can give your correspondence an unprofessional look. It's much better to have a single stamp, and the Forever Stamp is in fact a very nice looking stamp, with an image of the Liberty Bell on it.
The disadvantages of the Forever Stamp are that you are locking up money in stamps that are sitting idle in a desk drawer. That money could be earning interest in a bank instead.
How much money can you earn on, say, $100 worth of postage stamps? Not much. But it's the principle that matters. Businesses should not tie up cash in inventory that isn't moving.
Other arguments against using Forever Stamps for business mail are that metered mail looks more professional than stamped mail. Buying a digital postage meter, or renting a digital postage meter as is more often the case, allows you to print postage on business correspondence. Postage meters often have built in scales to ensure that you pay the exact amount of postage required. Moreover, with rare exception, they are updated automatically with new postage rates.
So, a digital postage meter offers many benefits -- no more looking for those annoying one-cent stamps! -- but you end up paying full price for postage, as of the time your mailing goes out.
So should you stock up on Forever Stamps?
If you infrequently send out business mail -- just mailing out a half dozen checks a month for example -- then it's probably a good idea to buy Forever Stamps. It's an especially good idea if you know that postage rates are about to increase.
However, if you send out a ton of business mail, you probably would do better to get a postage meter in the office.
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Do you buy Forever Stamps for business use? Why? If not, why not? We welcome your comments and questions. If you have any small business mail advice to share, please do so. Thanks!