Post Office Considering Alternatives to Postage Stamps

The Office of the USPS Inspector General wants to know, "Are there better alternatives to stamps?"

In a post on the IG's blog titled How Can the Postal Service Reduce the Costs Associated with Postage Stamps?, it points out, "Business customers often rent postage meters and use permits for bulk mail. Now, the advent of online postage vendors has given individual customers an alternative to stamps. Customers that use online postage can customize their postage and incorporate approved language or pictures."

Regarding stamp collectors it goes on to say, "Would philatelic sales suffer if the Postal Service reduced the denominations it offered? Commemorative Forever Stamps could be issued in limited quantities to satisfy collectors. Some commemorative stamps could be sold locally, while others could only be ordered and shipped direct from a central location. Forever Stamps that marked holidays or other special events such as birthdays would be very useful for people who wanted to stock up. And what could be more appropriate for wedding invitations than “Forever Love” stamps?"

To read the entire post and see comments left by readers for and against eliminating stamps, click here.