New letter prices using 3 stamp types

[dipmicro]

We use the most O/S letter in Canada, so I made a new schedule with minimum number of stamp types to stock:

Required stamps: $0.59, $1.03, $1.25

Regular letter: $0.59
O/S letter < 100g: $1.25
O/S letter < 200g: $2.06 (2x $1.03 = $2.06)
O/S letter < 300g: $2.85 ($1.25 + $1.03 + $0.59 = $2.87)
O/S letter < 400g: $3.25 (2x $1.03 + $1.25 = $3.31)
O/S letter < 500g: $3.50 (2x $1.25 + $1.03 = $3.53)

Yesterday I wiped my local PO clean of stamp supply. Wanted 4 rolls of $1.25, they only had last 4, so I let them keep the last one 🙂

[pjcdn2005]

You are obviously well prepared!

This takes a bit of extra time but you can get some good deals on stamps on ebay and other venues. My husband has bought some online for 60 or 70% of face value. I think that he has gotten his best prices from auctions that no one else seemed to notice.

There are some things that you have to watch out for when you are buying them like that and you might have to use more stamps than usual to get the right denomination on the package.

I don't know a lot about it, Pierre would be the one to ask. There is also a old thread with some information about it on the selling board.

[pierrelebel]

"My husband has bought some online for 60 or 70% of face value."

That was a great deal.

Typically, at public philatelic auctions, mixed lots (face value $1,000 to $10,000) sell for 60% to 70% (before tax) after considering the buyer's premium, assuming no premium stamps were included in the lot.

Lots made of low values only ($0.04 to $0.10) sell for about half face value as nobody really wants them.

Lots with high values stamps only ($1.00 to $8.00) generally sell for more (about 85% of face value).

That is based on mint Canadian postage stamps with full original gum. Lots offering uncancelled stamps without gum (50% to 75% below face) should be avoided . It is illegal in Canada to re-use an uncancelled stamp that has already gone through the mail without being cancelled.

[femmefan1946]

So did anyone stash a supply of the P (permanent) stamps ?

If you bought those at 57 cents they are now worth 59 cents.

Woot!

[pjcdn2005]

I had warned him about the non gummed so these ones are gummed. He just got very lucky and spent more time looking than I would ever have the patience to do. They are also relatively low values so his envelopes do tend to look very colorful and a tad crowded. Actually, it looks quite cool though and looks more interesting than the average envelope.

[dipmicro]

I checked offering on eBay and there are some small lots of all kinds of stamps. This would not work for us. I made the schedule to save time, so we can put the stamps on and be done with it.

Sometimes two months ago I was lucky to find someone who sold me bunch of rolls of $0.51 for approx 40% of the value. I remember it was over $900 in face value. There was problems with glue not being as sticky as on the new ones, but so far nothing returned. We already burned through them so I am back to pay full price at PO.

Btw., we print US postage by very friendly software setup. I generate a batch of addresses in a file and print 50-100 at the same time. This is extremely convenient, much better than the stamps. What's even nicer is the postage is stealth, so receiver does not know how much we paid for the postage. It prevents frustration when people pay $3 for shipping and see $1.22 stamp and get upset when they would have been perfectly happy not seeing that stamp.