The “forever stamp”

The US Postal Office is looking to increase the cost of first-class stamp yet again, by 3 cents next year.  At the same time, they also announced a new concept called the “forever stamp.”  The forever stamp will be valid forever regardless of what the current price of the first-class stamp is.  How does it work?

Example:

• I buy forever stamps in December 2008 at 42 cents, the current cost on the day of purchase.
• May 2009, postage increases to 45 cents.
• On June 2009, I can still use the forever stamp that I purchased on December 2008.

The price increase and the “forever stamp” is yet to be approved by the independent Postal Rate Commission.

There are still a lot of factors the USPS has to consider and work out with the “forever stamp.”  This can be a very difficult concept to implement.

(source: WashingtonPost.com)