Whenever there’s a postage increase I always put at least the minimum for international mail if not more. There really is no sense in trying to match the dollar amount exactly. Besides if we use more postage then it allows us to buy more stamps which in turn helps support the USPS.
I had someone send me an irate message saying that I should not have used a first class stamp on a postcard considering that there are special stamps for domestic postcard rates. The way I see it if you at least put the minimum amount required that is really what matters. Sometimes the first class stamps are just more appealing than others.
It’s my understanding that the butterfly stamp is a first class stamp plus an additional ounce correct? Since there will not be an increase to the additional ounce postage the butterfly stamp will be $0.58 + $0.20 not $0.58 + 30 cents.
Quite fair, especially since USPS is funded by its own revenue. So I don’t mind overpaying a bit, but I don’t want to pay some stratospheric rate either.
One time, a (non-Postcrossing) friend sent a bunch of postcards with Forever stamps. I asked her “you know postcard stamps exist, right?” and she was flabbergasted. I suppose that was her donation to the Postal Service!
Also, I think my original preoccupation with matching exactly was because it was so easy to do under the current rates. First-class is $0.55. International is $1.20. Two forevers and a pear, done. Or three postcards ($0.36), a ten, and a two. So now I’ve been trying to math it out with the new rates as well, and eventually just made the computer do it for me.
No, butterflies are first-class plus the nonmachinable surcharge. Under the current postal rate structure, the additional-ounce surcharge and the nonmachinable surcharge are both $0.20, so the distinction is academic. But with the new rates, the nonmachinable surcharge is going up to $0.30, while the additional-ounce surcharge will remain $0.20.
I’m not gonna need to use this unless I manage to travel to the US before the next price increase (doubtful), but it’s really cool to read! Thank you for sharing it
@anon73073100 - There are currently two US postage stamps that are 65 cents — the Breast Cancer Awareness stamp and the PTSD stamp. They are listed as “Semipostal” stamps. Do you know if they are increasing?
Semipostal stamps have the same postage value as a Forever stamp! The extra purchase price is a donation to a cause. I do think their purchase price is increasing, though I’m not sure exactly by how much.
So, sorry if this is a dumb question, but the butterfly stamps - they just count as $0.75 (soon to be $0.88) no matter what? Or does it have to be on a square/non-machineable item?
Obviously from this it doesn’t sound like it, but I’ve just never used them before so I want to make sure I don’t need to know anything special before I order a bunch.
You can use any combination of stamps that adds up to the postage rate you’re going for. The values are tied to certain postage rates, but you don’t have to use them on that kind of mail. In other words, yes, you can use a butterfly stamp on any piece of mail.
The only exception, I think, is that it has to be the right class of mail (First-Class)—for instance, you can’t use one of those Marketing Mail stamps you get on junk mail for your postcards. Any of the stamps you can buy from the USPS website will work (except maybe the Priority Mail ones that cost like eight bucks a pop).
@anon73073100 Alex, this is awesome. I had done something similar for myself, but with the combinations I was most likely to use based on my own stamp collection. But I was left wondering how many other combinations there are and how I could make use of my wider range of stamps (I have… literally… binders of stamps… >.<). Thank you SO MUCH for writing this script and sharing this post! I was just about to ask, what language–Python? And then I see the Github Sssssensational.
Oh, and in answer to your question - the combinations I was planning on using include:
1 Forever + 1 Bunny + 1 Postcard (love the Coral Reefs) + 1 10c (from my collection of vintage, or the Pears) + 2 (again, vintage or Navajo jewellry) = $1.30
2 Forever + 1 Bunny = $1.36 (for cards with less space)
Question for you: where did you find that the butterfly stamp would be increasing? I’ve searched high and low and haven’t found any documentation of that in the charts from USPS or Stamps.com. I would feel more confident in spending money on Butterflies if I saw that documented somewhere.
I made myself an Excel spreadsheet and formula where I could plug in the different denominations I have on hand (I have a bunch of 22 cent stamps for some reason) to easily see what combinations would add up to $1.30. This is much cooler
This is brilliant and you have just saved me a ton of time! I wasn’t going to write a program to figure this out, but make myself some notes based on the many denominations of stamps I have. Thank you for making the effort to do this and share it with all of us. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
You know you’re a Postcrosser when…
You write a computer program to figure out stamp combinations ahead of a postal rate increase
@adriennefriend Looks like @marora answered your question—but yes, it’s kind of buried in the documentation!
This looks interesting, thanks! I didn’t know about this. I noticed it doesn’t have the new stamp denominations yet (maybe since they haven’t taken effect yet), but one could just enter them in manually.
I bought a ton of stamps on usps.com earlier this month; there’s still time!
This may be an odd question, but even though they’re not increasing, I think my current plan is to buy a lot of the $1 definitive stamps and combine with some vintage postage I’m going to purchase. Are the $1 stamps significantly larger in size than most stamps? I’ve never seen one before.
Edit: Just found the product specs tab. Nevermind, I don’t think that will work well.
If you are looking for small, you’ve got options! Some of the current Forever stamps are quite petite! Not sure if you have them already, but these are all quite small (and currently available for purchase!).
