What are GOOD stamps?

I wanted to ask for input from people who like stamps.
Do you prefer newer stamps issued this year?
Or is it better if I look for older stamps?

I’ve sent out my first batch of postcards and since I had old stamps tucked away, I used those.
They were these:
download

I have used them all up and now I’m thinking of buying the regular rectangular stamps because I saw somewhere it’s preferred to have a few different stamps rather than one global sticker? :thinking:

I was thinking of buying some from:
Usps.com/stamps

I’d really appreciate if you could tell me which ones are nice to you, or what kind of stamps you like to get.
Sorry if my question wasn’t clear or I’m in the wrong section :sweat_smile:

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Hello
I prefer stamps which are beautiful to look at or are commemorative , also I prefer to recieve cards with multiple stamps rather than one global sticker. Cause there are many nice stamps which a person can send , while global is plain looking. And there are tons of stamps which a stamp collector might want to recieve which is not there in his collection but the variety of global stickers are not that much .But other people might like to recieve the other way round too.
Stay safe and happy :smile:

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I like to see different stamps from the countries, so a combination is much more unlikely to repeat over and over again. In general most people will go to the post office and will get the most recent stamp(s) for the desired rate. Those are the most common ones.

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I like almost every stamp the USPS issues each year. Some are really spectacular or interesting (T-Rex 3-D, Transcontinental Railroad, scented ice creams, etc.). But I like to have a supply of the smaller stamps, too, that usually come in the booklet form, because they don’t take up as much room on the postcard. Just buy whatever stamps appeal to you, and have fun. :smiley:

You can see some of the stamps USA Postcrossers use in this thread:

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You might also be interested in this topic:

US Stamps on International Postcards

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@Shashidar
@Cassiopheia
@aerobear

Thank you all for your input and resources~ :blush:

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This is such a good question, and there isn’t one right answer.

In the context of stamps, some people may prioritize variety, others quantity, others wow factor. I go for personalization. I keep a variety on hand and match my stamp picks to my recipients’ stated interests. Some people are effusive in their gratitude; others, I don’t think they even notice! :grimacing:

But, I can still enjoy those scenarios because I get enjoyment out of making the selections. :upside_down_face:

As for the US global forevers, they do have the advantage of a limited footprint. So if you like writing a lot, or you want to preserve the postcard’s info text in the upper left, there’s no better option.

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Thank you for your post, I have the same question as yours. I sent my first postcard today and now I worry a little about the stamp, which is “just” a self-made sticker stamp featuring a tulip field… As I don’t care about stamps at all myself, I just used my regular one, which I sometimes change for “beautiful French regions” Beautiful French cities" etc, but I print them myself on the website of our French postal office. If this is a big mistake, please tell me so!
Thank you for your advice…

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I base my stamps affixing on several factors.

  1. I try to keep a stock of all different kinds of stamps. If someone doesn’t specify that they like cool stamps, i’ll put a global on it. If they do, i’ll mix and match.
  2. If they like variety, it will then depend on the size of the card I am sending, and that is based on their preferences. If the card is large, i’ll try to add many stamps up to or a little over the $1.20 cost. If it’s a smaller card, I will do to smaller forevers and a 10 cent stamp.
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Don’t worry about it. It’s a postcard site, not a stamp site. Stamps are just extra fun for some of us. It shouldn’t be a stress factor at all!.

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Thank you for your answer!

As a stamp collector I like a variety of stamps on my postcards. But I also love the postcards so I’m happy with everything I get.

As a collector modern US stamps are hard to get. Most people use the common ones, where as the US produce some lovely issues each year that are never seen. USPS don’t allow overseas users to buy directly from their site.

As to keeping costs down though, you can buy unused stamps on ebay at less than face value, giving you more money to spend on postcards. All US stamps ever issued are still valid for postage, so it doesn’t matter if it’s from 1920 or 2020, you can still use it. I do this with my own countries stamps and buy bulk lots of “postage” at 1/2 the cost. Gives me a variety of stamps to use, though they aren’t recent issues.

Go for what works out for you and don’t feel stressed to meet others expectations. You really want to enjoy doing this :slight_smile:

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One thing I discovered at the USPS website is the $1.00 stamp with the Liberty Statue on it. It looks so elegant, plus it is even raised print! I add to it the 20 cents required by using a regular postcard stamp (35 cents), or a 21-cent Lincoln, or 23-cent Washington, or other stamps around that price.

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I loved those scratch-and-sniff ice cream stamps! Wish they would issue those again…

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@valdavid I think in the future I I’ll consider buying a few globals in case the space on the back is limited, I think you’re right.

@Maja5 that sounds really cool! Welcome to :postcrossing:

@mere5oh Oh that sounds like a good way to go about it I shall keep this in mind it makes a lot of sense to me :relieved:

@MariceNZ Ooh so maybe I should try to also get the new releases so collectors can be surprised haha thank you for the ebay tip I don’t do much online shopping so I’ll be looking into that!

@judohelen Omg I saw the $1 stamp earlier in a thread a lovely Postcrosser linked me to earlier but I had no idea there were 21/23¢ stamps!

@TravellerMel I must have missed that part about the ice cream scented stamps, excuse me what I want those now :flushed:

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Well, I have a bunch of those 21/23 cent from years ago.

You can get some at that price, though, but they might be different.

Also, I enjoy getting 70 cent butterfly stamps, and putting that onto bigger postcards with any current 55 cent forever stamp! That also adds variety!

Or, you can get stamps like 58 cent stamps with different people’s faces on them, for even more variety!

I am finding that choosing stamps at USPS online is as fun as buying postcards!

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I agree. For now I bought some at the local post office as I was walking nearby it earlier today I bought these:

I wanted some fruit 10/5¢ ones but they didn’t have them so I think I’ll also order online from now on, just now I ordered a stamp catalog too! So I could buy other kinds

It’s a dangerous slope, I want them all now that I’ve started :nerd_face:

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As I remember it correctly they were issued 2,5 years ago. I was lucky to get one. They still scent when you scratch them.

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Wow they’re so colorful! I’m quite envious that’s too cool.
Hehe. Get it? Cause ice cream?
I’ll show myself out

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I always try to find stamps that fit good to the postcard: so christmas cards with christmas stamps, vintage/retro cards with old looking stamps, …
But even if they are not kind of “matching”, i always try to get nice looking ones :slight_smile:
i don’t collect stamps myself, but i am happy when someone thought about what would fit or i could like. :smiley:

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