I was wondering about postage recently...is that too "nerdy"....that I sit around thinking about postage?Specifically, I was wondering how much a Forever stamp is worth when being used on an international letter.
The concept of the Forever stamp is that you can buy them at the current first-class postage cost, and then if the postage rate goes up, that stamp can still be used to mail a first-class letter to a U.S. address. In the olden days, before the Forever stamp was invented, when postage went up, you had to purchase "additional postage" stamps to add to your first-class stamps so that they would equal the new price. Starting in 2012, all newly issued First Class mail stamps are Forever stamps.
But, the Forever stamps don't have an amount printed on them; just the word "Forever." So, I didn't know if I could use them, in combination with other stamps, to mail international mail. And, I was wondering if they were worth the current price of a postage stamp or if I somehow needed to remember how much they were worth when I bought them.
Thankfully, the U.S. Postal Service doesn't leave much unanswered. I found the answers I was looking for on the MailPro page of the USPS website and in Postal Bulletin 22325, published in December 2011.
According to the Frequently Asked Questions:
Customers can use Forever stamps for international mail, but since all international prices are higher than domestic prices, customers will need to attach additional postage. The value of the Forever stamp is the domestic First-Class Mail 1-ounce letter price in effect on the day of use.
Through the years, that information has been posted on the USPS website in several locations. According to what I see online, all postal employees may not honor such usage of the Forever stamp (see this note on Zine World), so you might be prepared to purchase additional postage, if necessary.
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