Are Forever Stamps A Good Investment? | Math Behind The Gain

A Forever stamp can beat cash only if postage rates rise enough to outpace storage, resale discounts, and selling hassles.

Forever stamps are simple: you pay today’s price, then you can mail a one-ounce First-Class letter later even after USPS raises rates. That “pay now, mail later” idea sounds like an easy win.

The catch is friction. Stamps don’t pay interest. They don’t grow on their own. Any gain comes from USPS rate hikes, and you only lock that gain in when you use the stamp on mail or sell it to someone else.

This article walks through the math, the real-world costs, and the situations where stocking up makes sense.

What Forever Stamps Actually Do

A Forever stamp is a non-denominated stamp that always matches the current one-ounce First-Class letter rate. USPS explains this plainly on its basics page. USPS “Postage Stamps – The Basics”

So a stamp bought years ago still pays for a one-ounce letter today, even if the price printed on the sign at the post office is higher. If the one-ounce letter price stays flat, the stamp’s usable value stays flat too.

That’s why Forever stamps behave like prepaid postage. They’re not like a bond, a stock, or a savings account.

Are Forever Stamps A Good Investment? Two Ways People Try It

People use Forever stamps in two distinct ways.

• Prebuying for personal mail: You already send cards, letters, invoices, or paperwork through the year.
• Buying to resell: You plan to sell stamps later for more than you paid.

The first path can work because there’s no need to sell. The second path is tougher because buyers expect a discount and selling has fees, shipping costs, and risk.

Current Price And Where The “Gain” Comes From

USPS lists a one-ounce First-Class letter stamp at $0.78 on its rates page. USPS “Postage Rates & Prices”

If you bought stamps at $0.78 and the rate later moves to $0.83, you saved $0.05 each stamp on mail you send after the change. On paper, that’s a 6.4% lift per stamp.

That looks nice until you add real-life costs. A sheet can get lost in a move. Adhesive can get damaged by heat or humidity. If you try to resell, you may eat marketplace fees and shipping that wipe out the savings.

Why Stamp Prices Rise

USPS adjusts prices over time. Those changes often arrive in steps, not in tiny daily moves. USPS also publishes change notices, like its 2025 notice that moved the Forever stamp price from 73 cents to 78 cents. USPS “2025 Postage Price Change”

For a stamp buyer, the takeaway is simple: rate hikes can happen, still you can’t pick the date or the size. Your own mailing habits can also change, so buying huge piles “just in case” can backfire.

What Decides If Stocking Up Pays Off

Use the table below as a checklist. It shows the factors that push the math in your favor, plus the ones that drag it down.

Factor	How It Changes The Outcome	What To Watch
Planned stamp use	Higher use makes prebuying cleaner	If you’ll mail within 6–24 months, loss risk stays low
Rate hike size	Bigger jumps raise savings per stamp	A 5¢ jump on 78¢ is a 6.4% lift
Wait time	Long waits lower the yearly payoff	Two years to save 5¢ feels different than six months
Resale discount	Discount erases most of the upside	Many buyers want 5–15% off face value
Seller fees	Fees cut the price you keep	Fee plus shipping can exceed your savings
Loss and damage	Missing stamps are a total loss	Sheets are small and easy to misplace
Fraud and counterfeits	Bad stamps turn a deal into a headache	Deep discounts from strangers are a common trap
Cash alternative	Bank interest may beat stamp savings	Compare your bank yield to likely rate hikes

Situations Where Buying Forever Stamps Makes Sense

Forever stamps shine when you already mail often and you want fewer surprises when rates rise.

Steady Mailers

If you send personal cards, school forms, or small business letters, prebuying stamps can be tidy. You buy at today’s price, then use them as you go. When a rate hike lands, you keep mailing without paying the new price on those letters.

People Who Hate Last-Minute Post Office Runs

Stocking up is also about convenience. A sheet in your desk means you can drop a letter in a blue box on your walk and move on.

Anyone With A Simple Storage Habit

Stamps are easy to lose. Treat them like cash: one labeled envelope, one drawer, one spot. Keep them flat and dry.

Situations Where It Often Falls Flat

Most “stamp investing” talk skips over frictions. Those frictions decide the result.

Buying To Resell For Profit

A buyer can buy stamps from USPS at face value. To choose you instead, they’ll often want a discount. Add marketplace fees, shipping materials, and time spent packing, and the math can flip fast.

Price jumps also tend to be small in cents per stamp. That leaves little room for mistakes. One lost sheet can wipe out months of gains.

Buying Deep Discounts Online

Counterfeit postage exists across online marketplaces. If you buy discounted stamps from unknown sellers, you’re taking on the risk that the stamps are fake, stolen, or already used. If the stamp fails postal processing, you can end up with returned mail or postage due.

When a seller pitches “easy profit,” treat it like any other fraud pitch. The SEC’s consumer fraud page lists common red flags that fit stamp deals too, like pressure and too-good pricing. Investor.gov “Protect Your Money: How to Avoid Investment Scams”

Buying And Storing Stamps Without Regret

If you want to prebuy stamps, keep the plan boring. Boring wins here.

Match Your Buy Size To Real Mail

Start with your past year. How many one-ounce letters did you actually send? If you don’t know, do a two-month count and multiply. Then buy close to a one-year amount, not a five-year stash.

This keeps your cash tied up for a shorter span, and it cuts the odds that stamps vanish in a drawer. It also keeps you flexible if you switch to online statements or you move to a place where you mail less.

Store Them Like Cash

Heat, moisture, and rough handling can ruin adhesive or curl sheets. Keep sheets flat in an envelope or a small file. Label it. Pick one spot and stick to it.

Watch For Fake Stamp Signals

Deep discounts are the biggest tell. A seller who beats USPS by a wide margin still has to ship and still wants profit. That math doesn’t add up. Also watch for listings that hide the back of the stamp, blur the printing, or push you to pay off-platform.

How To Estimate Your Personal Return

If you’re using stamps on your own mail, your “return” is just the rate increase you avoid paying later. You can check it with a simple three-line method.

Pick A Holding Window

Ask yourself when you’ll use most of the stamps you buy. Six months? One year? Two years? Short holds make the payoff feel stronger.

Run The Basic Math

• Savings per stamp = New stamp price − your buy price
• Percent savings = Savings ÷ your buy price
• Yearly feel = Percent savings ÷ years held

This is not a forecast. It’s a reality check that keeps you from buying more stamps than you’ll use.

Table: Timing Scenarios Using The Current $0.78 Price

These examples start at $0.78 and show what a later rate would mean. The “yearly feel” line is a shortcut, not a promise.

Scenario	Price Change	Yearly Feel
Hold 6 months, +3¢ hike	$0.78 → $0.81	About 7.7% per year
Hold 12 months, +5¢ hike	$0.78 → $0.83	About 6.4% per year
Hold 24 months, +5¢ hike	$0.78 → $0.83	About 3.2% per year
Hold 24 months, +10¢ hike	$0.78 → $0.88	About 6.4% per year
Hold 36 months, +10¢ hike	$0.78 → $0.88	About 4.3% per year
Hold 12 months, no hike	$0.78 → $0.78	0% per year

Collectible Stamps Are A Different Question

Rarity stamps and classic issues can have collector value based on condition and demand. Modern Forever stamps are mass-issued, so their value tracks postage, not scarcity.

Collecting can still be a fun hobby. Just treat it as a hobby. Modern Forever stamps are not rare, so resale prices usually track postage, not collector demand.

Other Places To Park Cash If You Want Yield

If your goal is yield, stamps have a built-in limit: they rise only when USPS raises postage. Cash products can move on a different schedule. A high-yield savings account can pay interest monthly. A short CD can lock a rate for a set term. U.S. Treasury bills are also a common place for short-term cash.

This matters because a stamp gain arrives as a few cents at a time. If rates stay flat for a year, stamps earn nothing in that window. If you’re already keeping cash for an emergency fund, compare the yield you can earn there against the stamp savings you expect.

If you mail a lot, stamps can still be a clean prepay tool. If you mail little, cash yield often wins.

A Plain Takeaway

Forever stamps can be a smart buy for people who mail regularly and want to prepay some postage before the next rate hike. As a resale play, they usually don’t pencil out once you count discounts, fees, time, and fraud risk.

If you want a simple plan: estimate your stamp use for the next 12–24 months, buy that amount from USPS, store it in one labeled spot, then use it steadily. If rates rise, you’ll feel the win on each envelope you send.