Allison Schrager and Ritchie King (an economist and a journalist) provide a step-by-step guide to profiting from the 3-cent increase on postage stamps scheduled for Jan. 26, 2014 :
…the US Postal Service (USPS) made a strange announcement: anybody who wants to turn a quick profit at its expense will have an opportunity to do so come January.
This 3-cent increase, which has to be approved by the US Postal Regulatory Commission, is large enough that it creates an opportunity for arbitrage in so-called “forever” stamps, which hold their value regardless of changes in postage price.So what’s stopping stamp peddlers from buying up forever stamps at $0.46 before the price hike on Jan. 26, 2014, and selling them afterwards at a profit for less than $0.49?
Our plan is to buy 10 million stamps at $0.46 each and sell them at $0.48. The margins, of course, are small. If we buy 10 million stamps, spending $4.6 million, we’ll earn $200,000—a 4.3% profit.
The good news is that you can buy up to 1 million stamps in a single order from the USPS, and pay a mere $1.75 in shipping (shipping is their business, after all).
via step-by-step guide to profiting off a 3-cent hike on US postage stamps
In the last forty years the 1st class rate has gone from .06 to .46 cents if you do the math that means that a first class letter cost more than 7x’s what it used to. How about if you buy the stamps now and dump them in twenty years when you have to pay 1.50 for a letter? The tricky part? will there be a PO in twenty years?
@LIAM, and a Hemsworth you are not, my bitch. ITB for you. Then HOA, no seconds.
Liam, if you did your homewerk, you would know that Newman was always ITB kind of guy, and Kramer was the producer. Didnt you know this my nigga ?
Darn – just my luck! I’m going to be right in the middle of making a fortune by collecting 18 million soda pop bottles in Virginia and transporting them to Michigan to arbitrage the 5-cent difference in deposit redemption amounts. I’m going to miss the 3-second window of opportunity to unload the 10 million stamps at a profit. Maybe if I get Newman and Kramer to help…
The USPS keeps increasing the wrong rates. We don’t charge enough for BBM.
What happens if you can’t sell your 10 million stamps?
Close 10,000 post offices. 38,000 are not needed! Make residential delivery 3 days weekly. Every town with a Walmart, Kmart or Sears should contract window services to them. profits in the billions will follow!
RIF vast numbers of mgmt. and EAS.
Instant profit. Instant increased productivity. Instant increased efficiency.