We have new stamps, issued on March 31, 2014. The excitement has been tempered a bit by the dramatic increase in price (up 35% for domestic rate) This was announced in December, but there are still people who are so angry they are continuing to write letters to the editor claiming they will never, ever mail a letter again. These people probably sent their letter by email and didn't do so much mailing anyway, I'm guessing. There are also those who have been dismissive, saying "no-one mails anything these days" and "when was the last time anyone went to a post office?" Those are people who were not standing in a long line on Monday last week to buy the new stamps. It was so long, I left and went back on Tuesday.
One good change coming out of all this are the pre-paid postcards that you can buy for $2.50 (or 5/$12.50 - no tax) These cards can be mailed anywhere, so in effect, if you are sending it overseas, you're getting a free postcard with your stamp! The older postcards were only 15¢ more than the overseas postage rate, so was still a good deal.
So, from my cards we have the burrowing owl
for the domestic rate of $1.00
(there is a beaver stamp for the domestic rate of 85¢, but I don't have that one, nor do I have the one for international rate of $2.50 featuring an elk. I'm not sure why my local outlet didn't have the complete series.)
the puffin for the oversized letter rate of $1.80
and a mountain goat for the US rate of $1.20
These are the last of the baby wildlife series. For SundayStamps
A common problem it seems as the Royal Mail has upped the prices in the UK too. It is rare for us to received mail with stamps and we rarely post any either. These Canadian stamps are great.
ReplyDeleteI like the designs, but I wonder how you know what the postage rate is.
ReplyDeletethese images were taken off the postcards. on the individual stamps, the price would be shown.
DeleteCute. You have the same problem with the post office as me in not having commemorative stamps, you'd think that was the basics, hay ho. Our postage has gone up too. They always press release the small amount that internal post goes up but never mention the whopping amount they have put on international post. Rant over. I like the Canada postcard idea, wish we had something like that although the Isle of Man occasionally has prepaid postcards, usually themed with the Motorbike race.
ReplyDeleteThe stamps I was given at the postoffice look like prairie dogs. Cute series.
ReplyDeletethose could be the beavers. I don't think they show up very well.
Deletethat middle owl looks as if he has the weight of the world on his shoulders ;)
ReplyDeleteOur postage went up too, and they're changing the 'names' as well, for things that don't need changing, eg. 'airmail' is now called 'international standard'. How ridiculous is that!
I'm sure I read too that part of their 'aim' was to make things simpler - so whereas the last price list was detailed on a 2 page pdf, the new one is 9 pages.
Increase of postage rates seems to be a global problem. And also getting stamps. In the city I live in Morocco is almost impossible to get stamps different from "the basic series" (i.d., the king face). And is Spain (where I am from), they just don't sell stamps in most of the post offices. They ask you to bring the letter and then stamp a horrible rubber stamp... :(
ReplyDeleteI like any stamp with animals on it.
ReplyDeleteMountain goat baby is so cute and cuddly.
ReplyDeleteI am buying my stamps from the US Postal Service website. they may or may not have the special stamps at my local postoffice. Or I may get the cranky clerk who doesn't like to look up and find these stamps.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, these are adorable babies!
You really do have some lovely stamps.
ReplyDeleteStamps over here are mundane and unusual ones not widely distributed and tend to only come out at Christmas or some really special occasion.
The rising prices of stamps are making people write less & less which is a great pity.
Maggie x
Nuts in May
all i can say is...aaawwwww <3
ReplyDeleteAdorable critters on the stamps ~ Great post ~ Happy Weekend to you ~ xoxo
ReplyDeleteartmusedog and carol (A Creative Harbor)
Oh my! How cute!! I love the two last stamps. I almost want to request a postcard from you so I can have those two :D
ReplyDeleteThank you Violet for stopping by!! I explored your blog and find your cemetery tab to be very interesting. We were on Spring Break the first week of April and visited New Orleans! I do genealogy and enumerate our family cemeteries. but thoroughly enjoyed spending time in the old cemetery in New Orleans. If you go to my blog and scroll down - you'll see it!! Very interesting!!
ReplyDelete