Most investments I blog about are moderate to aggressive in nature. Some readers may feel neglected because they’re looking for a more conservative (safe) way to invest. Well if you’re one of those people then today’s post is for you 🙂
Earlier this week I mailed a letter. When I went to buy a booklet of stamps however I noticed they didn’t have any indication of value on them. Instead of “63¢” I only found the letter “P” in the corner of the stamps. The friendly post office lady, Jackie, kindly explained that these are Permanent Stamps 🙂 They are always accepted at the current domestic postage price. So if we buy a Permanent Stamp today, we can still use it at any time in the future. No more adding those 1 or 2 cent stamps when the postal rates increase 😎 Hallelujah ＼(~o~)／
Why have I not heard of this brilliant investment opportunity before? I must have been living under a rock all this time lol 😀 These perma-stamps were first introduced to Canada in 2006. Back then regular stamps sold for 51 cents. Today they sell for 63 cents as I mentioned earlier. That means if you bought perma-stamps 7 years ago, they would be worth 24% more today! [63¢/51¢]
On average that’s a 3% return per year 🙂 [(63¢/51¢)^(1/7yrs)]
| Year | Stamp Price |
| 2013 | 63¢ |
| 2012 | 61¢ |
| 2011 | 59¢ |
| 2010 | 57¢ |
| 2009 | 54¢ |
| 2008 | 52¢ |
| 2007 | 52¢ |
| 2006 | 51¢ |
| 2001 | 47¢ |
| 1979 | 17¢ |
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3% probably doesn’t sound like much 😐 But it’s a lot better than a 1.4% government savings bond (PDF link to bonds info) or any short term GIC right now. Furthermore the average annual inflation rate over that same 7 year period was only 1.8%. In other words, the price of stamps are going up faster than the cost of living which makes them a great hedge against inflation 🙂 
So earlier this week I marched right back into the post office and bought a coil of 100 permanent stamps 😀 Whoop whoop! The coil was smaller than I anticipated 😐 And because I’m so generous I’m going to explain how you can do the same with detailed instructions below 😉
How to Invest in Permanent Stamps:
- Step 1: Go to the post office
- Step 2: Buy some permanent stamps.
Perma-stamps can also be used in conjunction with additional postage to mail larger letters, parcels or to send mail internationally. Since we’re probably going to spend more than $63 on postage for the rest of our lives one coil doesn’t seem like that much anymore 😕 And don’t worry if we buy too many because we can always return them and get a full refund, as long as we have the original receipt.
Ways to Profit from Permanent Stamps After a Postage Increase
- Method 1: Mail something using your perma-stamps
- Method 2: Sell them to friends/family/Craigslist buyers
- Method 3: Hold for several decades and sell them to a stamp collector
Non-denominated stamps aren’t exclusive to Canada. The equivalent US version is called the Forever Stamp, New Zealand has the KiwiStamp, the UK has an entire series of their own, etc.
Stamps can be an essential part of a balanced portfolio 🙂 A couple coils of perma-stamps together with some diversified mutual funds or ETFs can provide a stable portfolio of income, growth, and capital preservation. Great job! Now you know how to invest like a pro, haha! 😆
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[Dec 2013 update] Looks like my investment in these stamps are paying off 😀
But I haven’t actually mailed anything in years… Who’s going to buy my stamps?
Lol, you never know when you might need them 🙂 The letter I sent was a signed document to my broker. He needed the original signed copy and I was too lazy to drive to his office since it would cost me more than 63 cents of gas money to drive to his office lol. For frugal people like us there’s also the possibility we’d enter those mail-in sweepstakes from time to time. And you probably know lots of people who are looking to get married since you’ve been to so many weddings lol. I’m sure you can find young couples who are still looking to send out wedding invitations the traditional way and are in need of some stamps maybe :0)
I am done, buying 100K$ in stamps NOW.
Nice! Don’t get them wet 😀
Balanced portfolio…hahahaha. I wonder what asset class is this, precious collectibles?
Am with the hungry hungry artist here, the last time I bought stamps was ages ago…all email and IM this days, saving the planet and all 🙂
Still, the thought of buying the stamps and holding them for decades and selling them off has a certain appeal, might even become a collector myself 🙂
Yeah, they would be classified as art/collectibles, and millionaires across the world hold about 10% of all their wealth in this asset class on average. Other items in this category include wine, paintings, and jewelry 🙂 I know snail mail is losing business slowly and national post offices around the world are having trouble making a profit. I think stamps are still good to have around because sometimes we still need them for things like mail-in rebates, letters to grand-ma who doesn’t have a computer, etc. And some people still do their taxes the old fashioned way and mail them in 😀
That’s hilarious! We bought 4 books of 30, back in 2006 when they came out… so that was a little over 7 years ago now, and we still have 2-1/2 books left… When I read about permanent stamps, I said, well let’s stock-up! Did not realize they are up 23%. Boohyah! I prefer flat books as opposed to rolls so I can attach to the fridge with a magnet- Cheers.
That’s what I call thinking ahead lol 🙂 You committed to even more stamps than me. Glad it’s paying off in your household since you’re clearly using them. Maybe I should’ve gone with the booklets too. I can see myself easily misplacing the roll easily because it’s so small haha.
Hehe at work, we still use the Raccoons P stamps from 2012. Large companies usualy use Pitney Bowes for mass stamping. Why pay stamp fees to Pitney Bowes when you can stick cute little stamps in the corner! Bought a whole bunch of rolls though they are dwindling down now. 2013 is the white rabbits. I sort the mail so I am usually saving stamps if they are unmark by Canada Post when I get mail.
If you save those stamps long enough maybe your collection will be worth a lot of money some day 🙂 I remember seeing those raccoon stamps quite often last year. I should have bought and kept some. Stamp prices usually goes up in January, so I might buy some more rolls of this year’s P stamps in December.
Ohh oppsie the white rabbit must be for something else… Cute Baby woodchucks!
Hi Liquid,
I used to collect stamps as a hobby and am now looking to divest. When I look on eBay, I see brand new stamps selling at less than face value! So, it seems that I will actually take a major loss on brand new unused stamps. It is highly unlikely that anyone will make money from buying and holding regular stamps.
Cheers,
MG
Good point MG. Just like any investment buying and selling new stamps (trading) will make most people lose money rather than make money. But I bet the permanent stamps from 5 years ago would sell for more than their face value today 🙂 It’s a buy and hold strategy, albeit not a very profitable one 😐
I mail tons of stuff, so I had bought 2 rolls of 100 last year.
if you have a costco membership, you can get the rolls at a slight discount (about 5-6% less).
Also Rexall and Shoppers Drug Mart both have stamp “sales” where a booklet is 10% off. you are basically buying 9 stamps and getting 1 for free.
Thanks for the great tips 😀 If the price of stamps go up by another few percentage points next year then that’s easily a double digit return on investment 🙂 I’ll have to keep an eye open for those deals. I do have a Costco membership. So even if I don’t run into a 10% off sale it’s good to know I can still get them cheap at Costco.
Well, I’m going to have to rush out and buy even more stamps! hehehe. But seriously, I am going to adopt this for a post!
Good idea. A booklet of stamps would make a great gift 🙂