Post Office Considers Selling 'Forever Stamps'

No company has promised us that something will be good forever. The U.S. Post Office may change that soon.

The Postal Regulatory Commission has proposed the "forever stamp." If you buy the stamp at a certain price, it will still work if the price of a stamp goes up.

Right now, a stamp costs 39 cents. The commission also proposed an increase to 41 cents. Under the current system, you would need to purchase 2-cent stamps in order to keep your old stamps from becoming obsolete.

When the price of stamps go up, the price of a forever stamp would also increase. The key is to buy the forever stamps and then hang onto them until after the price increases.

What about the concept of forever? Do we really think these stamps will be valid forever? Well, maybe they are.

People will always need the Postal Service; and as long as America is a country, those stamps could still be valid.

However, let's be realistic for a second. The price of stamps only increases a penny or two every few years. So in order to get any real value out of them, you would have to hang onto these things as if they were rare baseball cards.

In addition, the proposed postal changes would offer a break to those who are sending oversize letters. Currently, additional ounces of a letter costs 24 cents, but that cost would drop to 17 cents.

Before the idea can become official, the post office's Board of Governors would have to give its approval.

However, the idea of 'forever' stamps brings up the question: What other forever products would get a good reaction from consumers?

FOREVER FASHION - Whether it's a dress, a hat or a handbag, it goes with everything - and it never goes out of style.

FOREVER GAS CARD - If gas costs $2 per gallon when you buy this card, you can always use it and get gas for that price. This would come in handy when gas costs $4 per gallon.

FOREVER AUTO INSURANCE - Suppose you buy insurance for $500 a year. Even if you get into three accidents, your rates won't go up the following year.

I think the post office is onto something, and I demand that everything I buy from now on must last forever. Hey, the customer is always right.