Buying stamps sounds like it should take thirty seconds. In practice, where you buy determines what you pay, whether you can get the design you want, and — increasingly — whether the postage in your hand is genuine at all.
This guide works through every channel available to an American buyer, states plainly what each one is good and bad at, then covers counterfeit detection, current rates, the mechanics of actually mailing something, and the stamp formats you are likely to encounter.
Six places to buy stamps, and what each one costs you
1. USPS.com
The Postal Service sells directly from its own site, and the catalog is the widest available anywhere: U.S. Flags, Flowers, Holiday issues including Christmas, themed sets such as Bugs Bunny, American Outdoors and the moon landing, and portraits of figures like Gwen Ifill, Sally Ride, Walt Whitman and Arnold Palmer. You can filter by color, shape, theme or face value.
The trade-off: authenticity is never in question, and neither is the price. You pay full face value plus excise tax and transaction fees, with no discounts of any kind. For anyone buying in bulk, that is a meaningful cost.
2. Stamp dealers
Dealers are worth knowing if you collect rather than mail. They deal largely in used stamps and often sell inexpensive mixed packets from around the world — the kind of thing that turns up something unexpected.
Finding one is old-fashioned: look under "Stamps for Collectors" in the Yellow Pages for your area and go from there.
3. Online marketplaces
Amazon, Walmart, eBay and Etsy all carry postage, and the selection runs deeper than USPS.com — including issues from earlier years that the Postal Service no longer stocks.
This is also where the risk lives. Very few marketplace sellers are actually USPS-authorized, and cheap listings are the easiest way to end up with counterfeits. Use this benchmark: a discount above roughly 20% on genuine stamps is not economically possible. Authorized sellers, including the Postal Service itself, offer only small reductions even during marketplace promotions. Factor in shipping and the apparent saving usually disappears.
4. Post office counters and self-service kiosks
Buying in person guarantees authenticity. Beyond the manual counter, USPS operates self-service kiosks at more than 2,883 locations nationwide, most of them accessible 24/7, with no surcharge for using one.
Two problems. The vending machines are being withdrawn from Postal Service locations — no final deadline has been set, but they are expensive and difficult to maintain, and they are going. And the counter itself means limited hours, a narrow selection, list prices, and a queue.
5. Supermarkets, pharmacies and gas stations
Stamps turn up at supermarkets, pharmacies, banks, gas stations and bookstores. Walmart is the reliable option in most towns and, unlike a bank, keeps hours that suit anyone. It also stocks the envelopes, stationery and wrapping paper you probably need alongside the postage.
Pharmacies are hit-and-miss — not all of them carry stamps, though Walgreens, Rite Aid and CVS generally do, often with a reasonable selection. Gas stations beat banks purely on availability, since they are open when banks are not.
The universal caveat: no offline store guarantees the specific stamp you want. Call ahead.
6. Secondary-market sellers
Which brings us to the reason discount postage exists at all. Stamps enter the secondary market constantly — retail overstock, inventory from closed or liquidated businesses, unused blocks from wedding and event organizers, and collections sold on by collectors and the public. A seller buying at that scale can price genuinely below face value and still operate legitimately.
The thing to verify is the seller, not the discount. Ask where the stock comes from and whether they authenticate what they buy.
What a Forever stamp costs right now
Rates change by regulatory decision, not on a fixed schedule. In June 2022 the Postal Regulatory Commission approved a two-cent increase that moved the First-Class Mail Forever stamp from 58 to 60 cents; further adjustments have followed since.
Current First-Class Mail pricing:
First-Class Mail |
Price |
One-ounce letter, domestic |
$0.78 |
Single-piece letter, additional ounce |
$0.28 |
Postcard stamp |
$0.61 |
One-ounce letter, international |
$1.70 |
2022 US Flag Stamps(100 Stamps)
Sunflower Bouquet Stamps(Two Ounce)
Global Poinsettia Stamps
How counterfeit stamps get caught
The detection method is chemical, not visual. Genuine stamps are printed with a special ink that fluoresces at a specific frequency under UV light. Sorting equipment reads for that fluorescence and rejects anything non-luminous. Flagged items go to trained postal staff — people who handle millions of real stamps and notice details a customer never would — and confirmed counterfeits are passed to postal inspectors.
Where the fakes come from is well documented. Andrea Avery, an assistant inspector in charge at the United States Postal Inspection Service, has pointed to Facebook in particular as a source of counterfeit stamp sites, alongside eBay and assorted unauthorized sellers.
The signal is the price. Counterfeit postage — most often American flag designs — is typically sold in bulk at 30 to 50 percent off list. A deep discount advertised on a stamp is the red flag, and it is a reliable one.
What happens if you use one
Producing counterfeit postage, or knowingly selling it, is a federal crime carrying fines and up to five years in prison. The statute covers anyone who forges, or willfully utters or uses, any forged or counterfeit stamp or revenue stamp.
For the sender, the practical consequence arrives first. Mail bearing counterfeit postage can be returned with postage due, marked RETURNED TO SENDER, COUNTERFEIT POSTAGE. A bounced birthday card is an annoyance. A batch of contracts or invoices that never reaches a client — and comes back weeks later stamped as fraudulent — is a different matter entirely.
Mailing a letter, step by step
Step one: choose the envelope or postcard
Price depends on size and shape as much as weight. Keep to standard dimensions so the piece runs through automated processing; anything that cannot be machine-handled costs more. Uneven or rigid envelopes, and envelopes closed with clips, string or buttons, all fall outside automation. So do irregular, square and vertical envelopes.
Envelopes must be paper, and must be rectangular to qualify for envelope pricing. Anything larger than letter size is charged at package rates, and large envelopes must also be rectangular to take the uniform price.
Postcards must be rectangular to take the First-Class Mail price. Oversized cards are charged as letters or large envelopes.
SHAPE |
LENGTH |
HEIGHT |
Postcards |
5 in. min / 6 in. max |
3-1/2 in. min / 4-1/4 in. max |
Letters |
5 in. min / 11-1/2 in. max |
3-1/2 in. min / 6-1/8 in. max |
Large Envelopes |
11-1/2 in. min / 15 in. |
6-1/8 in. min / 12 in. |
Step two: write the address
Print or write it clearly and put it in the right place. A badly addressed envelope is the most common reason a piece of mail goes astray, and it is entirely avoidable.
Step three: work out the postage
Cost depends on destination, size, weight and speed, plus extras — Certified Mail receipts and other proof-of-delivery services carry additional fees. Within the United States a First-Class Mail Forever stamp covers a one-ounce letter, and a postcard stamp covers a postcard.
The variables worth checking before you buy: destination, delivery speed, shape and dimensions, insurance or special handling, and whether you need delivery confirmation. The Postage Price Calculator on the USPS site will settle it.
Step four: send it
Six ways to hand off a stamped item:
- Schedule a pickup through the USPS website
- Take it to the counter at a post office
- Hand it to your carrier on delivery
- Put it in your own mailbox with the flag up — or hang it outside the box if yours has no flag
- Drop it in a blue collection box, for domestic letters and postcards under one pound only; international express is not accepted
- Use a USPS counter inside a supermarket, though some accept domestic items only
If you are affixing postage yourself, make sure there is enough of it. Underpaid mail comes back to you.
Where the stamp goes on the envelope
Top right corner, front side — the face opposite the opening. That side carries three things: the delivery address centered, the return address at upper left, and the stamp at upper right, pressed down firmly. Stamps should not overlap one another, and additional postage can go on the back if the front runs out of room.
Strictly speaking, a letter stamped on the back will still be carried and will not be returned for that reason alone. It is still the wrong way to do it.
What exactly is a Forever stamp?
A Forever stamp — formally a non-denominated postage stamp — carries no printed face value. Its worth is pegged to the prevailing First-Class Mail single-piece 1-ounce rate, whatever that rate happens to be on the day you use it.
What that means in practice: buy one today at the current price, and if postage rises next year, the stamp still mails a one-ounce letter. No makeup stamps, no topping up with extra cents.
Current types and pricing
Two categories cover most needs.
1. Domestic Forever stamps are marked "Forever" and mail a standard 1-ounce letter anywhere in the United States. Current price $0.78, adjusted upward from $0.73 in the July 2025 update.
2. Global Forever stamps are usually circular and marked "Global Forever." Current price $1.70. One stamp mails a 1-ounce international letter to any country USPS serves.
USPS mail classes
Different services, different guarantees and prices:
First-Class Mail / First-Class Mail International — bills, invoices, personal letters and small packages. This is ordinary mail: tracking is limited rather than complete.
Priority Mail / Priority Mail International — the same range of contents with priority handling. Faster than First-Class, slower than Express.
Priority Mail Express / Priority Mail Express International — top priority in transport and the fastest option, priced accordingly.
Global Express Guaranteed — for urgent international packages, and the most expensive service offered. If it misses the promised delivery time, domestic or abroad, you can claim a refund.
Wedding Roses Stamps
Holiday Wreaths Stamps
A Visit From St. Nick Stamps
Shapes and formats
Stamps come in three shapes — rectangle, square and round — and the shape usually tells you something about the intended use.
Rectangular Forever stamps
The default. Sizes run from 0.870″ W x 0.98″ H up to 1.255″ W x 1.59″ H, from standard Forever through jumbo. One ordinary Forever stamp covers a standard rectangular envelope up to one ounce. A large envelope needs two first-class stamps for the first two ounces, then roughly $0.15 for each additional ounce.
Square Forever stamps
Reserved for particular designs — the Music Icons® series and the Total Eclipse of the Sun stamp among them. The 2022 Pete Seeger commemorative belongs to Music Icons®.
Square formats also carry special rates, specifically for square non-machineable envelopes. These generally start around $0.99 and are what you want for a square wedding invitation.
Round Forever stamps
The Ball stamp of May 16, 2017 was the first round U.S. stamp. Today the round format mostly means international postage: Global Forever stamps have a circular border and always carry the words "Global" and "Forever" to set them apart.
Additional-ounce stamps
Additional ounces on First Class Mail letters (Post Office and Metered) rose four cents to $0.24 from $0.20. First Class Mail Flats and Large Envelopes at 1 oz. rose four cents to $1.20 from $1.16, with each further ounce at $0.24.
Two-ounce stamps
Like a Forever stamp, a two-ounce stamp carries no face value and stays valid for the rate printed on it indefinitely. Unlike a Forever stamp, it is printed with the words "TWO OUNCE" to state its usage value. If you see those words struck through on a stamp, do not be alarmed — that is a Postal Service anti-counterfeiting measure, not a defect.
Use them for standard-size domestic letters up to two ounces. Heavier wedding invitations and thank-you letters are the usual case. For rigid or oddly shaped pieces that cannot be folded or machined, reach for a non-machineable stamp instead.
Priority Mail stamps
Priority Mail delivers within 1–3 days, and a flat-rate envelope or box ships at a flat price regardless of weight, up to 70 lbs (32 kg). USPS has issued Monument Valley stamps for Priority Mail and Palace of Fine Arts stamps for Priority Mail Express. They cost more, and they remove the arithmetic.
Buying from Forever Stamp Center
Forever Stamp Center sells genuine United States postage below face-value retail to households, small businesses, corporations and online retailers. We source on the secondary market — from thousands of supply partners and members of the public, from retail overstock and business liquidations through to wedding organizers and stamp collectors — which is how the pricing works and where the saving comes from.
What you get ordering with us:
- Shipping in as little as 3–5 working days
- Genuine postage, authenticated before it is listed
- A returns process without complicated procedures
- Customer service that answers
- Volume pricing that improves as quantity rises
That covers the channels, the counterfeits, the rates and the formats. Next time the question is where can I buy stamps, you have the whole picture rather than the first search result.
Read more
Top 10 Forever Stamps for Sale: Enhance Your Mail with Timeless Designs (www.foreverstampcenter.com)
USPS professional based in New York with over 12 years of experience in postal operations. She writes about Forever Stamps, offering practical guidance on safe purchasing and mailing practices while closely following USPS policy updates.
