Most offices stock exactly one thing: standard Forever stamps. Then every piece of mail that is not a plain one-ounce letter gets solved by stacking two or three of them, which is both wasteful and a good way to produce an envelope that looks improvised.
A properly stocked drawer costs less per piece and eliminates the trip to the post office. Here is what belongs in it.
Standard Forever — the base
Buy these in coils rather than sheets if you mail at any volume. Coils dispense one at a time and work with applicators; sheets slow everything down.
They cover the plain one-ounce letter, which is most mail, and they hold their value against rate increases — which is why this is also the line to buy deepest ahead of an announced adjustment.
Two-ounce stamps — the one most offices are missing
This is the highest-value addition for most operations.
Any letter with an insert, a reply envelope or a few extra sheets is likely over an ounce. The instinct is to add a second Forever stamp, which overpays. A two-ounce stamp is a single correctly-priced stamp for exactly this case.
It carries no face value and stays valid for the two-ounce rate indefinitely, exactly like a Forever stamp.
Additional-ounce stamps — the top-up
For pieces that run past the first ounce in a variable way, an additional-ounce stamp alongside a Forever stamp is cheaper than two Forever stamps and gets the arithmetic right.
Between two-ounce and additional-ounce stock, you can price almost any letter correctly without guessing.
Best deals on Forever stamps
Non-machineable surcharge stamps — the returns preventer
Square envelopes, rigid contents, clasps, uneven thickness — all of these fall out of automation and require the surcharge. Without it the piece comes back.
If you ever send invitations, announcements or anything in a square envelope, keep these in the drawer. It is a small quantity that prevents an entire category of failure.
Postcard-rate and Global Forever — if you use them
Postcard stamps for domestic cards, at a meaningfully lower rate. Global Forever for international letters, which always cost more than domestic.
Neither is universal, but an office that sends either and does not stock them ends up overpaying with Forever stamps or making a trip.
Sizing the buy
Work from last year's actual mail, broken out by type rather than by month. Then buy ahead of announced rate increases — Forever and the special-rate stamps all hold their value against future adjustments, so the pre-buy is a guaranteed saving.
Rate changes are published in advance by the Postal Regulatory Commission, with current figures in the USPS Notice 123 charts.
Storing it
A drawer of coils is portable cash equivalent. Store it locked, flat and dry, log issuance, and reconcile quarterly against pieces mailed. Stamps do not expire, so the only real risk to buffer stock is that it walks.
Buying it
One supplier who carries the whole range saves a great deal of friction. Check that they issue a commercial invoice from a verifiable US business address with a tax ID, and pull five samples from each replenishment to check adhesion and batch consistency.
Genuine secondary-market sourcing supports roughly 10–20% off. Deeper offers are not a better supplier — genuine stamps carry phosphor tagging that sorting equipment checks on every piece, and untagged stock is pulled rather than delayed.
| Verification metric | Verified specialist | Marketplace vendor |
|---|---|---|
| UV tagging | Full phosphor response | Flat / inert ink |
| Federal compliance | Documented | Sold as-is, no return |
| Audit trail | US tax invoice | Personal payment app |
Where to buy
The USPS official store, or a specialist such as Forever Stamp Center stocking Forever, two-ounce, additional-ounce, non-machineable, postcard and Global in one place. Current fraud patterns from the USPS Office of Inspector General and the FTC; urgent local needs via the USPS location finder.
The short version
Forever coils as the base, two-ounce for anything with an insert, additional-ounce for top-ups, non-machineable for square envelopes, plus postcard and Global if you use them. Buy the year ahead of the rate rise and store it locked.
More on buying Forever stamps
- 👉 Scaling for the "Big Day": A Logistics Blueprint for High-Volume Event Mailing
- 👉 The Technical Guide to Presorted Postage Stamps for Marketing Standards
- 👉 Microprinting and Texture: How to Check if Postage Stamps are Real
Retired USPS mailroom supervisor with 30 years of service in Chicago. He now contributes columns on Forever Stamps, sharing trusted advice on spotting counterfeit risks and finding reliable discount deals for everyday mailers.
