Is it worse to miss out on something that you never heard of, or miss out on something by missing a deadline? Or, in other words, if found out you could create your own custom postage stamps (legally, of course) using your own photos, and then found out the program was on hold, would you:
- Pound your fists on your desk
- Pound your fists on your head
- Pound your fists on your mailman
Stamps.com has just finished up a market test where you could upload your own photos and have them printed as stamp sheets. They would accept photos of your kids, your pets, or your business logo, and the stamps were perfectly legal to affix to any correspondence traveling via the USPS. What a great idea! While the sheets were a little more expensive (one sheet of twenty 37-cent stamps costs $16.99), I think it’s a product that would definitely fly. Unfortunately, the market test is over, but the postal service is evaluating the program and trying to decide if they should roll it out as a full-time product.
The site now carries the following message:
The USPS has informed us that they plan to make a decision on the future of the PhotoStamps program within the next 90 days. If you wish to express your interest in seeing the program continue, it would be extremely helpful. You may write to the following person:
Nick Barranca, VP Product Development
United States Postal Service
475 L’Enfant Plaza, SW, Room 5012
Washington, DC 20260-5012
If you think this is a product you’d like to use, visit the web site for more details and take a minute to send a note to Nick Barranca at the address above.
[Ed. note: As of today (August 14, 2006), I noticed that this service is back up and running. You can now order your own Photo Stamps.
I love collecting stamps, but this is kind of pricy! Don’t you think?
Yes, it is a somewhat more expensive… a 37-cent Photostamp would cost about $.85 for the first sheet. Additional sheets have discounted pricing (I think it’s $4 less, which would make the stamps $.65). Still pricey, but I think the concept is pretty cool and I can see them selling well.For instance, I had planned on buying a couple of sheets for Grandma for Christmas!
They discontinued it because of misuse, I heard. Great concept, though.
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