The Question and Answer Board

[By Any Other Name]

Should ADVFN consider a Forever Membership for IH like the current
US Postal Service's Forever Stamp?

Each would cost the current Monthly, Quarterly, Semi-Annual or Annual
and be available for use anytime in the future as if "just purchased"
no matter what increases in memberships may have occured.

Each could be issued similiar to a bearer bond in that no record is kept
of the owner, or any transactions involving transfer of ownership.

Whoever physically holds the Forever Membership certificate can submit
it to IH, and once its existance and non in-use is verified, its good to go.

Each certificate can be created as a file containing a zillion random numbers,
name it "<sequence number>Annual" for example, make a duplicate and have
the duplicate available for purchase.

If someone speculates that IH memberships will increase drastically soon,
they can purchase a dozen, and then once the increase happen... eBay them.

Or perhaps simply buy one for a gift present thats months away, but lock in
the current membership fee incase an increase is expected.


#board-1615

On May 14, the price of a first-class stamp will rise again, this time by 2 cents to 41 cents. To soften the blow of yet another hike, the Postal Service says this could be the last one you'll ever need to pay.

The Forever Stamp will cost the same as a first-class stamp. It goes on sale at 41 cents on April 12 and can be used, well, forever. If your great-grandchildren find one in an attic 60 years from now, it can still be used to mail a standard 1-ounce letter, no matter how many times prices have jumped over the generations.

Forever Stamps gain in value every time rates increase. And that's pretty much a given. To offset rising costs, prices have gone up 13 times since 1974, when a first-class stamp went from 8 cents to a dime.

"Forever" stamps have been used in more than two dozen countries with great success, including Great Britain for the past 18 years, which makes you wonder why the idea took so long to arrive in the USA.

The benefits are clear: Customers get a hedge against price increases and won't have to run to the post office to buy 2- and 3-cent stamps to match their outdated first-class stamps every time rates increase.

The Postal Service avoids lines of people buying those 2- or 3-cent stamps, and it gets the money for Forever Stamps before they're used. That gives it incentive to maximize this "float" by implementing technological improvements to keep its costs in check. And, like store gift cards, a certain percentage of Forever Stamps will no doubt be lost or go unused.