Welcome to the first of hopefully many issues of eStamp News. This newsletter will be published on the StampCentral.com web page, as well as transmitted via the StampCentral.com mailing list. If you are reading this from another source, you can email alan@dealermalls.com to be added to the mailing list.

I hope that this newsletter will be published on a weekly basis. There will be times that an issue may not be printed, so don't be surprised if a week goes by without an issue. What I hope to offer in this newsletter is an analysis of the current stamp market, as well as collector news, and postal news from postage administrations. While the focus will be primarily on the US, I do hope to have an international perspective. I welcome guest writers to contribute something for publication. I can't offer any monetary compensation (after all, this is a free newsletter) but you will get to see your name in print.

It's been about a month since the release of the much anticipated 50 stamp sheet, Greetings From America. Finding commemoratives on envelopes can be a rare event, but they do appear there every once in a while. This stamp seems to be getting less use outside of philatelic circles than the recently issued Eid stamp. There are several reasons for this. The first is the high cost for the sheet. It’s going to cost people $17 to buy a sheet. Most postal customers are probably used to the $6.80 layout for the 20 stamp booklet. The second is the inconvenient format of this sheet - It is difficult to store, even for collectors. Finally, another complaint I have seen is that people want stamps from their own states.

If the USPS really wanted this stamp to be used, they would have issued 50 different booklets, with 20 stamps of each state in a booklet. That way, they might get more postal use. Of course, the USPS probably wants us all to buy sheets of these stamps and put them away without using. It's a shame that stamps these beautiful are not going to be used much. What will shorten their postal use is the fact that the postal rate will be changing next month. If you receive any of these stamps on your mail, be sure to save the cover. They will be a lot harder to find later on than the stamps, which will still be used after the rate changes. Look for this stamp to possibly be reissued at the new rate as well. The USPS has put too much into this issue to see it only have less than three months of postal validity.

An interesting combination has really changed the stamp market on new issues. The first factor is the number of new issues being released, especially sheets with different stamps on them. It's financially difficult for collectors to keep up with what is being issued. Add to that mix decreased printing runs for commemoratives, and an active marketplace like ebay, and you have many recent stamps being sold well above issue price. Whether or not this is a long term trend is questionable, but for now, finding stamps either sold out, or removed from sale by the postal service on ebay will cost well above issue price. Sheets issued decades ago can usually be purchased at face, or sometimes below face. Will the newer sheets ever be sold for discount postage as frequently as older issues? Only time will tell. All that I can tell you for now is that a sheet issued for $6.80 a year ago can sometimes be sold for $10 or more online.

One of the great thing about the internet is that you can communicate with fellow collectors all over the world quite easily. If you are interested in a scheduled chat, there are several that happen at different sites, almost every day of the week. I am listing a few here that I am aware of, and participate in. Stop by if you can and join the philatelic conversation. Beginners to advanced collectors show up, and it is always a friendly room. There is never a fee to chat, and with the exception of the Virtual Stamp Club, you do not even need to register. You can chat at the following times and places:

Monday 4:00pm PST: http://stampcollectors-world.net/chat/cc.html

Tuesday 4:00pm PST: http://stampcollectors-world.net/chat/cc.html

Wednesday 5:00pm PST: http://www.glassinesurfer.com/chat.shtml

Wednesday 7:00pm PST: http://www.virtualstampclub.com

Thursday 4:00pm PST: http://stampcollectors-world.net/chat/cc.html

Saturday 10:00am PST: http://stampcollectors-world.net/chat/cc.html

Sunday 5:00pm PST: http://www.glassinesurfer.com/chat.shtml

Australia Post is considering raising its rates from 45 cents to 50 cents. The 45 cent rate has been in effect for the past ten years. In a similar move, Consignia (The British Post Office) is proposing a 1 pence rate increase for first and second class mail. At least we are not alone in the US. It seems to me that Canada has the best formula for postal rate increases. Canada ties its rate increases to the rate of inflation. It can not exceed 66 2/3% of the rate of inflation. For example, May 2000 to May 2001 showed an increase of 3.89% - This allowed for a 1 cent increase for 2002. This seems better than being at the mercy of the USPS. The next time you think that the increase for the US is only 3 cents, consider this: On January 1, 2001, it cost $3.20 to mail a 2 pound package from Maine to California. On July 1, 2002, 18 months later, that will increase to $5.70 - That is a 56% increase in price.