Download this report as an MP3 sound file.


For broadcast on CBS Radio Network stations 
March 2-3, 2002:


Stamp Shortages.


The Stamp Collecting Report, I'm Lloyd de Vries.
 
If you can't find a new stamp at your local post office, it 
may not mean it's sold out.


"They sit out there at some post windows where customers are 
not interested, and then there are other areas where they 
could have been sold and we can't get 'em there because we 
don't know that they're there."
RUNS: :08


Lawrence Lum is manager of stamp acquisition and distribution 
for the Postal Service. He says post offices can re-order most 
stamps.


"A customer goes in and talks to the postmaster directly, and 
tells them that they want those stamps."
RUNS: :08


The problem is that once the stamps leave the distribution 
centers, headquarters loses track of them.


Case in point: The Snoopy stamp. At one point, it APPEARED it was 
sold out.


"It hasn't ever ever been off sale, but you're going to have to be 
very careful about how you find them, because I can't assure you 
which post offices have them."
RUNS: :08

 
One good place to look: At postal stores, special retail areas in 
some post offices. They tend to have a better selection of new and 
popular stamps than regular window clerks.


And that's stamp collecting this week. 


I'm Lloyd de Vries, CBS News.


----------------------------------------------------------
Go to Previous Report
Go to Next Report 

Go to Report Index
 
Return to Virtual Stamp Club Home Page