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Print this story By DUANE SCHRAG Salina Journal Somebody's hoarding stamps. One-cent stamps, to be precise. The new rate for a first-class letter went up from 41 cents to 42 Monday at midnight. By noon Monday, the Salina post office had run out of 1-cent stamps. "I do have more ordered," said Troy Rathbun, customer service supervisor. "They should be here Friday." It wasn't that the post office didn't try to anticipate a spike in demand. "We stocked up," Rathbun said. Understand that 1-centers aren't ordinarily big sellers. "I would say, maybe, 4,000 in the last year," Rathbun said. "I think that's actually a high number for the 1-centers." So the post office ordered in several years' supply. "At the beginning of last week, we had more than 20,000," Rathbun said. "We started the day yesterday (Monday) with 6,000. By noon, they were gone. "We sold a little over 6,000 (1-cent) stamps in two hours." The run on stamps would be a little easier to understand if this had been the first rate increase in a long time. In actuality, the rate for a first-class letter (up to 1 ounce) has been a fairly steadily moving target: it changed four times from 1999 to 2002, going from 32 cents to 37 cents; then it went to 39 cents in January 2006, 41 cents in May 2007, and 42 cents Monday. "I didn't think it was that much of a surprise," Rathbun said. "We really can't figure it out." The post office isn't alone in underestimating the demand. "We ran out as well," said Hernan Hernandez, customer service representative at the Dillon's store at Ninth and Magnolia. And that was last week. Rathbun did note that the post office still has some 3-cent stamps available.
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"I do have more ordered," said Troy Rathbun, customer service supervisor. "They should be here Friday." It wasn't that the post office didn't try to anticipate a spike in demand. "We stocked up," Rathbun said. Understand that 1-centers aren't ordinarily big sellers. "I would say, maybe, 4,000 in the last year," Rathbun said. "I think that's actually a high number for the 1-centers." So the post office ordered in several years' supply. "At the beginning of last week, we had more than 20,000," Rathbun said. "We started the day yesterday (Monday) with 6,000. By noon, they were gone. "We sold a little over 6,000 (1-cent) stamps in two hours." The run on stamps would be a little easier to understand if this had been the first rate increase in a long time. In actuality, the rate for a first-class letter (up to 1 ounce) has been a fairly steadily moving target: it changed four times from 1999 to 2002, going from 32 cents to 37 cents; then it went to 39 cents in January 2006, 41 cents in May 2007, and 42 cents Monday. "I didn't think it was that much of a surprise," Rathbun said. "We really can't figure it out." The post office isn't alone in underestimating the demand. "We ran out as well," said Hernan Hernandez, customer service representative at the Dillon's store at Ninth and Magnolia. And that was last week. Rathbun did note that the post office still has some 3-cent stamps available.
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Reporter Duane Schrag can be reached at 822-1422 or by e-mail at dschrag@salina.com.