Single envelope orders now trigger added special order fee

By Michael Baadke

Collectors wishing to buy only one each of the 10 new United States Flag forever envelope varieties issued June 15 will have to pay an additional $2.30 custom order fee if they place an order through the Stamp Fulfillment Services mail-order division of the U.S. Postal Service.

Although the six varieties of Flag envelopes with self-adhesive flaps are being sold at post offices, the four varieties with moisture-activated adhesive on the flap are available only by ordering directly from the Postal Service’s fulfillment center in Kansas City, Mo.

Each variety is available from Stamp Fulfillment Services in a pack of five for $3.45 as a standard order item. Item numbers for these packs of five end in the digits 05, as listed on the Linn’s U.S. Stamp Program.

The same item numbers with the ending digits changed to 04 can be used to place an order for a single example of an envelope, but that results in an added $2.30 custom order fee.

In response to an inquiry from Linn’s Stamp News, the Postal Service said that when ordering single envelopes as a custom order, it would be most cost-effective to order all 10 envelopes at once.

Collectors can also order the packs of five if they have a postal use for additional stamped envelopes, or if collecting friends are interested in sharing the cost to obtain some of the envelopes from the pack.

When the envelopes were issued in June there was no automatic push distribution to post offices for the available self-adhesive flap varieties, so offices that did not place an order for them probably will not have them in stock.

Eleven of the 12 Barn Swallow forever envelopes issued March 3, 2017, remain on sale through Stamp Fulfillment Services as of late June, but the minimum quantity for obtaining these as a standard order online is also a pack of five at $3.45.

The Barn Swallow variety no longer listed on the Postal Service’s retail ordering website is the No. 9 window envelope with moisture-activated adhesive.

Some examples of the Barn Swallow envelope were offered as single items in the most recent issue of USA Philatelic with the cover dated 2020/Volume 25/Quarter 2.

USA Philatelic is a product ordering catalog issued quarterly by the Postal Service.

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