posted on November 15, 2000 02:19:44 PM
Hi - I have a buyer who asked me to be sure to use interesting stamps on her package because her son collects them. I wrote back and said I just get the regular PO sticker. Didn't faze her, she just wrote me back pointing out that the PO will put pretty stamps on there if I ask.
Well sure, if I make a special point of marking her package to get this treatment! Sheesh! Guess it's not the worst thing in the world to demand, but for Pete's sake!
feeling irritable over 2YO potty issues at my house...
posted on November 15, 2000 02:22:34 PM
I would gladly put on pretty stamps if a customer requested it. Why Not? It's little pleasures in life that we need to enjoy. And if her son enjoys collecting the stamps, what a great way to encourage young collectors.. Our future customers...
posted on November 15, 2000 02:38:56 PM
I save all my stamps for a former boss who has a friend that is a collector. He went nuts when I dropped off a couple pounds of stamps including Australia, Singapore, Canada,and other countries.
posted on November 15, 2000 02:47:52 PM
I wouldn't begrudge the first question, even if I couldn't or didn't want to, but to ask a second time is getting a little pushy....
This is, BTW, coming from someone that likes getting interesting stamps too.
posted on November 15, 2000 04:39:21 PM
I agree with igolf. I've had a customer request that I use commemorative stamps on his package - and I really did not mind.
'course I'm not trying to potty train a 2YO. Hang in there!
posted on November 15, 2000 05:10:09 PM
This thread really hit home with me, in a few ways!
I'm also potty training a 2 year old, and I've been saving all of my pretty stamps received for her, for when she is older.
I look forward to each package and payment, not just for the contents, but for the 'icing' of a pretty stamp. I've since gone out and purchased an assortment of pretty stamps myself, in hopes that others out there will enjoy them like I do.
posted on November 15, 2000 05:22:49 PM
Not to veer off-topic, but how many months old is the "2" year old?
As a mom who potty trained two kids, a boy and a girl, I might offer some solace.
First, boys train late. Don't expect much before 30 months. Girls start at 24 months, but the process may take a while. It doesn't happen in one week. Also, children may do well duringthe day but cannot be expected to be dry all night.
Also, don't believe everything you read in books. Some kids are just not going to do what all the other "2 year olds" do and you better be flexible or you'll drive yourself crazy. Just remember that all kids are trained by the time they get to kindergarten!
My main point is that don't expect too much, too soon. I know everyone has a neighbor whose kid was totally trained at 14 months, (LOL!!), but the truth is that most kids are almost 3 before they become reliably toilet trained.
posted on November 15, 2000 05:41:35 PM
I've always saved stamps from mail received from overseas - I just throw them in a small box. The stamps come in handy when I encounter a collector (or parent of a collector) in my business. I just tuck whatever I've saved in my outgoing mail (to that person) as a surprise freebie. The person is always delighted and usually will do business with me again (in hopes of more stamps ).
Irene
[ edited by stockticker on Nov 15, 2000 05:42 PM ]
posted on November 15, 2000 05:53:01 PM
Keziak
recovering somewhat from today's poop explosion...
----------
As a father of two kids, now 7 and 10, and the laundry do-er of a household that used cloth diapers, I can sympathize with this sentiment!
I still agree with the others who posted here about using nice stamps at the cutomers request. It's good customer service, and you'll be in the same position yourself in a few years of asking for them for your kids (why do kids love stamps so much?). My two daughters especially like when one of my overseas customers sends payment, as they get out of the ordinary stamps.
posted on November 15, 2000 05:58:57 PM
Keziak: If you have the time, get the stamps. It kind of reminds me when I am driving around the country, (Drive a semi-tractor trailer) kids & others motion to hoot the air horns, and when I honk them the eyes light up and the hands start waving and always the kids wave until they are out of range to see. Makes you feel kind of good, and then you hear some of the other drivers on the CB with their negatives about how da_n silly that is, and they have more to do driving the truck than honk the horn all day. Believe me, it is not hard to pull the cord to make them big blasty horns go off and the look on the peoples eyes and delight is really worth it. Think about it, some people just don't get what it's all about out there, and what it takes to make someone's day.
If Fed Ex and UPS were to merge, would they call it FedUP?
posted on November 15, 2000 06:23:42 PM
THANKS for this post!
I never even thought to look at the stamps... silly me, selling on Ebay and not saving EVERYTHING LOL
As for the potty training.... I (with the help of a wonderful professional in Columbus Oh daycare) have successfully trained two children around the age of 18 months. (the teacher in my eldest sons daycare had a special "potty training" class and she educated the parents for training at home) She gave me some great pointers and I never had a hard time training either one of them. I will be happy to share her tips here.
1st and most importantly: dont use pull-ups or padded underpants. Use regular underwear during the day...(you can still do diapers at night) She said that the pull ups make the children very lazy and everyone would rather play than go to the bathroom. So the kids need to know that if they dont go to the bathroom there will be a mess.
2. Every 30 minutes to the bathroom. Remind your child to try to go potty every 30 minutes.
3. Little prizes (pennys) when they make in the potty. Stickers are fun too.
4. FOr Boys Cheerios in the potty are fun to target practice
5. for boys and girls, a little food coloring in the potty will change colors when the child is successful. TYDEE BOWL does the same thing.
6. Lots of encouragement and no scolding. THe kids are going to make messes so just take them and set them on the potty. No need to reprimand them... they already know they made a big boo boo... its running down their leg.
Hope this helps! My kids are 7 years (boy) 3 years (girl) and I have a 2 month old too. Both of my older children were trained rather quickly following these instructions..
KASKAS
[ edited by kaskas on Nov 15, 2000 06:37 PM ]
posted on November 15, 2000 06:55:30 PM
PO has great selection of "pretty stamps" these days, many of which most people would pass over as packaged for collectors.
Well they don't cost a cent extra. I use them often and often get appreciative comments back.
Of current note there is a pair of space flight hologrammatic stamps for the $3.20 priority rate; I'm not sure how limited these are but wouldn't be surprised to see used copies valued over $1.00. Also a series of 5 very pretty $1.00 "sun" stamps (in an unusual pentagonal format) and 150 different "Celebrate the Century" (.32 & .33) with a fantastic variety of topics.
posted on November 15, 2000 07:09:03 PM
I have a friend who has several rental properties. Most are section 8 & to make it easier for his renters to pay on time he sends a SASE with their receipt. He uses the most beautiful old & unusual stamps you ever saw & guess where he gets them. He buys them at a place that sells stamps for collectors. It seems that these places buy a lot of collections of unused stamps, that are stuck together, way below face value & they are re-sold below face value. When I asked him if it was a lot of trouble to "un-stick" them, he said nope, you just put them in the freezer & 99%
of them come right apart, the rest he loosens with water. Not only do his renters love them, he saves money by buying US postage stamps for a lot less than face value. He said his kids love to add up the various stamps to 33¢ & stick them on the envelopes.
posted on November 15, 2000 07:57:59 PM
OK, I'm almost psyched to get the pretty stamps! ; - )
thanks for the potty-talk, too, always appreciated. I have a 5 1/2 year old (not a typo) who finally completed his training just this week, so believe me, Poop is practically my middle name [and may be my reputation on ebay if I don't start using pretty stamps]
The boy never stripped when he pooped, though. I have a little 2 1/2 year old self-starter girl who won't wait for mommy to get off ebay to clean her bottom, she'll just try to do it herself.
posted on November 15, 2000 08:36:16 PM
I have to comment on the potty training. I use to own a daycare, and what I did that was VERY successful with potty training was, Black olives. Children love them! You put them on there fingers and tell them they can't eat them til they go potty, and if you know they have to have a bowl movement, then put two on there fingers, usually I always put two on there fingers anyways, but they had to do both to get both of them. They would sit there forever til they went, cause they were on there fingers, and they loved them! I think they thought it was cool, to hold something, and it is also good for them too.
Have them hold out there two index fingers, and place the black olives on them, and they think that is soooo cool! You will get them potty trained in no time, I promise.
posted on November 15, 2000 08:39:55 PM
As a postal window clerk, nothing urks me more than putting stamps on a package. It's time consuming and the customer takes forever picking the right stamp for the occaision. It's great if the customer doesn't mind sticking them on, but 9 out of 10 customers expect me to stick them on there. I know this is petty, but it's these same customers that complain when i take too long with one customer. That's what the Commeorative Album is for at the end of the year. You get all the stamps that came out throughout the year, plus a nice book explaining each stamp. Tell your EBAY customer they're on sale at the post office, right now! Hurry while supplies last!!
posted on November 15, 2000 09:23:47 PM
I was interested in knowing if I bought new stamps and held them for a good number of years if I could have a reasonable expectation of making a profit on them.
Anyone want to comment who knows the hobby?
Considering some of the other requests I get from customers this seemed like an easy one since I go in to the post office anyway - don'y print my own.
[ edited by macandjan on Nov 15, 2000 09:25 PM ]
posted on November 15, 2000 09:32:46 PM
macandjan-
Although I'm not a stamp collector (I collect coins), from talking to some of the dealers I know who handle both, I have found that you can get many older stamps (50+ years old) for face value, and sometimes less. At a coin show last year, I bought $40 face value stamps from a dealer for $35. The only drawback to doing this is that stamps from that era are 3 to 5 cents, so you have to lick a lot of them to mail anything today.
posted on November 15, 2000 09:33:32 PM
rivercity1: I am 25 years old and I *still* think it is cool as hell when a trucker honks their horn!
On stamps: When ever I ask for stamps at the PO my postmaster always asks, "Personal or bills?" If I say personal he will dig out the really cool stamps (the last sheet had all kinds of underwater 'things' and are really pretty), if I say bills he gives me the ugliest ones he can find.
posted on November 15, 2000 10:50:20 PM
LOL, as a stamp collector, I can say that postally used commemorative stamps are getting harder to come by -- especially with all the frequent rate changes.
And I couldn't let this go by without a potty-training comment:
My son's father was out of the picture at that time, so I was stuck with trying to teach a boy to use the potty. I ended up drawing a target on a tissue, dropping it into the bowl and daring him to "hit the bullseye." He recently moved into his own apartment -- lemme tell you, the time goes by so quickly and I'd LOVE to have him back as a two-year-old again, small enough to cuddle . . . just for a week or so . . .
posted on November 15, 2000 11:27:00 PM
When I was a child during the dark ages, I collected stamps with a passion. However, I have "outgrown" such nonsense.....
About two years ago I opened my mailbox to find an envelope from an eBay seller filled with the wonderful 40ish stamps (in the range of 3¢ each). He had used the stamps as postage! It brightened my miserable day so much!
I emailed him not only to let him know the items arrived but to thank him for the wonderful surprize for this ole stamp collector!
After reading this thread I think I will make an effort to get "special" stamps that may (or may not) brighten someone elses life.
Once, I owed an overseas customer a dollar and it was around the time the new quarters came out and I tried my hardest to get some of the quarters to pay her back, from my bank. I ended up sending her a couple of quarters and a kennedy half-dollar that the teller happen to have. I don't know if she apprciated it or not but I tried.
So, anyways thanks for awaking this ole stamp collector at heart to buy "special" stamps for my mailing rather than the blah flag and whatever that is quick to purchase. That little girl stamp collector still lives inside me yet.
posted on November 15, 2000 11:46:47 PM
Yikes!
When I was training Angie I thought I was going to lose my mind! Nothing worked! Love & encouragement didn't work! Little presents didn't work! I was ready to send her back to her MOTHER I was so disgusted with her - I was actually starting to HATE her, it got so bad!
Finally I had to send her to school & she FINALLY learned! We were saved! I decided to keep her...
She was my English Setter & Best Friend for 8 years!
posted on November 16, 2000 03:27:23 AM
Hi!
I always ask my buyers to put a nice stamp on their letter to me, and I always put interestind stamps on the packages that I send out. Sometimes it's half a sheet or more. Makes the packages look very nice + it encourages stamp collecting!!!!
posted on November 16, 2000 09:34:42 AM
macandjan asks "I was interested in knowing if I bought new stamps and held them for a good number of years if I could have a reasonable expectation of making a profit on them.
Anyone want to comment who knows the hobby? "
- The outlook for profit from saving new stamps is pretty dismal. Fantastic value increases applied about through the '30s. Then for a while storing them away was very popular such that immense stocks exist and there is little possibility they will ever be of value (even their face value is degraded as their is not space on an envelope for 11 3 cent stamps). I think that the quantities saved are down tremendously, so if stamp collecting were to gain significantly in popularity the value of recent decades would rise dramatically. But, in the absence of luck and picking talent, or a major turnaround in that hobby's popularity, putting current postage away in expectation of a future profit would be a waste of money.
posted on November 16, 2000 12:28:05 PM
although I've never received THAT particular request, I don't think I'd mind doing it...
besides, those type of requests are likely to be the exception rather than the rule in the long run...
I use Stamps.com, so to make them less bland I add a graphic to the process...
right now I have a turkey graphic that prints up next to my return address...
last month it was a pumpkin...
you can also add a graphic to the actual postage portion, too...
).