Selling Shit and Postage



I’m selling a lot of books on Amazon, as I clean out my study. I have finally used up my book of 60¢, 70¢ and 80¢ stamps from the era where I was trying to get my novels picked up by a publisher or agent. So now, somewhat ironically I’m using the postage to ship books I own to other Amazon buyers. Now that I’m about to invest in some more stamps started trying to figure out how to combine stamps such that it reaches $1.59, the under-one-pound Media Rate. Came across this amazing stamp. The second stamp is the one for the invitation, the other stamp is for the RSVP card! The symbol is all about mushy love stuff- dove entwined. And then the USPS totally waxes poetic:

Reminiscent of a bygone era when letter writing was a form of art, the stamp design is based on Spencerian script, an elegant mid-19th century form of cursive penmanship that is growing popular again with commercial artists. To create the stamp art, Osborne consulted vintage etiquette and penmanship books that contain plates of calligraphic designs used to embellish correspondence (including love letters) during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Other funny stuff about selling on Amazon- got into a fiery debate with my mom yesterday, who is a very big seller on Amazon, half.com, eBay, etc.- about how Media Rate is not according to zip code. Us sellers, when we get together, are truly an interesting bunch.

Higher Math
When I went to the North Beach post office, the postal worker there wanted me to get a dollar stamp, a 55¢, and a 5¢. Not only is that giving 1¢ to the Man, but I know there must be a better way! Two 60¢; and a 39¢ was the optimal combination, until I ran out of 60¢’s, and USPS stopped selling them. Lame.

OK here is the problem:
You need to make $1.59 in the least number of stamps. Bonus if you incorporate 39¢, since you can buy that at ATMs.

My solution- so far- $1.00 + 2-10¢’s + 39¢. 4 stamps, but at least I use one twice which is kind of elegant.

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