Where to buy postage stamps, including the post office, online, ATMs, and grocery stores
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- Postage stamps are handy when you need to send greeting cards, invoices, or other physical mail.
- Local post offices carry them, or you can order them from the US Postal Service's website.
- Grocery stores, pharmacies, and similar retailers often carry booklets of stamps, too.
Whether you want to send a greeting or holiday card, mail in an absentee ballot, pay a bill, or connect with some quarantine pen pals, it's always useful to have some stamps on hand. It costs 60 cents to send a domestic 1-ounce, standard-sized envelope through the United States Postal Service, making it an affordable way to correspond with people in a tactile, memorable way.
A booklet of 20 stamps comes out to around $12. The beauty of "forever" stamps is that you can still use them even when the price of mailing a letter goes up. If you find a roll of forever stamps from 2016, when the price was 47 cents, you can still stick one on an envelope today and drop it into a mailbox.
There are lots of places you can pick up stamps, not just at the local post office. If you're in need of postage, here are the ways you can buy stamps.
Your local post office
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This is a given, but depending on the time of the day, the customer service queue can get long. If you just need stamps, use one of the electronic self-service kiosks (where available) instead; there are usually no lines to use them. The downside is that you won't be able to buy specialty stamps.
USPS.com
USPS
The post office's website offers a variety of stamps, from the standard US Flag to seasonal (e.g., Christmas, Diwali, Kwanzaa, Halloween) and themed options (e.g., Peanuts characters, the James Webb Space Telescope images, elephants), as well as notable Americans like Edmonia Lewis, Eugenie Clark, Chien-Shiung Wu, and Pete Seeger. The site lets you filter by color, shape, theme, denomination, and more.
Retailers
Everywhere from grocery stores to pharmacies to office supply stores often sell stamps. Instead of just chancing whether your local Publix or Kroger has them, you can find out using USPS's location tool. Put in your zip code and choose "national retailer" from the drop-down location menu. Depending on where you live, you'll get results like Walgreens, Winn-Dixie, and Staples. Keep in mind that these locations often only sell booklets, so you won't be able to purchase stamps individually. And most stores only carry them at their physical locations
Costco also sells stamps, in 100-count batches, making it a good option for businesses and prolific letter writers. They aren't available online and may not be in every store location. Sam's Club will let you purchase stamps online, however.
Banks
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Some banks and credit unions sell stamps through their ATMs or tellers. This varies by location, but the next time you are doing a transaction, check to see if they offer stamps as well. Fifth Third Bank lets you filter by locations that sell stamps when you search for an ATM or branch on its website. A representative for Wells Fargo said the bank is no longer selling stamps.
Other options
You can also request stamps from your mail carrier, who will provide you with an order form. You can order by phone at 1-800-STAMP-24 (800-782-6724). If your business needs to buy stamps in bulk, you can call that number or email StampsNow.info@usps.gov. Those keen to start collecting can also page through the USA Philatelic catalog and use its order form.
Online services like Stamps.com do allow you to print postage at home, but there's a monthly fee. If you just desperately need to mail something right now, you might be able to sign up for a free trial.
Note: Minted, Zazzle, and other gift sites used to sell personalized stamps, but the USPS discontinued the program in June 2020. You can still send mail with any leftover postage you may have bought previously.