Transition ofStamp Formats from

WAG to PSA

February 17, 2015

Current

• Since 2002 nearly all USPS stamps issued have been Pressure Sensitive Adhesive (PSA)• Specifically the panes, booklets, and small coils

• Large coils in lower denominations (under First Class rates), non-profit & pre-sort have been offered in both Water Activated Gummed (WAG) or PSA• Majority of coils with denominations of 5¢ or less

are available in only WAG coils of 10,000 OR PSA panes of 20

• PSA coils are the majority of pre-sort available with WAG available only in 500 or 10,000 pieces

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Current Offerings inLow Denomination Formats

Pressure Sensitive Adhesive Water Activated Gummed

Denomination DescriptionPane of

20Coils of

3,000Coils of 10,000

Coils of 500

Coils of 3,000

Coils of 10,000

1¢ Tiffany Lamp

1¢ Bobcat

2¢ Navajo Jewelry

3¢ Silver Coffeepot

4¢ Chippendale Chair

5¢ American Toleware

5¢ Art Deco (Non Profit)

5¢ Sea Coast (Non Profit)

10¢ American Clock

10¢ Snowflakes (Presorted STD)

10¢ Patriotic Banner (Presorted STD)

49¢ Ferns

49¢ Ferns (Forever)

25¢ American Eagle (Presorted First Class)

25¢ Spectrum Eagle (Presorted First Class)

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Voice of the Customer

• Equipment for PSA & WAG affixing are separate &unique

• Mailing industry faces operational challenges when requested to utilize multiple stamps

• Some mailers may still have only WAG equipment

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5¢ Total

3 – 1¢, Bobcat

PSA: 3k & 10k coils

WAG: 10k coils

1 – 2¢, Navajo Jewelry

PSA: Pane of 20

WAG: 10k coil

5¢ Total

1 – 1¢, Bobcat

PSA: 3k & 10k coils

WAG: 10k coils

1 – 4¢, Chippendale

Chair

PSA: Pane of 20

WAG: 10k coils

Challenges

• The water activated paper is only available through international channels

• Our stamp manufacturers import this paper for print runs

• This and other production factors increases the cost of production by 115% over that of PSA

• The base cost is more than double that of PSA

• Due to the paper import, the production cycle can take nearly 3 months longer than PSA

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Solution

• USPS recommends completing the implementation of PSA stamps for all stamp releases

• Cease production of WAG stamps (either in new issues or reprints)

• All new stamps and reprints would be produced in the PSA format

• Existing WAG inventory would remain on sale until inventory depletion

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Future Conversations

• Larger coil sizes

• New images

• Alternate stamp orientations

• Multiple denominations per coil

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