I do not understand why the USPS is not offering many of the stamps released in June at World Stamp Show NY 2016 to the general public.
Take the souvenir sheet of six Classic stamps. Obviously, this issue is focused at stamp collectors. The general public is not going to know where those classic issues are from. However, this issue was only available at the NY show and is now only available through the Stamp Fulfillment Services.
Why not make this issue available in all post offices? It could attract new collectors to the hobby which we sorely need. And the USPS benefits from additional sales of these souvenir sheets from collectors who may not be aware of their existence. Not every collector attends the NY show or receives the USA Philatelic catalog from the Stamp Fulfillment Services. The USPS is missing out on an opportunity here.
I understand there is a cost in sending these issues to local post offices and making them available for sale to the general public. This is one of the more restrictive policies in stamp availability, but it’s not the first. Numerous other issues have received limited distributions.
People still use postage stamps. Not everyone wants the tired old Flag design. The USPS needs to find a cost effective way of getting more new issues into local post offices.