AUGUSTA -- Bargain hunters have been out in force this week, looking to lock in cheaper postage stamp prices, Augusta Postmaster Lynn Pierce said Friday.

With the cost of a stamp going up -- from 41 cents to 42 cents -- Monday, buyers have lined up at his post office windows for days to buy what postal officials call the "Forever" stamp.

"We've sold thousands and thousands of sheets of them," Pierce said. "We had one company come in and buy 12,000 stamps. That's six blocks, each one of which has 2,000 stamps," he said.

Postal customers pay the prevailing price of a first-class stamp for Forever stamps. But they can be used any time in the future, no matter how often the price of postage goes up.

Pierce said the price of stamps is tied to the federal consumer price index. Post office customers have started looking for price increases around May each year, he said, and for the bargain that Forever stamps offer, around the same time.

Despite the high volume of purchases, he said, his post offices have plenty of Forever stamps and will have them available today before the price goes up Monday.

Unlike other stamps, the Forever stamp is sold only in books of 20, said Bill Boughton, Postal Service district manager for Maine. Post offices do not carry large sheets or rolls of them, nor are they sold singly, but they are sold in automated postal centers and some stores, he said.

The Forever stamp should ease the pain of Monday's rate hike, Boughton said.

"In March, some 653 million Forever stamps were sold, and postal customers purchased more than 1 billion last month," Boughton said. "In recent weeks, customers have taken advantage of the stamp, with more than 6 billion sold since being issued last year."

Even though prepurchases of the Forever stamps cuts into future revenue, the Augusta postmaster said he's happy his neighbors are taking advantage of a good deal.

"There's a lot of people who have had the chance to do that -- and I don't blame them a bit," Pierce said.

Gary Remal -- 621-5642

gremal@centralmaine.com