Demand for special World Cup stamps are high

Letters might be outmoded, but it seems stamps aren't, especially when their popularity is helped along by cricket. And in World Cup season, anything World Cup, especially when it's original and exclusive, is likely to go off the shelves like balls off Shikhar Dhawan's bat!
We're talking about the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 Souvenir Sheets of stamps launched by New Zealand, which celebrate the World Cup, and which India Post has acquired.
A senior India Post official said, "Celebrating the 2015 World Cup, New Zealand recently launched this souvenir sheet that has stamps featuring 14 countries.
We (India Post) have acquired 1 lakh souvenir sheets from New Zealand Post, which are being sold online and offline, and are in demand among both philatelists (stamp collectors) and cricket lovers. By now, we have already sold over 20,000 sheets, and the highest number have been bought by cricket lovers."
A profit making deal: Philatelists
Ashok Mehta, a Mumbai based professional philatelistwho has been collecting stamps for over four decades, has recently acquired the souvenir sheet. "I am in this hobby since I was in school. Recently a colleague brought to me this very beauitful sheet of round stamps, shaped like a cricket bowl released by New Zealand," he reveals.
Another interesting thing he points out is that the stamps are undervalued and hence, quite a smart puchase. "These stamps were printed by the New Zealand post office and when you convert it, are worth approximately '450. However, they were sold in India for '400," informs Mehta.
Special souvenir sheets for India
"To personalise this souvenir for Indian cricket lovers, we'd asked New Zealand to inscribe 'ICC Cricket World Cup Champion 1983' and '2011 India' in the middle of the souvenir sheet," says a senior India Post official.
Besides India, the souvenir sheet also has stamps of England, UAE, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Bangladesh, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, West Indies, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and Scotland.
Stamp prices go up with time
"People buy these souvenirs as their prices increase manifold with time, since they are very rare and limited in number. We have a policy of publishing such souvenirs only once, and they are never repeated despite demand. So if anyone wants to buy them, they need to hurry up," said the India Post official.
A single souvenir sheet is available for '400, but those who buy a pack of five sheets will get a discount of 20% - they'll have to pay only '2,000. Jyotika Maheshwari, who has a collection of stamps, says, "Some of these rare stamps are sold at very high rates. But the money factor aside, I bought this cricket one the day I learnt about it."
Increase in demand for Sachin stamp
In the past too, India Post has issued stamps on personalities from cricket, hockey, football and other sports, some of them being Dhyan Chand, Vijay Merchant, CK Nayudu, Deodhar and Vinod Mankad. The stamp of Sachin Tendulkar has seen high demand since the World Cup started. "He is our exception - we have a policy of not issuing stamps on personalities who are still alive. The Sachin stamp was launched after he completed 200 centuries," says the official.
(With inputs by Reza Noorani)