Email Received From Usmint Today

I got a similar email today for the 2018 ASE Proof enrollment w/ free budget shipping.

They did something similar back in 2014, but it was a 10% discount for enrollments. That was nice especially for the more expensive items like the 5-oz ATB pucks. They ended the promotion after about a year but it was nice while it lasted. As soon as they cancelled, so did I. If you bundle enough purchases together throughout the year, you can save a lot of money in shipping charges over buying them individually.

A few reasons why they would lure people into enrollments with free shipping:

1. Forecast product sales/performance better
2. Some people will forget they have a subscription until it shows up in the mail, then forget again until the next time, etc. And a lot of those people won't bother to return the item or cancel their subscription.
3. Eventually they will drop the free shipping promotion and will thus likely make money on all the individual shipping charges on each enrollment.

Enrollments are handy for those casual collectors that don't want to have to remember to log on to get their annual sets, but the shipping can really add up.

It was tempting but I usually wait until over supplies in the market get the price below introduction.

That's fine and a valid strategy, but how much do you save by shopping on the secondary market (an honest question -- every time I've bought an older prrof or unc ASE off of ebay in OGP I've paid close to release price)? Also, you run the risk of getting someone's rejects or doctored/mix-matched mint sets in the secondary market.

Regardless... tempting, yes, but remember eventually they'll pull the rug out from under you and stop the free budget shipping promo. As long as you're paying attention and cancel your subscriptions right after they do that, no big deal.

Pay a premium to get it now or wait an pay less. Seems like a personal choice. CK makes a good point as well. Waiting could also mean a quality hit. It really depends on what it is and how many are going to be available on the market down the road.