Hi All, just wanted you all to know and be aware of what happens at the post office when you reuse an unused stamp.
Yes that's right reuse an unused stamp. Come on now we have all done it. Sent out a self addressed stamped envelope
for a seed trade right? Well some times the envelope that is sent to you may not be big enough, such as in a case where you
may want to send more then what the person is asking for, but of course I would pay the extra postage.
Now If you take those stamps off the SASE that was sent to you on a small envelope and afix them on a larger envelope
( remember they have never gone through the postal service except sealed inside the actuall mailing envelope). This is
illegal and considered tampering. HMMMMMMMMMM why? They have not been used.
Yes this just happened to me Monday this week. I was shocked.
Tell me I'm not the only one that has done this! LOL
Heads up at the post office
I certaintly have placed postage on envelopes and then messed up the send to address. I then stuck them in hot water, removed the stamp, and then glues it to a new envelope. Never had trouble.
You don't want to put tape over a stamp though...they will not like that!!!
If you cut the stamps off the envelope instead of steaming the stamps off, the PO will return the mail to you and like Kay said, they won't take them with tape over the stamps(because they can't be cancelled).
I steamed the stamp it looked just like new. I didn't use tape, I glued it very carefully, but some how she could see it had been on something before and made me pay the extra postage and stuck it over my stamp. I felt like I had done something wrong.
Edited to say this:
I'm sorry if I sounded a bit nippy in the above statement, I certainly didn't mean it that way.
This message was edited Nov 23, 2004 5:48 PM
Sooooooooo, if I got this right, the moral of the story is to send loose postage in the envelope not on the envelope. Thanks for the tip!! Susan
Ah, good idea....loose postage with a return addy label!
Yes Susan I think that would be a great solution to this problem! lol
Oh and thank you for summing this up for me. :0))))))
I didn't finish to that point.
If there is any evidence the stamp has been removed from one envelope and put on another there's a good chance it will be refused. People do this all the time when a stamp comes through without being canceled. The PO looses thousands & thousands of dollars in revenue every year because of this. If it's obvious it came of another another envelope it will automatically be returned. The lick-em stamps used to be removed much more easily then the stick-em stamps can be... bit it still happens all the time.
Another thing I might as well mention here.... sending metered postage for an SASE is also a no no. Metered postage has a date & origin of mailing printed on it. If it's printed up in Pittsburgh, PA on 11-10-04... in can't be sent in a SASE to Portland Oregon and used on 11-12-04. If it's caught, it will be returned. The PO is a more in tune to these types of things since the mail has been used for bombs and anthrax mailings. Anything weird can draw attention to a piece of mail and that includes the postage.
There may be some justification for the policy of the PO to refuse 'altered' stamps, but if they consider it to be a significant loss of revenue then I must object.(politely) Remember something called Stamp Collecting ? I've got more than a few of those stamps,paid full price for,never used,and so do a few other collectors.But fair's fair and we have the worlds best postal service, so what's an extra stamp now and then.Including loose stamps inside along with the return label still works best.
Balvenie, you can still use those old stamps as long as they haven't been canceled. Of course, if it was something valuable that'd be a little silly. People do use old, old stamps tho. They also gain a lot of revenue by the extra postage people use. I do it all the time... if I don't have the correct amount in stamps I end up rounding it up to the next increment I do have.
Very true Sue. I used to use some of the old for mailing but its all gone now.I like the new self stick for convenience,but they are a bother to mount in albums and plate blocks are no fun anymore.The designs for the most part lack the quality of the old stamps too. So much for progress.Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
LOL I found out if you put tape over it they will send it back. But I have had the lady at the post office put tape around the edges before. She said along as you don't cover the stamp. I am also fixing the use the same SASBE for the 4th time. They have never canceled the stamps lol. I just refill it and send it off and it keeps coming back with the trade and the stamp still not canceled
You're welcome, Tami