Can I pay the Post Office with "stamps"

RFC_2

Sorry if this is a stupid question but here goes-

I regularly spend £20/30 a week on Airsure postage to USA/Europe (average package = £5/6.

Anyway I notice some people on ebay are selling first class stamps for 10/20% cheaper than their retail value (eg - someones selling 1000 first class stamps for £260).

Right so back to my question, do you think the PO will accept payment for these airsure/airmail postage with these "stamps".

Thanks,

soolin

Stamps are not legal tender so the Post office won't take them in payment. However, what you could do is get your package weighed and then stick your own stamps on to that value and ask the PO to stamp a COP when they take the parcel.

Soo

cack

Yes - if you put stamps on, this counts towards the cost of the postage. A couple of important considerations though :

1. I'd be very dubious about buying £260 worth of stamps off ebay.
2. Unless you've got a very large parcel, fitting £5-6 worth of first class stamps on it (ie 20 stamps) could be difficult.
3. The people at the P.O. might be a bit miffed with you (as per another thread on this board..... they earn their money from selling stamps to you. Turning up with your own stamps is like going into a restaurant with your own sandwiches!)

Kaminari_2

Stamps on ebay, when sold in batches like this, are quite often already used but missed being stamped when the letter/parcel was posted (Most honest ebays state that these are ungummed).
As a stamp collector I quite often buy used stamps by the Kilo and there is usually a substantial amount of stamps like this. They can easily be soaked off the paper and dried, this process removes the gum on the back (nothing some glue won’t fix).

cack

Kaminari wrote:

They can easily be soaked off the paper and dried, this process removes the gum on the back (nothing some glue won’t fix).

Undoubtedly true. Although also illegal....!

HOLsale

cack wrote:

Yes - if you put stamps on, this counts towards the cost of the postage. A couple of important considerations though :

1. I'd be very dubious about buying £260 worth of stamps off ebay.
!)

there is a company that does mystery shopping for the post office. you have to buy £X each visit and many people buy the stamps. you get reimbursed for the money spent because it is necessary to do the job people wind up with far more stamps than they can use and that's how a lot of them end up on ebay.

i haven't worked for this company for months but i'm still using up my stamps from them!

ps don't ask me who the company is, they are crap to work for and i don't endorse them to anyone

Kaminari_2

Would there be a case where a mystery shopper buys £260 worth of stamps at once?
After looking at these bulk stamps on Ebay I would say about 90% of them are ones that have already been used (without gum). I wouldn’t recommend buying these because you can’t really guarantee what you are getting and effectively they are used. I sent out my MIL’s party invitation with the ones that I had.
The easiest way to tell if they are new stamps is if they have the gum intact.

cack

See also.......(from http://www.homebusinessopportunities.uk.com/watchout/general_guide_to_scams.htm ) :

Postage Stamp Rip-Offs

Several months ago somebody wrote to me and offered envelopes bearing the old black 20p stamps at half price. They reckoned that they had bought them from a philatelist society who had thousands left over and no use for them. I didn’t believe that story, there is no way that you can buy unused stamps at discounted rates anywhere.

A contact then told me that several people had been jailed for pulling the same scam about seven years ago. They steam the stamps off the envelopes and chemically treat them to remove the postmarks. I forgot about the scam until last month when somebody asked me to design a commission circular for a new plan, part of which was offering information on how to get half price stamps. I refused the order knowing that the information offered is illegal and could get naïve punters into trouble. It seems that there is some sort of agency going. Another person also offered me the half price stamps.If you are tempted to use or sell on the stamps realise this - you will be committing the criminal act of fraud and liable to be prosecuted. You will be scamming the Royal Mail, a very large organisation who have the money and clout to lock you up and throw away the key for a few years - is it worth it! Don’t think that you won’t get caught, they have scanning machines that can detect the chemicals used.

Kaminari_2

They'd have a field day with the sellers on Ebay!

wolvoman

RFC wrote:

Sorry if this is a stupid question but here goes-

I regularly spend £20/30 a week on Airsure postage to USA/Europe (average package = £5/6.

Anyway I notice some people on ebay are selling first class stamps for 10/20% cheaper than their retail value (eg - someones selling 1000 first class stamps for £260).

Right so back to my question, do you think the PO will accept payment for these airsure/airmail postage with these "stamps".

Thanks,

Absolutely nothing wrong with using stamps to pay for postage, as long as the stamps are placed on the parcel/envelope. I never buy postage in a PO because they don't take credit cards. I buy mine in a supermarket with a credit card (and hence extra points etc.) then stamp up any package to the value of the postage.

Just sent off a letter the other day that was special delivery and it had 12 first class stamps on it plus smaller stamps to make up the £3.85.

Actually you can buy stamps online from Royal Mail and pay by CC too. Then you get free delivery and you can order 1p, 2p, 4p, 5p, 8p, 10p etc. Very useful in conjunction with 1st class stamps.

princessmoneysaver

cack wrote:

Undoubtedly true. Although also illegal....!

I was told at the PO when I asked that it wasn't illegal as you can't tell when they are on the parcel/packet/letter which have been used already.