Can I pay the Post Office with "stamps"

masonic

YvonneCrossland wrote:

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.

You can't tell that they've been used before, therefore it's not illegal?!! That's like saying something's only illegal if you get caught. The things some people come out with. :rotfl:

princessmoneysaver

That's what the PO clerk said, she said how were we supposed to know which have been used? Apparently there is no way of finding out at all, it's not illegal just because it's been used. She said she often re-uses stamps & regardless where you buy new ones from the money for them all goes to Royal Mail anyway so if you go in with stamps on the parcel already it just makes there job a little easier.

masonic

I think she is being incredibly naive and stupid then. Stamps are not reusable - you only pay for them once and you can only use them once. If they were reusable, I'd be the first one steaming them of the mail I receive and using them again for free. This is fraud, and for someone who works in a post office, this clerk ought to be a little more careful what she says.

mah_jong

I have used 1st and 2nd on parcels to get up to the amount required, but I would never use them for abroad.

How can they know if the parcel has the correct postaage on it? We are the only country (so I have been told....??) that uses a 2 tier system. So for abroad, I might use up loose stamps but not 1st of 2nds.

On used stamps...... you would never use the same bus ticket twice...so why stamps.

POs do take credit cards for somethings now. Worth asking if mailing is one of the items.

Mah

cack

mah_jong wrote:

I have used 1st and 2nd on parcels to get up to the amount required, but I would never use them for abroad.

How can they know if the parcel has the correct postaage on it?

......
POs do take credit cards for somethings now. Worth asking if mailing is one of the items.

Mah

I think I'm right in saying that the postage is checked on the way out, rather than at the other end. So Royal Mail would ensure you'd paid enough, and the other country's postal service would just trust that they'd got it right.

On the 'card' issue, I regularly pay for postage at my PO using a DEBIT card - I don't know whether the rules are different for credit cards.

HOLsale

Kaminari wrote:

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.

don't know what kind of volume the ms people are selling them in but in the past i'd been known to easily do 20 post offices in a month so racking up that many wouldn't take all that long really

i think the biggest thing is to ask them if they are brand new and unused gummed stamps. their reply can be saved and if you find out otherwise after buying them you can get your money back...

personally though i'd be more inclined to think that amounts like £50 were safer bets in that area

martindow

My PO now accepts credit as well as debit cards for postage at my regular post office. This is quite recent; the people running the office think it has changed as the PO is now offering its own credit card and it would be a bit odd if you couldn't use it in the PO!

Benji

I don't know if it's still true, but the PO used to buy stamps back at face value. If that's still true, then you could buy 'legitimate' stamps off ebay and sell them for a profit at the PO!