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Post by Mia on Aug 12, 2018 22:40:30 GMT
What would you do if a penpal kept reusing already used stamps as postage on letters to you? Would you say something? I write this because I have found at least one person in a penpalling Facebook group showing off her outgoing post (to be posted) with already used stamps on. An example is below, highlighted with arrows by me, and the unlucky recipients crossed out. I had challenged the sender on another photo showing similar, and she responded that the stamp was brand new and that her post office does not do mint stamps. Also, there seems to be people reusing stamps that have been used but remained unmarked. Reusing these stamps for postage is also illegal.
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mlp2147
Crayons
Posts: 15
Looking for Penpals?: Yes. Global penpals welcome
Country I live in is: US
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Post by mlp2147 on Aug 13, 2018 2:23:26 GMT
If it were me I'd stop corresponding with said individual. Not sure about the postal system on your side of the pond but I'd bet that here in the states this would be overlooked and not taken seriously in the grand scheme of things. I would however try and convince the group moderator or owner to remove this person for violating any group rules it they exist. The potential monetary impact may fall on the addressed person receiving the letter and I'd be ticked off if it were me.
my .02
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Post by mailartist on Aug 13, 2018 14:09:36 GMT
I had challenged the sender on another photo showing similar, and she responded that the stamp was brand new and that her post office does not do mint stamps. Also, there seems to be people reusing stamps that have been used but remained unmarked. Reusing these stamps for postage is also illegal. There are two issues here. First, the action (using questionable stamps on envelopes) and second, the justification. Having done mail art myself, and known many mail artists, my suspicion is that the primary reason for choosing the stamps pictured (the "action") was likely for "artistic" value (matching the envelope's color scheme, etc.) -- rather than sheer adherence to "rule/law." I don't know how long this person has done snail mail, but this strikes me as fairly entry-level work (as mail art goes), so perhaps it's just due to "postal prettiness" enthusiasm and ignorance. Not that "postal prettiness" isn't important. I like "postal prettiness." But obeying the law is important, too. However, as for the action, this individual may not know that used stamps can be put on envelopes to mail, but they must be put in a decorative position. In other words, real stamps must be put in the "real stamp" place. So, again, perhaps ignorance. Or, "I don't wanna know what I don't wanna know." As for the justification, that's a bit more of a concern. Ignorance is one thing, but it seems rather "convenient" that that individual's post office "doesn't do mint stamps." That sounds like "creative excuse-making" and "the devil made me do it" justification, which jangles me a bit. People inclined to be dishonest in small measures are inclined to be dishonest in large ones, and one's true colors will eventually out. For certain, Mia, I wouldn't entrust this individual with any personal financial information! In the US, the postal carrier is the last step in the delivery chain, so it falls to that individual to catch incorrectly stamped mail. I don't know about other carriers, but ours is fairly fastidious, returning mail to sender if it fails to comply (which I've experienced happening before. The USPS doesn't collect "postage due" anymore.) Don't know if your individual lists a return address or not on the envelope, but if so, it could simply be that the royal post doesn't want to deal with any more dead letters than it may already have. For the most part, I have found snail mail folks to be a good bunch. It's the rare bird that doesn't, but rare birds can nevertheless cause a whole lot of ruckus, depending on their postal volume. For me part, I've "overposted" a fair number of letters (usually in using old, non-Forever stamps which have the mailing denomination listed), so the USPS should be running something of a surplus. I tend to figure that if I'm using "complicated" stamps, and requiring some postal worker somewhere to "do the math," I'll at least "over" the stamp amount if I can. That being said (at least in the US), old stamps can still to be used, so long as they stick to the envelope and haven't been franked, or used before. So, mint stamps in old "stamp collections" can often still be used, and are sometimes available for purchase in lots at slightly less than list price (so, like 85% of the listed value). These are fun to use, and I use them a lot. But none of those are franked. I think it's up to the postal system to police things like this, but if you receive a letter from this person again, can you take it to a postal counter, point out the problem, and ask that the envelope be returned to the sender "undeliverable, postage due"? Perhaps getting letters bounced back will convince this person to change. You may not change this person's social conscience, but at least you tried.
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Post by mailartist on Aug 13, 2018 15:15:28 GMT
This came to mind. It may not be The Bard, but the following sharp criticism of dishonest sales and commerce is from that era (1600s A.D.), and is in that very poetic "ye olde tongue":
"Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, saying When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes: yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat? The Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works." -- Amos 8: 4 - 7 (King James Version Bible, 1604 - 1611 A.D.)
Such a Robin Hood, being-generous-with-someone-else's-money "fudging" may seem, to the perpetrator, a harmless thing, but ultimately it will hurt someone someone somewhere, since there is no dishonesty so small that such "Falsifying the balance [book] by deceit" doesn't ripple out and harm "the needy for a pair of shoes."
Such small "bads" matter: then again, cumulative small "goods" matter just as much, but in the opposite direction. So, keep "goods" greater than "bads" for society as a whole.
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Post by Mia on Aug 27, 2018 20:18:43 GMT
From what I can tell, she has been penpalling for about a year. She bought a load of stamps off ebay, showing off on the group. I couldn't tell if all the stamps were postmarked but there were quite a few (fruit & veg, and ice cream cone) with postmarks on. I said they'd look nice decorating the letter itself but she replied that she was using them for postage. After about the fourth post of hers showing off reusing used stamps for postage I pick up on and comment, she blocks me. I saved some screen clips of her images & posts, and I have another friend in that group who is keeping an eye on her.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2018 21:03:36 GMT
Oooh well if it's ok to use USED stamps then I've got LOADS!!!! Seriously tho'.....perhaps NOT a good idea to write to her as a penpal just in case you end up having to pay extra costs to receive your mail Do you reckon she's just being 'stingy' and not wanting to pay full price for postage or is perhaps new to the whole thing and genuinely doesn't realise you cannot use used stamps?
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Post by Mia on Aug 27, 2018 21:04:44 GMT
She's not a penpal of mine, although her initial post on the group did tempt me a little.
As for cheaper postage, well, there are stamp dealers selling on mint stamps (from collections passed on to people who have no interest in stamps...). I have bought some and yes, gum still intact, no postage marks whatsoever.
However, ebay does have some sellers selling on unmarked stamps with the disclaimer in small writing about already being postally used.... but the rest written in a way to, I think, tempt people to reuse... These would have no gum on, or are no longer self-adhesive (although one seller does make it sticky again and sells it on a backing paper/film all ready to peel 'n' stick).
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Post by hoyabella on Dec 3, 2019 12:05:49 GMT
I have received a first letter from someone who contacted me through a social and, sadly, she asked me to send her back the stamp. I can understand that there may be cases when one has to count the cents, even those of the stamps, and I don't want to judge her, I am *far* from perfect myself, but I don't want to have a part in something I consider wrong, either. Now, I wonder what I can write her. So far, the best I have come up with is: "please, don't ask me to send the stamps back". Any thoughts? I am not sure I want to pursue this correspondence, independently on the reused stamp problem, maybe this will make things easier, maybe not; anyway, I want to be kind, there's enough rudeness around.
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Post by katiel on Dec 3, 2019 13:41:44 GMT
I had this problem, once, too. But I gently got around it by telling her I collect the stamps to save for myself because I enjoy pretty stamps, so I didn’t think I’d be sending any back. She never mentioned it again, but after that, she always used the most gorgeous (new) stamps on my envelopes and I loved it! So...that approach worked for me, but I don’t know if it would work in every situation. 🙂
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Post by hoyabella on Dec 3, 2019 15:16:14 GMT
I gently got around it by telling her I collect the stamps to save for myself because I enjoy pretty stamps, so I didn’t think I’d be sending any back. She never mentioned it again, but after that, she always used the most gorgeous (new) stamps on my envelopes and I loved it! So...that approach worked for me, but I don’t know if it would work in every situation. 🙂 Thank you, Katie. I did more or less the same with a pen pal who, in her first letter, used a paper square with a hand written code instead of a stamp. I told her it was a pity the stamp fell off (yes, I played dumb) because I was a collector. In her following letters she always used beautiful stamps. I don't actively collect stamps any more but both my cousin and I keep the beautiful ones... pretty much all of them 😉 So, I'd follow your example straight away if only the stamp was a rarer one *and* in decent shape! One good thing is, this is not a problem I need to tackle now, I still owe mail to someone here at the forum, shame on me...
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