Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
I can't recall the last time I received anything with "Postage Due" emblazoned on it, so this was a red letter day for me. The phenomenon immediately engendered several lines of thought. First, why was this pleasant young woman standing at my door wearing a USPS white pith helmet, and attired in civilian clothes? I had to ask, "Are you with the Post Office, I thought you had to wear a uniform?" Her response, "Oh, I've been with the Post Office less than one month, we don't get a uniform allowance until then, but someone was nice enough to let me use the helmet." Wow, in the military you get a uniform on the first day.
Another observation, I would have preferred a Postage Due stamp rather than a generic red "stamp" with a fill-in line. What a shame Postage Due stamps went out of vogue in 1985.
Also, the weight of the letter was clearly under one ounce, so what was the problem? The seller had protected the stamp I ordered with two thick pieces of cardboard, which made the envelope somewhat bulgy. In fact, upon measuring, the letter was 1/16th over the limit. The Post Office does not mess around with deviations from the norm, but 1/16th inch -- really?
Or could this be some clever ploy of the seller to keep overhead down by using insufficient postage, and relying on the buyer to make up the difference. A Machiavellian maneuver indeed.
Eric
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A mailing piece that is even 1/16th inch thick can get jammed in the first class letter sorting equipment. Since this equipment runs at near supersonic speeds any jammed results in hours of down time, and many mail pieces being damaged.
As for your speculation, I have been victim of dealers under paying postage, even, for example, after I paid for shipping and handling that was far in excess of the actual postage costs, and the extra charged for handling was sufficient for the dealer (nationally known) to personally deliver the package. That last part was a slight exaggeration, of course. However, I also had to pay a buyer's premium for the auction lots. I don't buy anything anymore where I have to pay a buyer's premium.
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Thank you Michael, I see how that extra thickness might be juuuust a bit of problem. I still have this picture in my head of people sorting mail, not machines. 
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"What a shame Postage Due stamps went out of vogue in 1985."
I think they went out of general use long before then. In the 1978-9 era I did all the postal business for my employer. I did bulk mailings, took the meter to the post office for reloading and signed for all the "signature required" mail. The bulk mailings had those "No postage required" return envelopes and we'd get a ton of them. I'd go to the window and there would be a "postage due" bill to pay to retrieve them.
I asked why there were no postage due stamps. They shrugged and didn't have an answer. All I got was a slip like you'd get if you needed to sign for a letter, only marked Postage Due. When you paid them with cash, they just postmarked that as your receipt. That was no fun. So I discovered that you could pay postage due with regular postage stamps. I'd get the bill out of our postal box, go to the counter and buy that many stamps... sheets of commemoratives, even a full sheet of $1 stamps once. Then I'd take it to the call window and make them cancel the sheets for the postage due, and give them back to me. I still have them somewhere. They look like CTO full sheets. But they did serve postal duty.
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"... I would have preferred a Postage Due stamp rather than a generic red "stamp" with a fill-in line. What a shame Postage Due stamps went out of vogue in 1985 ..."
You are confusing your stamps with your stamps.
The generic red "stamp" with a fill-in line states that postage is due.
The I would have preferred a Postage Due stamp is a receipt for postage due, and was only affixed after the postage due was paid.
The purpose of the printed/gummed/perforated postage due stamp was to keep the clerks honest.
By the time I was a letter carrier (1980s), the post office had figured-out that collecting postage due was not worth the cost of collecting & accounting for postage due. Sometimes the clerks collected the cash before we went out on our routes, and it was our job to collect the cash and/or leave notices. The latter took our time, then another clerks time, etc ... so, more & more, the magicians of management saw to it that the postage due letters magically by-passed the clerks.
As customers, we always threw twenty bucks at the carrier every Winter Holiday Season, with the result that our postage due mail was delivered without postage due, and our signature required mail was delivered without signatures being required.
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
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"You are confusing your stamps with your stamps."
That is true IkeyPikey, It just would have been nice if I could have gotten something philatelic for my 21 cents. Though I confess the experience was well worth 21 cents, as the letter was hand delivered by an attractive young woman wearing a pith helmet.
Enjoyed your reminiscences of your Post Office days! Good stuff. And good to see you survived all the dogs to make it into retirement.
Eric
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"... And good to see you survived all the dogs to make it into retirement ..."
Assuming facts not in evidence.
I only delivered mail for a few years.
Unlike management back at the station, out on the streets there was only that one dog.
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
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02:07:08am
" ...I asked why there were no postage due stamps. They shrugged and didn't have an answer. ..."
Postage due stamps, shucks, just getting them to stock decent First Class Forever stamps is a challenge.
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I can't recall the last time I received anything with "Postage Due" emblazoned on it, so this was a red letter day for me. The phenomenon immediately engendered several lines of thought. First, why was this pleasant young woman standing at my door wearing a USPS white pith helmet, and attired in civilian clothes? I had to ask, "Are you with the Post Office, I thought you had to wear a uniform?" Her response, "Oh, I've been with the Post Office less than one month, we don't get a uniform allowance until then, but someone was nice enough to let me use the helmet." Wow, in the military you get a uniform on the first day.
Another observation, I would have preferred a Postage Due stamp rather than a generic red "stamp" with a fill-in line. What a shame Postage Due stamps went out of vogue in 1985.
Also, the weight of the letter was clearly under one ounce, so what was the problem? The seller had protected the stamp I ordered with two thick pieces of cardboard, which made the envelope somewhat bulgy. In fact, upon measuring, the letter was 1/16th over the limit. The Post Office does not mess around with deviations from the norm, but 1/16th inch -- really?
Or could this be some clever ploy of the seller to keep overhead down by using insufficient postage, and relying on the buyer to make up the difference. A Machiavellian maneuver indeed.
Eric
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03:28:47pm
re: U.S. Postage Due and a Lady in a Pith Helmet.
A mailing piece that is even 1/16th inch thick can get jammed in the first class letter sorting equipment. Since this equipment runs at near supersonic speeds any jammed results in hours of down time, and many mail pieces being damaged.
As for your speculation, I have been victim of dealers under paying postage, even, for example, after I paid for shipping and handling that was far in excess of the actual postage costs, and the extra charged for handling was sufficient for the dealer (nationally known) to personally deliver the package. That last part was a slight exaggeration, of course. However, I also had to pay a buyer's premium for the auction lots. I don't buy anything anymore where I have to pay a buyer's premium.
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re: U.S. Postage Due and a Lady in a Pith Helmet.
Thank you Michael, I see how that extra thickness might be juuuust a bit of problem. I still have this picture in my head of people sorting mail, not machines.
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re: U.S. Postage Due and a Lady in a Pith Helmet.
"What a shame Postage Due stamps went out of vogue in 1985."
I think they went out of general use long before then. In the 1978-9 era I did all the postal business for my employer. I did bulk mailings, took the meter to the post office for reloading and signed for all the "signature required" mail. The bulk mailings had those "No postage required" return envelopes and we'd get a ton of them. I'd go to the window and there would be a "postage due" bill to pay to retrieve them.
I asked why there were no postage due stamps. They shrugged and didn't have an answer. All I got was a slip like you'd get if you needed to sign for a letter, only marked Postage Due. When you paid them with cash, they just postmarked that as your receipt. That was no fun. So I discovered that you could pay postage due with regular postage stamps. I'd get the bill out of our postal box, go to the counter and buy that many stamps... sheets of commemoratives, even a full sheet of $1 stamps once. Then I'd take it to the call window and make them cancel the sheets for the postage due, and give them back to me. I still have them somewhere. They look like CTO full sheets. But they did serve postal duty.
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re: U.S. Postage Due and a Lady in a Pith Helmet.
"... I would have preferred a Postage Due stamp rather than a generic red "stamp" with a fill-in line. What a shame Postage Due stamps went out of vogue in 1985 ..."
You are confusing your stamps with your stamps.
The generic red "stamp" with a fill-in line states that postage is due.
The I would have preferred a Postage Due stamp is a receipt for postage due, and was only affixed after the postage due was paid.
The purpose of the printed/gummed/perforated postage due stamp was to keep the clerks honest.
By the time I was a letter carrier (1980s), the post office had figured-out that collecting postage due was not worth the cost of collecting & accounting for postage due. Sometimes the clerks collected the cash before we went out on our routes, and it was our job to collect the cash and/or leave notices. The latter took our time, then another clerks time, etc ... so, more & more, the magicians of management saw to it that the postage due letters magically by-passed the clerks.
As customers, we always threw twenty bucks at the carrier every Winter Holiday Season, with the result that our postage due mail was delivered without postage due, and our signature required mail was delivered without signatures being required.
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
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like this post.
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re: U.S. Postage Due and a Lady in a Pith Helmet.
"You are confusing your stamps with your stamps."
That is true IkeyPikey, It just would have been nice if I could have gotten something philatelic for my 21 cents. Though I confess the experience was well worth 21 cents, as the letter was hand delivered by an attractive young woman wearing a pith helmet.
Enjoyed your reminiscences of your Post Office days! Good stuff. And good to see you survived all the dogs to make it into retirement.
Eric
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this post
re: U.S. Postage Due and a Lady in a Pith Helmet.
"... And good to see you survived all the dogs to make it into retirement ..."
Assuming facts not in evidence.
I only delivered mail for a few years.
Unlike management back at the station, out on the streets there was only that one dog.
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
26 Jul 2016
02:07:08am
re: U.S. Postage Due and a Lady in a Pith Helmet.
" ...I asked why there were no postage due stamps. They shrugged and didn't have an answer. ..."
Postage due stamps, shucks, just getting them to stock decent First Class Forever stamps is a challenge.
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