Re-using an un-franked postage stamp?

[mrs.chappie]

While browsing eBay I found a listing (several listings in fact) for batches of un-franked postage stamps - from letters that have been through the postal system but have no visible cancellation sign on them.

I mentioned this unusual listing to my cousin and he said that stamps are now cancelled using a frank that is invisible to the naked eye, so you cannot tell if the stamp has been cancelled or not.

Anyhoo, my question is - are eBay sellers lawfully allowed to sell these stamps? And do you think my cousin is right about invisible franking?

[DrFilth]

hello mrs c a lot of people buy them for posting items, think the invisible franking is a tiny pinkish dot.
if you sell a lot of items on ebay the postage savings soon mount up. all new 1st and 2nd class stamps have two anti tamper proof patches so people can't wash the stamps.

[DrFilth]

http://www.dailymail....eats-using-again.html

[mrs.chappie]

Thanks Dr.F. Wash the stamps? What is that all about?

Tony, what is it that you can't see? The invisible franking?

[DrFilth]

mrs c before the new anti tamper proof stamps,
people would put a handful of stamps that had no frank into a bowl of water
leave for a few hours
stamps would float off the paper
let stamps dry
then they had stamps they could reuse


please note that i no nothing about this other than what i have been told

[DrFilth]

know nothing ............typo

[mrs.chappie]

Ah ... thanks Dr.F. :o)

[scotman]

This 'invisible' franking must be detectable by something! It would seem likely that it is either IR or UV.

[DrFilth]

ps , some people can reuse the anti tamper proof ones

[mrs.chappie]

Invisible to the naked eye though .... so that folk wouldn't dare take the risk of steaming off what looked like an un-franked stamp, and re-using it?

Anyone ever done this?

[mrs.chappie]

DrF .... are you speaking on behalf of a <ahem> friend? :o)

[DrFilth]

mrs c think about it, would the same people buy loads and loads of used 1st class stamps if they were not going to re use them :)

[DrFilth]

yes

i have seen an anti tamper proof one done in less than a minute

[mrs.chappie]

Dr.F, do you think this talk about invisible franking is a wee fib to discourage folk from re-using said stamps? My cousin was quite serious about it, but he's a bit dim sometimes (like me).

[Buenchico]

Postal delivery staff are still instructed to scribble across any (apparently) unfranked stamps that they spot. Such an instruction would be unnecessary if those stamps had already been invisibly franked. Further, I can't see the Post Office unions agreeing to the use of invisible franking. If it existed, stamps which were reused (because there was no visible franking) would be rejected by the sorting system, resulting in postmen being required to collect excess postage from the recipients of letters that had apparently got valid stamps on them. (That would inevitably lead to lots of doorstep arguments and possible assaults upon postal workers).

Since this question was posted under 'Law' it's worth mentioning that knowingly using used stamps to obtain free postage is a criminal offence under the Fraud Act 2006. It's likely that persons selling such stamps could also be convicted under that Act but only if it could be shown that they knew that it was likely that the stamps would be used for fraudulent purposes (rather than, say, added to a philatelic collection).

Chris

[DrFilth]

i have seen a frank that a person with bad eyesight could not see. it was like a tiny pink or purple dot.

i buy at least one book of 12 stamps every week , if i bought them off ebay and reused old stamps i would save a few pounds over a couple of years

when you say about .> fib to discourage folk <

think about the tv detector van, biggest hoax ever but it had people running scared

[mrs.chappie]

Thanks Chris. Take a look at these listings on eBay .....

http://shop.ebay.co.u..._nkw=unfranked+stamps

Surely these wouldn't be collectors' stamps? What do you think?

[DrFilth]

chris and no postman would ever deliver 14 letters to a house and say to the person at the door . oh look you have some stamps you can reuse

[DrFilth]

like the way one has put

I can let you know instructions on how to remove these stamps from paper to add them to your collection, after auction.



PLEASE NOTE:

These stamps have already been through the royal mail system and are sold for collecting only.

[mrs.chappie]

Hey Dr.F .... are you telling us that the van we used to see on the telly (with the mis-shaped wire coat hanger on the top) wasn't kosher?