International postage stamps from a domestic source

May 10, 2013 12:45 PM

I have a bunch of postcards I'm mailing out from within the US to people in the US, UK and Switzerland. I can put domestic stamps on the cards sent from within the US to our US address, so that the recipients can just drop it in a mailbox. Does the USPS or another entity within the US sell stamps that I can put on the postcards sent from the UK and Switzerland, such that the recipients don't need to buy their own stamps?
posted by Blazecock Pileon to Law & Government (10 answers total)

Isn't that exactly what International reply coupon are for?
posted by wenestvedt at 12:50 PM on May 10, 2013

"The US Postal Service discontinued sales of IRCs on 27 January 2013 due to declining demand."

Call your local UK and Swiss consulate/embassy, is all I can think of. Stamp dealers will charge a premium, because they don't sell them to people as postage.
posted by Etrigan at 12:53 PM on May 10, 2013

Are these like RSVP postcards? Because just so you know, it's normal for guests to buy their own stamps for international replies.

Otherwise, post on Fiverr or something and get someone in Switzerland and someone in the UK to send you the correct number of stamps?
posted by DarlingBri at 1:13 PM on May 10, 2013

You should be able to buy online:

UK http://www.royalmail.com/

Switzerland http://www.poste.ch/en
posted by buzzieandzaza at 1:24 PM on May 10, 2013

I'm seeing postal products for the UK, at least:

http://shop.royalmail.com/products/stamp-books/icat/cat220/

A check of their shopping cart system shows that they appear to accept customers worldwide. I can't vouch for it, haven't ordered there myself (small chance it might be UK-only at some point in the process).
posted by gimonca at 1:26 PM on May 10, 2013

Looks like this is a no-go for all the timing and work involved. Too bad the USPS is falling apart! I'll see if I can throw in some spare pounds and Euros in these envelopes... Thanks, all.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:31 PM on May 10, 2013

That Fiverr site looks interesting, in general. Thanks for that suggestion.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:40 PM on May 10, 2013

You can purchase Royal Mail postage online, and print out a postage label (I think with a barcode?) to stick on the postcard. You don't have to order physical stamps from the UK and have them sent to you. The only downside might be requiring a UK credit card/address for payment?
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:46 PM on May 10, 2013

I have also had very good luck getting some forms of international postage from either eBay (look for unused postage and the country name) or random friendly people in other countries, depending on how much you need.
posted by jessamyn at 3:58 PM on May 10, 2013

WebStamp easy, Swiss print-your-own-stamp.
posted by themel at 12:38 AM on May 11, 2013