Postcard Stamps Ah!

April 22, 2022 8:56 AM

I just realized the forever stamps I've been using are actually postcard stamps! But oddly I haven't gotten any return to sender pieces of mail. Could the post office have delivered my mail anyway? Seems unlikely... What do you all think/know about this? Thanks!
posted by bookworm4125 to Grab Bag (7 answers total)

It's hard to tell from your end but there's a couple options for what's happening:

• The letters are getting delivered just fine;
• The letters are being delivered postage due, meaning whoever they're sent to has to pony up the 18¢ to get the mail;
• They're slooowly meandering through the system back to you as returned mail for insufficient postage and the recipient didn't pay.

Those are in order of likelihood; the USPS probably isn't going to waste time over 18¢ or returning it to you but there's no guarantee they won't encounter a surly postal sorter who can throw a wrench into your stuff's delivery.
posted by AzraelBrown at 9:20 AM on April 22, 2022 [7 favorites]

I just had a piece of local mail returned because it was “misaddressed” (it wasn’t). It took 2.5 months.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 10:40 AM on April 22, 2022 [1 favorite]

The way this is supposed to work if you understamp mail is that it gets delivered postage due or (if refused) is returned for insufficient postage. If they refuse to pay it, then it's returned to you. Here's the rule from the USPS web site. If it's refused and there's no return address, it goes to the dead letter office. But sometimes it's just delivered.
posted by jessamyn at 11:25 AM on April 22, 2022 [1 favorite]

This has happened to me as the recipient in the past: my letter carrier paid the difference (so kind!) Fingers crossed that will happen in your case!
posted by epj at 12:08 PM on April 22, 2022 [2 favorites]

Once I received a letter from my sister that didn't have enough postage - the postman asked me to pay them a dime to cover the difference. I paid up!
posted by Sleepy-Succulent at 12:45 PM on April 22, 2022 [2 favorites]

I believe you're mistaken about the stamps. USPS only mentions Forever Stamps as being for first class postage. That is, standard letters.
posted by Goofyy at 5:32 PM on April 23, 2022

Postal Service Extends Convenience of Forever Stamps to Mailing Postcards and Letters Needing Additional Postage

Example postcard stamps

Technically they are "postcard" stamps but function like a "forever" stamp in that they cost 40¢ today but will always cover the cost of a postcard.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 6:37 PM on April 23, 2022 [1 favorite]