Selling Stamps to the PO

October 8, 2006 10:24 PM

Ok, burning my question for the week with something really stupid yet I don't have the time to sit on the phone on hold or make the trip, so here goes: in the US, will the post office buy back your stamps at face value (and with no questions asked)?
posted by catcatwomanman to work & money (10 comments total)

Mom's a Postal Worker, she says "No, generally not."
posted by StrangeTikiGod at 10:47 PM on October 8, 2006

I've asked at several different P.O.s over the years. They always say no.
posted by nakedcodemonkey at 10:55 PM on October 8, 2006

They won't buy them back at all, with or without questions.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 10:57 PM on October 8, 2006

i used to have a girlfriend who worked at the post office ... i never heard of such a thing

hang on to them ... you'll use them sooner or later
posted by pyramid termite at 11:05 PM on October 8, 2006

You could ship custom postage back to Cafepress, apparently, and you can return misprinted Stamps.com postage for credit. Over the counter standard USPS stamps? Not so much. But you can sometimes find companies that will accept stamps as currency, for small payments, under a custom legalized by Congress in 1862, for amounts under $5.
posted by paulsc at 11:05 PM on October 8, 2006

From just a couple weeks ago, this ask.me answers the question.
posted by QIbHom at 11:08 PM on October 8, 2006

USPS will buy back your stamps under some circumstances. Here are the rules, from the askme question a couple weeks ago.
posted by faceonmars at 12:37 AM on October 9, 2006

Thanks to grouse, who found the original cite.
posted by faceonmars at 12:38 AM on October 9, 2006

Actually, when our wedding last year had to be moved because of Hurricane Katrina, I was left with a stack of unusable, stamped RSVP envelopes.

I brought them back to the post office, and IIRC, they gave me back about 80% of the value. I think they gave me new stamps.
posted by pyjammy at 11:12 AM on October 9, 2006

You can also sell them on Ebay for near face value.
posted by jessamyn at 6:20 PM on October 9, 2006