Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Reusing Unfranked stamps

82 replies

LittleMissRayofHope · 07/04/2015 09:24

If I get a letter and the stamp hasn't been franked by RM I peel it off and keep it. I then use it the next time I post a letter.

AIBU? Friend thinks I am. She said I'm basically stealing from RM. I guess I can see her POV.

Thought I would ask here!

OP posts:
BullshitS70 · 07/04/2015 09:27

Oh FGS, the PO charge so bloody much for stamps these days, I couldn't give a monkeys if they lose 60p or however much a stamp is

LittleEsmeWeatherwax · 07/04/2015 09:27

Done it.
Would continue to do it if I had the time!

Gatehouse77 · 07/04/2015 09:28

Nah, have done it before and would do it again. Just one of those 'things' that I don't go out of my way to do but if the opportunity presents itself, he'll yeah!

Nolim · 07/04/2015 09:29

If you are sending mail without paying for it, well, yes, you are stealing.

SquirrelledAway · 07/04/2015 09:32

If you know that the stamp has already been through the postal system then it's fraud.

pollypocket123 · 07/04/2015 09:34

So many saints on here Hmm

Snozberry · 07/04/2015 09:38

Shock you reused a stamp! A STAMP! I'm calling the police.

PotteringAlong · 07/04/2015 09:39

I always do it!

PrimroseVilliers · 07/04/2015 09:40

Fraud!!!

God some people on here just make me howl. Get over yourselves you pious bunch.

I don't send letters very often so don't do this but could not give a flying fuck who does.

Ilovenannyplum · 07/04/2015 09:43

I reuse them. And sometimes I pinch a sweet before paying for my cinema pick and mix.
Living life on the edge over here Wink

Original poster
LittleMissRayofHope · 07/04/2015 09:44

Ilovenannyplum GrinGrin

OP posts:
OnIlkleyMoorBahTwat · 07/04/2015 09:45

Can those who think it is OK to reuse stamps please explain who it is and isn't OK to steal from and defraud please? I'm confused.

Stamps aren't expensive. You can post a letter in the Scillies and it will be delivered in the Shetlands a day or two later for 65 pence or whatever a stamp costs these days. A bloody bargain in my book.

CalamitouslyWrong · 07/04/2015 09:46

I don't care about people reusing in franked stamps but I'm amazed that anyone bothers to check the stamps on mail they receive to see if they can be reused. It's like something off extreme cheapskates.

DisappointedOne · 07/04/2015 09:47

"Can those who think it is OK to reuse stamps please explain who it is and isn't OK to steal from and defraud please? I'm confused."

This.

SomewhereIBelong · 07/04/2015 09:51

OnIlkley - someone thought defrauding by £25 for a zoo was ok on the "I lie to get my 4 Year old in free" thread. So I'm guessing they would think 65p on a stamp was fair game.

some don't pay - we honest folks pay more

Original poster
LittleMissRayofHope · 07/04/2015 09:58

I don't check them, but I happen to notice if they are franked or not as I tear off all stamps. My DM collects them to give to charity... I'm not sure what they do with them but that's probably why I notice.
Just never thought about it before!
Now that someone has pointed it out to me it seems like a really silly thing to do. Now it's been pointed out I feel a bit wrong.

Just wondered what the consensus was

OP posts:
mewkins · 07/04/2015 10:04

We have had a debate at work about whether unframked stamps have a secret mark on them that shows that they have been through the system. Does anyone know?
(Yes,the hours fly by in our office!!)

SilentCharisma · 07/04/2015 10:06

No, unfranked stamps do not have a secret mark.

You can reuse them and no one will ever know, provided you do it neatly enough.

Greymalkin · 07/04/2015 10:11

I was listing a big bundle of used franked stamps from round the world on eBay the other week and there are tonnes of people selling bundles of used unfranked UK stamps - and they sell really well!

I'm surprised ebay allow it actually

Aeroflotgirl · 07/04/2015 10:12

Go for it, tge price of stamps is daylight robbery anyway!

WineCowboy · 07/04/2015 10:14

mewkins DH thinks that too!

SquirrelledAway · 07/04/2015 10:24

People doing it on a large enough scale have been prosecuted for it: here.

There are also stories of reused stamps being spotted by RM staff and the recipient being billed for postage and a handling fee.

EBay sellers try to get round it by stating that the stamps are for collecting purposes only, or some such.

Yokohamajojo · 07/04/2015 10:28

Me and my dad who live in different countries, managed to send a letter 3 times back and forth with unfranked stamps, it became a bit of a sport!

christinarossetti · 07/04/2015 10:40

My mother has been doing this for decades. We had to be 'extreme cheapskates' as we were living in poverty and every penny mattered.

Apparently, in addition to the slight perforations that stamps now have that make them more likely to tear if they're removed, the glue is different and it's harder to just soak stamps off an envelope.

As I see it, it's the Royal Mail's responsibility to have systems that prevent people reusing stamps if they don't want them to. If these systems don't work and unfranked stamps get through, then for me they're fair game.

Reusing one stamp a week isn't quite the same as setting up a counterfeit business in the garage, but I suspect that there are plenty of people who would equate the two.

IKnowIAmButWhatAreYou · 07/04/2015 10:41

I do it if I notice one!

I class it as payment for my valuable time spent queuing at the post office at lunchtime because they're the only deliverer of parcels that is incapable of leaving parcels with my neighbour or in my safe place.

If there was a different way to post letters I would, I already use anybody except the PO for parcels.

As for Theft/Fraud - I've done many things much more worthy of legal attention...

Swipe left for the next trending thread