goswannies wrote: The above was a very good & moral post. That is why I said "I'm not saying you should do it". I used to collect stamps, which is how I developed the stamp removal technique. My post was more for humor value (thank you jessemcluv for acknowledging this ... especially since it was at your expense ).

But to play devil's advocate, postal services often lose mail or bend/rip mail - destroying our valuable autographs or losing bills making us incur late fees - (and very infrequently steal mail themselves ... rogue postal workers - I'm not suggesting that the postal service itself deliberately endorses this practice). How often is the paying customer compensated for losing or wrecking our mail? This counter-argument does not justify the re-use of unmarked stamps. It it simply a point of discussion.

spark deLite wrote:It's really sad and sorry of someone to suggest that it could be done because the workers are too overworked to catch it. The government does have better things to do than prosecute someone for doing it, but isn't there some degree of an honor code? The government already has a lot of welfare programs for people who don't pay their way. Why not extend that to the Postal System. Let's all break the law and milk the government "Because I can!"

I don't think it's worth it even if there is just a small chance of being caught. Even if you can do it without getting caught, you'll still know that you sold yourself out for the price of a postage stamp. It's illegal, dishonest, and stealing by reason of trying to get a paid service for nothing.

Why bother sending out an honest and heart-felt fan letter if you're going to do something illegal and vaguely immoral to get it there? I think any response you do get after reusing canceled stamps would be tainted. Seriously, every time I looked at an autograph that I received after reusing stamps would remind me of how I bucked the system.

Just because nobody might be standing over there checking, waiting to catch you, doesn't give you free reign to short change the postal system. It's already being talked about that they might have to stop having Saturday delivery because of lack of funds. It's not like they're charging a lot, only 44 cents per stamp.

goswannies wrote:

-46- wrote:

jessemcluv wrote:not boiling water. besides, im not allowed to use the stove bcuz Im 13, and I can't cook at all. I tried making eggs, cracked one, and spilled it ll over me.
i mean finding the uncancelled ones, cutting the part, boiling water, soaking them, gluing it on, and praying I don't get caught.

rofl, you're 13 and you can't use the stove?

Try using a kettle. It's much safer than a stove for boiling water.

Finding uncancelled stamps? Don't look too hard. They come. Some unscrupulous people even strategically place the stamp on the return envelope so it's less likely to be post-marked.

Cutting the stamp off? Look, if scissors are a safety risk, try those primary school paper scissors. You could barely cut butter with those things, let alone break your own skin. But if they still scare you. Try ripping the corner off the envelope. The risk of a paper cut should be fairly minimal.

Gluing the stamp? So long as you just use an ordinary glue stick and not superglue, the risk of sticking your hand to the table or your forehead should be minimal.

As for not getting caught, can someone please direct us all to a link to an article of someone actually being prosecuted in any way for re-using a non-postmarked stamp?! Seriously... I even see letters sent where the sender is too lazy to go through the above. They just cut the unmarked stamp off the envelope and sticky tape it to the next letter (inclusive is the original envelope ... which has even been of a different color, no less ... & the letter still gets delivered!).

I'm not saying you should do it, but the postal services charge what 60c per letter local mail? And they deliver how many millions of letters each day? Does anyone seriously think there is someone sitting at a desk checking each and every stamp that goes through the postal system?! If there is, I want that job!

Of course, having said that, you are not supposed yo re-use stamps and efforts are being made to prevent this from happening:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... stamp.html

-46- wrote:

jessemcluv wrote:not boiling water. besides, im not allowed to use the stove bcuz Im 13, and I can't cook at all. I tried making eggs, cracked one, and spilled it ll over me.
i mean finding the uncancelled ones, cutting the part, boiling water, soaking them, gluing it on, and praying I don't get caught.

rofl, you're 13 and you can't use the stove?

-46- wrote:

jessemcluv wrote:I would never try this for one IDK what's the difference + I wouldn't want to be caught + It'd be a lot of work

Yeah, because boiling water is very hard.

jessemcluv wrote:not boiling water. besides, im not allowed to use the stove bcuz Im 13, and I can't cook at all. I tried making eggs, cracked one, and spilled it ll over me.
i mean finding the uncancelled ones, cutting the part, boiling water, soaking them, gluing it on, and praying I don't get caught.