Page 1 of 2

American Stamps

Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2011 1:47 am
by BuNno
Where is the best place to get them? How many would i need for a letter containing 1/2 photos.

Sorry for all my questions but I'm a novice who eagerly wants to get his first few requests out.

Thanks, BuNno.

Re: American Stamps

Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2011 9:10 am
by Sofia
I think I wrote on your other thread as well. Anyway, you can either try to find someone in the USA to send you stamps through the mail or you can order them over the phone directly from the US postal service (the former is the cheaper option usually).
I hear that sometimes you might be able to buy stamps off eBay as well but I haven't investigated this option further myself.

For a C5/C6 sized envelope with 1-2 photos, the regular international stamp should be enough. The value of that at the moment is $0.98. If you want to be very sure (or anticipate that the celebrity might take a year or two to reply and the postal charges might go up in the meantime), put two of those on.

Re: American Stamps

Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2011 12:59 pm
by kimmylee
As I said on your other topic, you can get them through the forum. The Autograph exchange/sale section often has members trading and selling US stamps.

Re: American Stamps

Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 8:06 am
by Jaffer
You can also buy some off amazon.

Re: American Stamps

Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 6:03 pm
by HappinessStan
Sofia wrote:For a C5/C6 sized envelope with 1-2 photos, the regular international stamp should be enough.
C5 is too big to go for the cheap rate and counts as a large letter.

It's only about an eighth of an inch in each direction, but nevertheless they do cost more.

Re: American Stamps

Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 8:53 am
by Sofia
HappinessStan wrote: C5 is too big to go for the cheap rate and counts as a large letter.

It's only about an eighth of an inch in each direction, but nevertheless they do cost more.
Thanks for correcting that! I haven't had problems with the letters coming back so far but I'll need to start adding postage in that case (or just reshape my return envelopes as the difference isn't massive...).

Re: American Stamps

Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 8:52 pm
by HappinessStan
I've looked high and low for fairly lightweight envelopes which are large enough for a 5" x 7" photo, but smaller than C5 to allow for the US post thing, but haven't had any luck so far.

I'm sure they must be out there somewhere!

Re: American Stamps

Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 11:57 pm
by Sofia
HappinessStan wrote:I've looked high and low for fairly lightweight envelopes which are large enough for a 5" x 7" photo, but smaller than C5 to allow for the US post thing, but haven't had any luck so far.

I'm sure they must be out there somewhere!
I would imagine it possible to get them from the USA. Since the limit between regular and large letter is what it is, surely they have envelopes which just fit into the 'regular' category? You could also get them custom-made in the UK. I have found a couple of websites which allow you to decide exactly what size envelopes you want and they'll make them for you. But then, i haven't investigated further as to how expensive it would come out (whether it would just be cheaper to pay for the extra postage...).

Re: American Stamps

Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2011 7:41 am
by Jaffer
HappinessStan wrote:
Sofia wrote:For a C5/C6 sized envelope with 1-2 photos, the regular international stamp should be enough.
C5 is too big to go for the cheap rate and counts as a large letter.

It's only about an eighth of an inch in each direction, but nevertheless they do cost more.
It's funny you should say that, I actually got a response back using only a .98 cent stamp with a C5 envelope. It could be that they care more about weight then size? To be honest, I cannot picture most postal worker being petty enough to care. Additionally, one user on here uses Australian stamps instead of USA ones hahaha. I have sent some additional requests recently using a .98 c stamp, so I hope it was not just a one off mistake.

Re: American Stamps

Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2011 8:21 am
by Sofia
Jaffer wrote:It's funny you should say that, I actually got a response back using only a .98 cent stamp with a C5 envelope.
It's not just you because I know of other people who have gotten away with it including me. That's why I thought .98 was enough.
If there wasn't enough postage though and they notice it (assuming there wasn't a return address on the envelope), wouldn't they deliver it and ask the recipient to pay the extra? Or are they as nice as that?