US Mail With Bar Code But No Postmark

I know there's been previous threads about this sort of thing, but I can't find it at the moment.

Anyway, I just received this envelope in the mail today with no postmark. Not especially unusual, as it could have just slipped through the canceller, but in this case it actually has the bar code (and the backstamp orange bars too), so the piece clearly went through the mailstream for delivery. In fact it is the first piece of stamped mail I received since the 45c postage rate went into effect and no postmark!



I had always thought that these marking were applied during the same pass through the mailing equipment, but apparently that is not the case if this sort of an example is the result.

I know in the scheme of things, one stamp doesn't mean all that much, but it still seems quite counter-productive that the USPS has just increased postage rates to 45c, yet doesn't bother to cancel stamps that are legitimately placed on a piece for mailing. In actuality, the USPS loses 90c (the 45c lost by delivering this piece of mail but not cancelling the stamp, and the 45c lost when the stamp is reused on another mailing) for every such error. Assuming this happens many times, it seems as though it can quickly add up to thousands of dollars or more in lost revenue on any given day.

From a recent mailing that my church did at Christmas, the Post Office put an extra sticker on the post card with the bar code on it. So maybe as you say the bar code is separate from the cancel. It also was bulk mailed so maybe yours went through a different process. I know that I get a lot of mail that was bulk shipped that has no cancel. But the bar code on mine was strange to me because it was mailed locally to be delivered locally. So not only was it an extra process but an extra truck ride to the regional facility to be sent back to the local Post Office.

Bulk mail is correctly processed with no cancel. That is acceptable. On the other hand, First Class Mail, as in the example I posted, is where the cancellation is to be applied. As I think about it, I suppose it is possible that the piece of mail I showed could have erroneously wound up in the wrong bin or mailbag and was processed without a postmark. Nevertheless, it was clearly a mistake (and loss of revenue) for the USPS.

Today I received Beyond the Perf's "2011 Year in Review". It had a bar code affixed on a label but there was no postmark and neither the $.85 Northern Goshawk nor the $.85 Osprey that had been placed on the cover was cancelled. I would have scanned the cover before removing the stamps but this is becoming so commonplace that I didn't bother. In my case it won't be a waste of revenue because I don't reuse used stamps.