USPS Stamp Vending Machines

Hey all,

I usually try to order online, but does anyone know if the automated machines sell books of stamps? I'm not sure if they only print stamps now...

Thanks!

Greetings, eanderson651:

These machines are not all gone?

2004 http://www.postalreporter.com/sspcplans.htm

2006 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...1801047.html

2008 http://seattletimes.com/html/localn...amps05m.html

2009 http://articles.chicagotribune.com/...ing-machines

If you miss them enough: http://www.ebay.com/sch/Postage-Sta...58425/i.html

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

I don't think those are the same ones.. They have automated machines at the branch near me, but I think they only print out stamps like the ones below, and to not actually vend real books. Was trying to see if anyone knew before I made the trip.

I believe that there are booklets for the automated machine and they come in one sided sheet of 18. I also think that there are ATMs that vend booklets and most food supermarkets sell them (booklets of 20) through consignment contracts w/USPS. These may also be available at local Walgreen, CVS or Rite Aid stores.

Welcome to SCF, eanderson651!

Are you thinking of the ones that had a little cardboard flap that enclosed the stamps? I haven't seen one of those for many years! I believe current stamps having pressure sensitive adhesive are on little sheets as you showed in your post. The vending machine and ATM ones tend to be on lighter weight paper than the ones purchased online or at the post office.
Karen

The APCs (Automated Postal Center) machines found in the lobbies of larger post offices all dispense the APC labels (as shown in the previous scan) or SOME of them allow you to choose to purchase a complete self-stick booklet (as mentioned earlier) but the capabilities of the machine near you will determine whether or not they dispense both of these items. The caveat, of course, is that you can only pay for them with a credit card, as the machines do not accept cash.

In the past I did buy a booklet pane of stamps from one of those automated machines. I needed to send a small parcel and the main lobby was closed for the day. I only needed a couple of stamps but had to buy the whole pane. I think I heard that the stamps vended from these automated parcel machines are a little thinner than the normal ones you can get over the counter. I guess this to make it easier to vend.

Stamps vended through the APU machines are much thinner and also usually have a different "perforation" They are sold in units of 18 rather than 20 as in regular booklet stamps. Currently many machines in APUs are selling stamps that are printed with a stock type of design rather than stamps printed by one of the usual printing company. In other words, the the stock designs are printed inside the machine at time of sale.


Glenn Estus

All APC machines have the ability to sell stamps they print on demand - sometimes it is the entire stamp that is thermally printed in black on demand, sometimes part of it is preprinted in color (currently there is a preprinted flag design and some machines may still have a preprinted Spiderman design). There is a minimum purchase of 3 of these stamps, but you can get up to 10 (or after you purchase the initial 3, you can get as few as one).

Some, but not all of these also sell the dollar bill sized ATM panes (thinner than regular booklets of 20).

For what its worth, I've always referred to these machines as APCs (Automated Postal Centers) but apparently the USPS has come up with a new acronym and now refers to them as SSKs (Self Service Kiosks). No matter what you call them, they all do pretty much the same thing:

http://about.usps.com/news/state-re...014_0819.htm

Seems Spider-man 2 CVS stamp labels are still available at post offices in our area. Local post offices haven't switched to Flags yet, hopefully we will get holiday CVP stamp label.Post Office claim they have no control, it is done automatically via online.