Hand Cancellation? Help!

Hi everyone,

This is my first post, though I've been lurking for a little while. I registered to ask a question about hand cancellation.

I often use vintage stamps that I've bought at face value for mailing. In my opinion the modern machine cancellation process can often ruin the look for these little pieces of art, so I decided to go to the post office counter and politely ask for my mailings (a letter and two postcards) to be hand cancelled. The counter clerk and supervisor both told me that they charge $1.30(!) per piece to hand cancel, because they have to sell me a certificate of mailing.

Is this true or just ignorance on their part?

What is a certificate of mailing?

Should I be able to get things hand cancelled at no extra charge, and if so, can you guys give me some ammo to counter their claims?

Thank you all in advance!

Complete hogwash. My local postmaster lets me hand cancel my own mail :)

Absolutely false.

While it may be true that some postal clerks may resist wanting to bother to handstamp your covers, especially if there's a line waiting, it's certainly a fair request. Although there are written guidelines covering this, quite often the USPS clerks will ignore them and do what they want regardless. If you can't get satisfaction from the postal clerk, ask to speak to a Supervisor or the Postmaster. Failing that, try another post office who may be more accommodating to collectors.

Okay, good, so I'm not crazy in thinking that they are wrong.

Do you or anyone else have something I could cite to them? Maybe something from the USPS web site that I could print out to show them next time? I need something to back up my argument.

Of course, I'll do this at a slow time of the day, so that I'm not "that guy" holding up a huge line at the post office. :)

I agree with wt1, try a different post office. Find one with a clerk/postmaaster who is more friendly towards collectors. Sometimes just a simple reasonable explanation is all that is needed. And then some of the workers think they rule their office with an iron fist and misinterpret the rules as they see fit. I had a clerk in Albany that said I had to mail a 1oz. letter at parcel rate because I stamped it "Do Not Bend". I walked away and took the mail elsewhere and confirmed with a more knowledgable clerk that the other one was in the wrong.

If you're paying the non-machineable surcharge for a ridgid letter than it should be hand canceled regardless.

You can also get a mailer's postmark permit and cancel you own mail at home too and just drop it off. Bypass the clerk completely or take some time and train 'em.

This is the pertinent "rule" but don't count on uncooperative postal clerks to change their minds on how they do things. It's in their Postal Operations Manual, but many clerks refuse to acknowledge it:

Or cite their handbook USPS 1-1.3


1-1.3 Postmarks

A postmark is an official Postal Service™ imprint applied in black ink on the address side of a stamped mailpiece. A postmark indicates the location and date the Postal Service accepted custody of a mailpiece, and it cancels affixed postage. Since 1979, the Postal Service's Postal Operations Manual (POM) has provided standards for postmarks applied to single-piece First-Class Mail®. Letters and flats that need to be postmarked come from carrier pick-up, collection boxes, retail counters, or lobby drop boxes. Postmarks are not required for mailings bearing a permit, meter, or precanceled stamp for postage, nor to pieces with an indicia applied by various postage evidencing systems.

The postmarking process uses the following three basic methods of imprinting:

Automated: Advanced facer canceller systems used by processing distribution centers cancel letters quickly. These machines are equipped with biohazard detection systems so letters postmarked by automation benefit from added safety measures.
Mechanized: A variety of older devices apply postmarks to flat-size mailpieces and to philatelic pieces.
Manual: Hand-stamp devices are used by Postal Service employees for local cancellation or philatelic requests.

A "local" postmark shows the full name of the Post Office, a two-letter state abbreviation, ZIP Code™, and date of mailing. Because the Postal Service is sensitive to the importance some customers place upon these postmarks, each Post Office is required to make a local postmark available. Lobby drops should be designated for this purpose with clear signage signifying its use.


http://about.usps.com/handbooks/po408/ch1_003.htm

Thank you very much for the citations!

wt1, what revision of the manual is that citation from? Because I looked it up in what I think is the most current version (2002), and the wording seems to have changed, unfortunately making it a bit less explicit compared to what you posted.

I may also look into getting the permit to cancel my own mail. That actually sounds kind of fun. However, I would at least like to try and educate the postal clerks!

While we're on the topic of hand cancellation, I have a related question:

So say I send something that is hand cancelled. Is it still going to get a barcode printed on the bottom of the item face? Or will it arrive with the hand cancel and that's it? The latter is what I am ideally hoping for.

It was excerpted from this 2003 letter on the subject from USPS Stamp Services (of course, the powers that be have changed since the date of this letter):

bgarcia: It really depends on how mail is processed in your area. I have my mail hand postmarked at my little local post office. It is then sent to Albany, New York. I've had a few piece of mail sent back to me on occasion due to address issues. I can see my local postmark overlapped with a machine spray on cancel from Albany. I paid the nonmachinceable surcharge yet it still gets another cancel. There's a bar code at the bottom too.

That's the central New York way I guess. Your area might be different and it could be different depending on what postal workers are working that shift.

This is the dilemma that we collectors often face. The quick answer to your question is "yes", the barcode will be printed at the bottom of the item face and "yes", quite often your handstamp cancel may be followed by one of those awful inkjet spray-on cancels as well.

The barcode dilemma is easy to resolve. Simply buy a roll of Scotch "Removable" Tape (blue colored packaging). Then simply apply a strip to the bottom of the envelope you send. The barcode will be printed onto the tape and upon receipt of delivery of the item the tape can easily be removed without damage to the cover.

Unfortunately, the spray-on cancel is more problemmatic. The easiest way is to pay the 21-cent non-machinable surcharge and insert the hand cancelled cover into a glassine envelope before mailing.

The SCF Postulate: there is just about nothing you can add to your collection that will not, sooner or later, be fodder for a post to SCF.

Being a fusspot for collecting genuinely postally-used items only, I took a shot at making an EKU (Earliest Known Use) cover that would travel thru the mail.

I visited the USPS temporary station at Brooklyn's Boro Hall (site of the FDOI ceremony), and had my EKU hand-cancelled but, instead of taking it back, asked the clerk to send it on to its addressee.

Result attached. Yes, the bar code was there, too.

===

For DIY cancels, the place to begin is:

http://www.mppclub.org/ Mailer's Postmark Permit Club

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

"The easiest way is to pay the 21-cent non-machinable surcharge ..."

Would that I could.

I posted an 8x8" bubble envelope with a stiffener & collectibles for the grandchildren (cards, stamps, Wall-E cd) overseas. Width was now just over 1/4", which should have upgraded me from letter to flat but, either way, cost U$D ~5. Clerk insisted I pay the parcel rate, eg, U$D ~10.

Being an accommodating sort, I next shipped a 6x9" photo mailer (same sort of contents), which I expected would travel at the letter rate (much less than 1/4" thick) plus the non-machinable charge. Different clerk, different post office, different *county*, same result: the clerk insisted it be rated as a parcel at, again, double the price.

"But a letter can be rigid" says I, "and that adds only 21 cents."

"Yes, but that is for 'rigid', and this is actually STIFF."

I got stiffed, in more ways than one.

Plan C is to write the USPS on my letterhead, asking for a ruling on their letterhead.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Well, I mailed my application for a Mailer's Postmark Permit today, so that I can hand cancel my own mail and hopefully bypass ignorant counter clerks. Of course, now I have to cross my fingers that my Postmaster isn't completely ignorant or hostile to the idea of the Mailer's Postmark Permit.

"... hopefully bypass ignorant counter clerks ..."

You are going to need that un-bypassed clerk to put your hand-canceled stamped mail into whatever bin they've got for metered mail, or its likely to get whacked & shpritzed.

It was when I read that little 'best practice' proviso that I shredded my MPP application, but that's me.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey