1982 FDC Used For Postage In 2016?

I received a letter from Canada today (May 2, 2016) in an official FDC with stamps issued in 1982. The stamps are a imprint block of 4 of Christmas stamps.

Is this just a one-off example or can Official FDCs be used for mailing currently.

I do not think that it is legal. FDC's are really CTO's, and CTO's cannot be used as postage.

It's an unpaid letter. Should have been returned to sender or postage due collected (if that is still done). Sadly - it looks like it didn't even get to go through cancelling machine.....which is a sad state experienced often these days. It's why my ebay shipments are always hand cancelled at the post office. Glenn- was it under 30 grams? If so it was overpaid / unpaid.

There is one ebay seller who always ships my purchases in an OFDC of some previous year. So far, they have never been rated postage due. However, his shady practice makes me hesitant to buy anything of real value from him.

I don't think I would call FDC's CTO's. FDC's are tagged to an envelope and cost the same as regular postage. I've always thought that they were more like per cancelled so mailing them would be ok. All be it the dates wouldn't line up. As I understand CTO's are cancelled and offered at a discount, untagged to an envelope so they could never even pass as postage. So personally you pay for the postage get a free envelope and mail a letter.

Sorry I didn't realize that Canada Post charged a premium for FDC's now. They can be a bit more than original.

The passage of this cover thru the mails illustrates, once again, that indifference makes a difference.

I have received two letters in FDCs from the same vendor who sent the one illustrated above. Doesn't seem like Canada Post minds...

Canada Post "doesn't mind" because those covers go through auto cancel and the machinery recognizes the tagging. This act is an offence - possibly criminal - i.e. theft of postal services. I see many US collectors state emphatically they would NEVER use an unused stamp for postage - something done regularly in Canada - but this IMHO is actually much worse.

"I see many US collectors state emphatically they would NEVER use an unused stamp for postage"

Say what? What kind of stamps do they use for postage?

The supposition that few/not many people in the U.S. are reusing postage is a fantasy, I believe. I would say that roughly 20-30% of my ebay purchases are franked with reused stamps. How do I know? If I try to remove them, the glue is "not right". Stamps applied with white glue (PVA) will not separate from envelope paper. More simply, many of the stamps are "shopworn"; they appear used on casual viewing. Some even have traces of cancellations.

I haven't seen any figures on losses by reuse to the USPS, but the figure has to be tremendous.