Do The USA Allow To Sell Or Buy The Cuba Stamps Now?

As far as I know, it has never been illegal to sell/trade Cuban or North Korean stamps in the United States. The issue is importing them after the trade ban. I mentioned this in another thread on NK stamps; I think I included a link as well. As far as I know, Obama/Congress have not lifted either importation bans. You can visit the US treasury department website for current details.

Any stamps in the US prior to the trade ban are legal. Any stamps imported (even in mail or in passports) without prior approval from the State Department are considered illegal. Owning the stamps is not illegal. Importing them WITHOUT PRIOR approval is what is illegal. This is a purely US restriction, and does not apply to importation to other countries.

For many years, Scott did not list the Cuban new issues because it was presumed any recent issues must have been illegally imported. Scott has wisely changed it's policy. Why, I do not know. But I assume it has to do with the fact that if Scott doesn't want to limit it's catalogs to US users, they'd better start listing what's available in the rest of the world.

I've NEVER known this importation rule to be enforced(prosecuted/confiscated) by the State/Treasury Department on stamps (other than in passports). Surely, they've got more important things to do...

Thanks Khj for the comment.

Wow. I'm really glad I'm just kind of reading this site randomly. I'm picking up all sorts of info. I never would've guessed that stamps from Cuba or N. Korea would have any legal ramifications. I can't say I understand it very well, since a stamp isn't really a manufactured good intended for export (or am I wrong) so much as it represents payment for the export or shipping of something else? I could probably work myself into a whirlwind trying to figure it out.

G'Day Eric,you and I both mate as I didn't know about the legalization aspect,Zhang it's nice to know about this sort of stuff thanks for posting mate and let me say you are a gentleman.
regards Harry

Thanks mate,I only the questioner,I should thank who give comments and answer above,you are really gentleman.

Resurrecting this thread because I just ended up with a spare Cuban revenue stamp I was about to list on ebay. The site is telling me I am not allowed to sell it! I am told to follow these links:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/embargo.html
https://www.treasury.gov/resource-c...es/cuba.aspx

I was suddenly reminded of the embargo. My stamp (which was part of a lot purchased on ebay, by the way) is definitely pre-embargo.

I won't comment on my opinion of Obama's "opening" of Cuba, but the impression was given that even minor trade hurdles like this would be gone.

This is not a trade hurdle; it is an ebay policy. It is probably harder to change a stupid ebay policy than open up relations with Cuba.

Do not sell Cuba stamps on ebay or through Paypal. This embargo has been going on for years and has been discussed ad nauseum. ebay only lists 68 items under Cuba almost all US stamps not Cuba. There are always a couple of exceptions that get listed. If it were ok to list Cuba on ebay there would be thousands of listings. Don't do it!

While ebay does not allow the listings it is Paypal that is the bigger hurdle due to banking/financial laws in place.

Shipping & Customs restrictions has been loosen by the U.S. Post Office as of 12/15. Customs Forms were not required to be completed when I shipped a $15.00 registered item to Cuba, even though the Registration Fee was almost $14. I question the clerk if he was positive, without checking the DMM. However, he assured me the restrictions were dropped. I'm still waiting to hear if the item has arrived. Mail normally takes a over a month.

As per Linn's Stamp News:



So, Alub seems to be correct.

Thanks to Postcrossing, I am now on the CIA watch list... :-) There was indeed a time when getting this in the mail would mean a visit from men in black suits in black sedans...

Interesting postage combination. Looks like a USSR post card with a Cuba CTO stamp. What's the story behind that?

Postcrossing member mailed the postcard in an envelope, and sorta' lightly attached the CTO Cuba to the back of the card.