Not at all. Use away!
I find most postal peeps love seeing the old variety. An exception to this are the non-denominated 1995 Fortress of Louisbourg and the 1981-1983 A maple leaf stamp issues. These you can use at current P rate, but sometimes a postal outlet worker will not be familiar with them, so will not believe they are real issued Canada Post stamps, believing them instead to be cinderellas.
If outlet workers are unfamiliar, they will refuse to hand cancel. That is the only issue. The stamps are legit, have phosphor tags, and no mail has ever been returned to me with these stamps.
Thank you, stampraider, this is super informative – and so interesting! I don’t think I have any of the unusual stamps you described, so my postcards should be safe. And now I know about phosphor tagging! I’ll start using those old stamps ASAP.
By the way, I hadn’t heard the term “cinderella” before. A cool bit of lingo to describe some of the faux stamps I use for decoration, excellent
Well darn, I’ve been cheating Canada Post out of 15 cents per card then. On the other hand I don’t feel too bad since they make the value confusing on their website with the 1.07 for a single stamp thing. At least I know now and can use the proper postage!
Thanks for the discount postage link. That is really useful!
Haha exactly, it’s their fault for making it so confusing. I wish there were more unique designs for US/intl… they really only bother with cool designs for the holidays unfortunately.
I agree totally, rosiesmaria and vikitty! Their messaging is confusing. I know I struggled to find a clear statement on the “true” value of the P-stamp on the Canada Post site! So if some cards sneak through with a little less postage than they should have, it’s probably because some posties are confused, too
@vikitty thanks for the discount postage suggestion! Are they usually really slow to ship? I placed an order a month ago, never heard anything, emailed to change my address last week as we moved (I expected it would be sent long before our move date) and still haven’t heard anything. Is that typical of the site do you know?
Hi, I know this has already kind of been discussed in this thread, but I’m a bit confused.
The CP website says that a stamp is $1.07 or $0.93 in a booklet. I buy Permanent stamps in booklets, and the website says they’re “always accepted at the current domestic postage price”. But… how can they tell if they’re purchased in a booklet or individually, once they’re on a card?
I always just assumed they’re $1.07 when combining them with other stamps (for USA or International), but is that incorrect? If someone could help me understand I’d really appreciate it! <3
I know, the website isn’t very clear! But the current rate for P stamps is .92, and you will always pay .92 for them, and they are worth .92, never 1.07. A stamp is only worth $1.07 if it says $1.07 on it - that’s the stamp you’ll get and the price you pay if you go to the post office and only buy one stamp.
yep that is typical – they don’t always have enough in stock. IIRC when I ordered I didn’t pay when I ordered, they sent me an invoice a couple weeks later. I would email them and inquire!
If you buy one stamp by itself, at the post office, you will pay $1.07 for one $0.92 stamp. The value of the stamp is $0.92. They mark it up as a service charge/tax/whatever.
If you buy a booklet of stamps, either at the post office, or online on their website, you will pay however much the price is that works out to $0.93 per stamp. The value of each stamp is $0.92.
It’s so stupidly confusing. Basically it’s a better deal to buy a book of stamps than just one stamp at a time.
Hi. In addition to the suggestions above, I have had great luck buying fun, small denomination stamps on Etsy and Ebay! I keep watching for sales or auctions with low/no bids. I may not always get a discounted price (I’ve actually paid over face value for some really great stamps) but I love having a huge variety of stamps on hand. It’s been great fun adding beautiful stamps on postcards that match a postcrossers wish list! People seem to like it. Happy shopping!
Hopefully reviving this thread isn’t a bad thing. I was super confused and hoped this thread would provide clarity but I ended up digging into the Canadian Post website.
Now I’m convinced the stamp value is $1.07. That the rate of $0.92 is a discounted rate for buying “bulk.”
If you go to the Canada Post website and get a letter mail estimate for delivery within Canada (I used my postal code to a Canadian penpal’s postal code), the rate given is $1.07 and it notes that you can send it for a discounted amount if you buy postage meter or coil/booklets. The Virtual Assistant also notes that the value of the permanent stamp is currently $1.07.
That site is really frustrating and needs to be way clearer. At least the page that details what a permanent stamp is.
I’m not sure if this will save any of y’all money 'cause 3 permanent stamps for sending international is an easy way to send many pretty stamps. I wish we had more fun $1.30 and $2.71 stamps.
It is confusing! Crazy that the Virtual Assistant says the current domestic rate is the single-purchase penalty price of $1.07, and not $0.92. Reliable information is provided by the Royal Philatelic Society of Canada, Elizabethan Era Chapter. Canada Post 2022 Stamp Program Canada Postal Rates (scroll to bottom)
I would think the chapter would be very interested in seeing your screenshot of the Virtual Assistant, if you wanted to share this with them.
Yes, this has come up many times lately. The post office workers do not even know for sure. I get different answers from different staff. As I understood it the rate is 0.92 and the 1.07 had a extra charge for handling a single stamp. This was stated a number of times when they first introduced that it was a fee (supposedly to try to discourage single stamp purchases) but now no one seems to know. The long time workers at the two post office I most often frequent will count my “P” stamps at 92 cents postage and require me to add more if I try to count a “P” as 1.07. (yes there are still some workers that look over the stamps to make sure you have correct postage!) And when doing low value stamps I just put on 92 cent worth and the vast majority of workers agree that is correct (but one new worker tried to tell me I needed to add more to make 1.07…and another worker said it was fine…so I didn’t add more.)
But really I don’t think you will have any mail returned if you count a “P” as 1.07…(UNLESS you are like me and always go to the counter to get a hand cancel and get the old-school workers who count the stamps and feel the “P” is only 92…) if you drop it in the box I think they will be delivered no issues.
And there IS a stamp with 1.07 printed on it! Only available sold as singles from a roll/coil at the counter (and theoretically THAT is what they should be giving you when you buy a single stamp…but most workers do not know that and they just grab a “P” from a roll, so it is very rare to see the 1.07 in actual use.
But back to the original question: Yes you can buy 10 cent stamps and use in combination with other stamps! I agree with HookedonPostcards, find your local Canada Post office (the real post office, not an outlet in a pharmacy or the mall) and get to know the staff. They are often very happy to help. Sadly the low values seem to be not sold in local offices anymore (both my favorite offices said they can no longer order them themselves!). They are available on the Canada Post website shop so I do recommend going online and purchasing some! I LOVE love LOVE the current low values, especially the 10 cent one! (I love dragonflies). There is two sections “Postage Stamps” and “Stamps and Collectables” (if you want any First Day Covers, Souv Sheets ect). The low values are on page 3 and 4 of the “Postage Stamps” section.
Yes, @BrendaVR, I have found it critical to develop a shared-love-of-stamps relationship with the postal workers. And quite nice to do so!
Sadly, both the local outlets and the local official post office do not carry many stamps anymore. Not like they used to. So, I have been driven to buy online. Not my preference as I prefer to speak with humans.
Still, online purchases are easy and fast. No shipping cost, unless you want the stamps next day. They usually arrive within two or three days.
I don’t know why Canada Post is so confusing (ie. not provide consistent information). There have been many back and forth about this. The fact is, I’ve always used permanent stamps as 1.07 value (and add 23 cents to mail to US and 2 P stamps plus 57 cents to mail to international). Most of my mail & postcards arrive no problem (there are a small percentage that are inevitably not registered/received). Until my mail gets returned with insufficient postage, I will continue to do so. With the number of cards I sent, the savings add up!
Permanent (P) stamps have a current value of CAD$0.92, not CAD$1.07. If you use three P stamps for an international mailing, you will overpay by 5 cents.
As I mentioned in my first post, I put 2 permanent stamps plus 57 cents on international mail so the savings is 35 cents.
I’m not advocating for one way or another. I’m only expressing my confusion over Canada Post. I’ve read in other threads that even people who work/worked for Canada Post can’t give a definitive answer. I forgot to mention in the past I’ve also tried using small denomination stamps adding up to 92 cents to mail domestically. So why is it 92 cents sometimes and 1.07 other times? Maybe the postal workers are also confused and/or too nice to keep sending them out anyways?
I’ve accepted that this is something I’ll probably never understand completely, kinda like UFO’s. Please don’t talk about UFO’s here
