@manencov thanks a lot!!
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Hey everyone, was wondering how postmarks work in Italy as I am due to visit Italy in a month’s time.
Are there special postmarks in specific stores (maybe in the philatelic space)?
Hello @Nosaj
In Italy there are 3 kinds of post offices:
- basic ones, where they usually have a very small (or not al all) choice of stamps, and don’t have special postmarks. If you ask them to add a postmark to your letters/postcards, they will probably say they can’t.
- normal ones with a philatelic counter, where they usually have more choice of stamps, but have special postmarks only for special events
- spazi filatelia. They are special post offices, separated from the normal ones, where they only sell stamps and philatelic items. They have a very large choice of stamps and always have a special postmark with the name of the office, and will gladly use it on your cards. They may also have a small choice of different special postmarks, it depends on special events.
For example, this is the standard postmark of the spazio filatelia in Genoa
There are only 10 spazi filatelia, only in big cities. You can find the complete list here
https://filatelia.poste.it/spazi-filatelia.html
I can also suggest you this page
https://filatelia.poste.it/eventi-e-calendario.html
If you open the “calendario marcofilia” menù, you will find several lists of the special postmarks for special events. I take a random one as an example
It says the place and date of the special event (sede del servizio & data) and then in the last two lines (struttura competente) it gives the address of the philatelic counter when you will find that postmark for the following 60 days
I fear there is not a “search” function when you can insert a place and see which postmarks they have 
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Thank you for the complete and prompt reply! I’m wondering if you or anyone has the same information for the Vatican City as I’ll drop by there as well and I’m not sure if there’s a forum dedicated to the Vatican City.
nope, the section of the Forum would be the italian one as well, as for San Marino
anyway it works in the same way I think, standard postmarks if you put the postcards with the Vatican stamps in the yellow letterboxes, special postmarks - if available - if you search in the philatelic points of the state, here are some infos
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Thank you so much for the help 
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Via delle Grazie, 8, 00193 Roma RM
This is address of the one of Italian post offices with filatelic stamps near Vatican. It’s behind of the corner, not on the street near Vatican wall , because there are 2 offices.
There is a white post office- wagon in Piazza San Petro in the Vatican.
It’s easy to find , but there are a lot of places in Vatican where you can send a card , not only this one . In the middle of the square is a white wagon, in the square next to the toilet, at the exit of the Vatican Museum, and this other 2 I’m never tried: near the columns, and in the square on the left …
Look at the schedule in advance on the map, they sometimes close early .
Have a great vacation! 
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Thank you for the in-depth explanation, have a great day 
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Quick question to the italian postcrossers:
I am in vacations in the north and just wrote a bunch of postcards. Got stamps in an official post office (small). I should throw the postcards in the red mailbox, right? I am scared to throw in the wrong box and waste 60 postcards.
Also, there are 2 “holes” to throw the mail. If I understood it correctly, one is if I am sending mail to an address in the city I am and the other is to everywhere else, right?
Thanks a lot.
@marimnishek the red letterbox is the right one, no worries! you can choose the hole you want, they are “fake”, all the letters and postcards will be put together in a big box later by Poste Italiane
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Hello all, we’re visiting Italy soon and I was wondering if thrift or 2nd hand shops also sell postcards. Is there a logo for the mercatini dell’usato or not? I will be staying at Vinci, by the way.
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@Shalottslady
Unfortunately, I can’t give you an exact answer because I have never been to Vinci 
.
In Rome, postcards are not sold in the market (second-hand), I call them “marcato”. But once a month we had “mercatini di usato e antiquariato” markets, where you could find vintage postcards. But I’m sure you can find postcards in souvenir shops 
. But if you come across “mercatino del usato”, I advise you to visit it, there are a lot of interesting things 
I wish you a great holiday in Vinci 
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I have often bought postcards at a thrift market from a man who sells books too, but you must be lucky in finding such markets. You might find cards if you visit an antique market as well. There must be several in Tuscany. Browse the web, for example: Empoli mercatini.
Cards are also sold at some tobacconist’s.
I’m sorry I can’t help you more than this. 
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@Shalottslady
I’ve never been in Vinci, but until now I’ve never seen a logo for second hand shops.
Sometimes souvenir shops, stationery shops or news kiosks, especially old established ones, may have old postcards (let’s say '80s) that sell at cheap price (let’s say 30c).
For example one time I asked to stationery / neswpaper shop if they had postcards (there were none exposed) and they brought out an old cardboard box with old cards of the zone, and gifted me one per type.
Another time I found old cards (always unwritten) in a local handcrafted wooden products shop, they were exposed in a box.
It’s also a matter of lucky & search 
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Hi!
I’ve been to Italy recently and bought these stamps. I didn’t check what I was buying and received stamps for a weird “postal” service, which some internet discussions called scam. They are supposed to be valid for postcards to Asia, but I didn’t use them. Do I throw them away, or are they usable? I could send them to someone, if they could be used.
They seems sticker for private postal services, but I’ve never seen that brand, and their website seems empty of information. 
In general these services are less reliable and more expensive than Poste Italiane, so they are not recommended (I’ve tried in the past with three postcards and only one arrived).
Perhaps someone have seen the specific postboxes in some cities and can try to use them for non important mail.
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I may have found something here…
it should be a list of their post boxes and retail points
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