I’ve said before on this forum, I delivered mail for 5 years (2015-2020), and I’ve used the USPS to mail lots of things over the years. But, I can only give my opinion based on my experience. If something is marked “postage due,” it’s up to the mail carrier to collect the amount due. We were supposed to be given any postage due letters or packages when we loaded our trucks for the day. One of the clerks would make us sign for each item and, at the end of the day, in order to be cleared for the day, the carrier has to give the clerk any amount collected and sign off on it again. That’s how it’s supposed to work. Like some other carriers, I kept my own roll of stamps in my truck. If something only needed a bit extra, I’d slap a stamp or two on it and deliver it. (That’s the same as paying for it.) Same if someone had an envelope in the outgoing mail that I knew was short postage. I’d slap a stamp on it and send it on it’s way.
More time than not, a postage due letter would pop up in my trays of machine sorted letters. If I got one there, I just delivered it, as is. I figured, if the mighty machine sorters accepted it, it was good enough for me! That’s probably how people sometimes get postage due mail delivered. The carrier chose to ignore it! And, as someone said here earlier, once you get it, it’s yours!
FYI - if there’s a substantial amount due, usually on a package, and there’s no one at home to pay for it, it goes back to the post office. The carrier leaves a note telling the people they have a postage due package that must be picked up.
And, again, as someone here said earlier - no one REALLY knows why the USPS does what it does. We all just cross our fingers and hope there’s a friendly clerk at the counter!
Just to clarify your response, no, a US First Class Forever stamp is NOT enough to mail a postcard out of the country. For the US, first class AND postcard postage out of the country is the same: $1.40 (currently, to increase on 1/22/23).
Last year I received a small parcel with postage due…I took it to the PO to pay but the clerk really didn’t know what to do; eventually she figured out how to ring it up and I paid. It’s a rare experience
@tpuchalski I also work for the French postal service and that’s quite the same : Letter carrier is given the letter and have to come back with the money, or the letter if it wasn’t delivered.
Letter carriers usually don’t like it, cause it’s a loss of time and people are generally annoyed to pay for that.
For example, a letter France to France with no stamp will need a 4,16€ fee in 2023 (the stamp is 1,16€).
I also have a “T” stamps for international letters, but I use it about 10 times a year.
On the other hand, it’s rather common to have “local” postage due. I guess a letter carrier is given one each week.
Here is a philatelic perspective. Back in the day most countries used postage due stamps to mark the postage due from recipients. The use of these stamps being fairly unusual, covers (philatelic term for any envelope or postcard) that use these stamps are valued. Postage due stamps have mostly been discontinued in recent years. I am a philatelic cover collector and I have a small number of covers with postage due stamp use. I believe these are quite rare.
I just got three postcards from USA with too little postage.
I haven’t registered these yet, but I thought maybe the new ones aren’t aware how much they need to use? (Of course I don’t know if these are from a new member, but I came to think this seeing this thread here.)
Did you have a problem receiving postcards? Or did the stamps work very well?
I admit that it never occurs to me to check if the sender has the right postage at the right price, I am too happy to receive postcards.
What kind of problem (like did I need to pay?), no.
I always look at the stamps too, everything possible . (And since I have learned what is enough from USA, I think I often spot it without thinking.)
Edit. One might be sent last year June, so not a new member, unless somehow wrote wrong date, or I read it wrong.
Looking at comments I’ve seen on Reddit some of the new wave are definitely confused about postage. No one sends letter post these days so it can be hard to know what it costs and you might not even realise there are stamps with different price points.
There’s no harm in mentioning it in your thank you message or you could also report it to support. They won’t do anything unless there’s a concern it’s someone doing it intentionally.
For anyone who is curious, USA domestic postage for postcards is currently $0.48. International postage, regardless whether it’s a postcard or an envelope, is $1.45. Combinations of postage stamps that add up to that amount are acceptable. For international postage, sometimes I use the $1 commemorative stamp and a $0.48 postcard stamp. I lose three cents but who cares.
I came from OakLeaf’s TikTok as well, but this was at least a couple weeks ago after one of her first videos. I have done a DEEP dive and have embedded myself in the postcrossing and snail mail community. It was something I didn’t know I would love as much as I do. I have a couple postcards that have been registered so far and immediately used up all of the remaining slots. I am also participating in tags and such. I just love the community and I love putting in effort into each postcard I send🤍
I’m afraid to treat them as new, or treat anyone what I think they are I once thought someone is child because of their hand writing good I didn’t mention it any ways. I think.
I’m also afraid of politely writing anything because apparently I’m not good at it, so I trust the postcrossing team.
(I have sometimes mentioned, maybe they didn’t know, international postage is “amount” and that I understand they maybe accidentally put the postcard stamp. And the answer was so angry, how they have swapped how much longer than me totally unrelated things. And someone wrote, “listen you little know-it-all” (I wrote her the current values of stamps, so it didn’t seem helpful to her, which I thought).
But if it’s new member, I will mention it with my thank message, if old, postcrossing team knows how to deal with them so I don’t accidentally make them feel like new or not knowing something, if they think it’s bad.
(Someone wrote once to me, how I can send a card with only 0.10€ stamp. That’s the addition, if I use priority mail and use domestic value stamp, so I asked isn’t there another stamp (those don’t show the value, only a little Finland map symbol). They never answered, so I don’t know if I really sent the card with that so underpaid stamp, or they didn’t know the other was a real stamp.)
But I think this is the first time all three cards I get had same style underpayment.
Some people are really ridiculous!
I started writing “welcome” and giving a hint about the postage, for it had turned out before, that all of those users were newbies. Sorry that you had to make such a bad experience!
I didn’t take it bad. But I don’t want to create such reactions in others, if I can choose.
I can understand it can feel strange to get advice from a stranger, who doesn’t live in that country even ( ). And fun coinsidence, I had then just read, how advice from a woman is often treated as “showing off” and unpolite, while same advice from a man is taken more seriously. Many things to consider in an interplay.
Perhaps should I hide my gender and put a hammer to my avatar
You’d think people would be nicer in a site like this one. I expect people can have bad days. I know when I received the admonishment for writing my website on one post and the abbreviation for my cards in another (both things I’ve seen other people do all the time) it was at a time when I had just recently lost my best friend and just lost my cat and my emotions were high. I think I flared up a bit about it. The admin who admonished me probably wanted to whip me with a wet noodle. Not an excuse for acting badly but we never know what people are going through. Just kill them with kindness, I guess and try not to take it personally <3
I agree, everyone have bad days, I really didn’t take it bad.
I’m happy there are new members and welcome them of course
I also like that when Postcrossing has begun, there was no TikTok, so nowadays app find these old hobbies, it’s very cool!
. (And since I have learned what is enough from USA, I think I often spot it without thinking.)
I once thought someone is child because of their hand writing 
good I didn’t mention it any ways. I think.
(I wrote her the current values of stamps, so it didn’t seem helpful to her, which I thought).
). And fun coinsidence, I had then just read, how advice from a woman is often treated as “showing off” and unpolite, while same advice from a man is taken more seriously. Many things to consider in an interplay.
