Postage Labels and Postage Codes

It’s really disappointing that someone would make a comment like that in a Hurray message. Complaining about a postage label? Well, complaining about anything, really. How rude. What if this was the sender’s only way to get postage? That comment serves nothing but to make the sender feel bad. This isn’t indicative of the Postcrossing spirit at all.

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I am curious about cards with the postage of written code! It will be interesting to receive a postcard without any stamps or labels but still delivered. But I love stamps and I hope the stamps can still be mainstream. If there is only codes or labels existing… Forget it!

Our self service kiosks issue similar labels with all kinds of info listed on it…I just feel bad using them because I find stamps and postcards like soulmates lol

Everything is becoming so monotonous in this world with QR codes and all the fancy stuff. There is a reason why I have given up on most of my hobbies but stuck with postcards. But I don’t mind receiving labels or written codes because I don’t know the situation of the sender but I do know how postal services are going EEEEEEEEEEEEEE (electronic) to the teeeeeeeeee. :flaming:

The local postal service, BW Post, puts such labels over all stamps if they are on the right side. To preserve the stamp for the recipient, you’d have to sacrifice 30% – 45% of a postcard’s height (4.5cm!).

I think this white label is more boring than a stamp. I would feel a bit disappointed, but would not take it too personally since that could be all that is available to the sender. Maybe it’s cool to receive it once as a novelty, like someone else has mentioned.

In terms of postage labels in general though, they can be as interesting as stamps! For example, the ones that @Yunlong showed with the printed pictures are really awesome. They fulfill all that a stamp does: pays postage, adds a visual element to the card, and gives you a chance to dive into a topic related to that country. I can definitely see someone collecting them.

I still wish stamps are here to stay, but there is room for labels in the future as well, in my opinion!

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Also it post office offer marching postcard with label. Tiger card for tiger label etc.If lot people like that I will create an offer it to PC COMMUNITY

I won’t lie. I came home and had a few tears. My local AusPost informed me today that they no longer sell postage stamps but the ugly black and white postage paid stickers. (I wish I’d taken a photo to show you what I mean but maybe you know.)

It kind of broke my heart a little bit. A stamp is just part of the joy of sending a postcard around the world. I know how much I love getting a postcard but then to get a gorgeous postage stamp is just the icing on the cake.

I know I can buy them online but there are all the other factors associated with buying stamps online that bring me to an anxiety level I’m not sure will out way the joy of sending a postcard.

My other nearest AusPost 25 minutes away and the town is 10 times smaller than this one. I’m not sure they sell them now either.

So sad and disappointing. :weary: :sob:

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Let me know if this is correct/similar to the situation in Australia but the US has these as well – you can buy them from the vending machines if you’re in a hurry and don’t want to wait at the counter. They really are very unpleasant to look at and I hope this was a temporary supply chain issue. I agree completely – in fact I would argue that a postcard is not complete without a proper stamp.

(crossed out the QR code just in case anyone wants to pirate my 40 cents)

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I went to a post office here in Dublin and asked if they do proper stamps, you know the kind that people collect. Not the sticker labels but the ones you lick? And he looked at me like I was stupid. Then he slowly explained to me what a stamp is and that his machine does in fact do real stamps, the kind that people collect.

Satisfied, I asked for one and he proceeded to print me a postage label.

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LOL - I think the technical terms you’re looking for are water-activated stamps (licked) and self-adhesive stamps (stickers). Hilarious that he would print a postage label. There’s an apocryphal story that the water-activated stamps were phased out in the US because of a Seinfeld episode where a woman becomes sick from licking envelopes.

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So sad! A philatelic tragedy. :dizzy_face: :cry: :broken_heart:

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I’m really sad but also happy to see this post. Thank you to u/billie the admin of the group for moving my post here.

I really am glad to see it’s not just my post office and that I’m not the only one sad about these stickers. I don’t mind so much the image that u/Yunlong shared. It’s not blatantly ugly.

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I’m pretty sure my brain would have blown up if he presented me with that. :weary:

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yes! Very much like this one! just a bar code and not a QR code. Traumatised!

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I don’t think he’d know what a stamp was if it didn’t whir whir out of his machine.

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Singapore’s labels look like this.
Not ugly per se, but uninspiring.
The only thing good about these is that you can print any amount necessary, instead of having to find left and right for sufficient postage

To countries where my cards often go missing/expire,
I have noticed 2022, if I put the card in an envelope (written and with used stamps on) and use these postage code on the envelope - They are more likely to arrive at the destination.

I always put uncommon/christmas stamps on the cards I send
and I believe someone actually take the cards before they arrive,
just because of the stamps.

but with these Postage codes/labels - a higher procentage actually arrives.
A coincident :thinking:

But ofcourse I prefer the stamps :slight_smile:

I’m a relatively new postcrosser from The Netherlands, but reading forum posts I understand the kind of stamps used could be an issue for some. When I buy international stamps I always got the one with our King’s head on it. Boring according to many. Then I found out I could order my own international stamps through my PostNL account by simply uploading a photo and I have plenty of them. It costs a bit more than the now € 1,65 per stamp, but it shows something different than our King’s head. I think because everything has to go digital labels have become more common practice.

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I too don’t care much for those franked labels. Many postal admins even try to sell those to collectors in that category.

So looks like online is the only recourse available to you. And there too they charge $5 for shipping it across to your address.

Yikkes those made me cry once when I was travelling in the USA. When I asked if the machine had real stamps they told me yes. I was in tears when these things came out. I begged to exchange them for real stamps but they didn’t want to. To them it’s real stamps! No no no not to me.

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