Postmark collectors... the guidelines?

[scotzm]

Hi... and thanks for the opportunity to see and write to the forums.
Can I ask if there are any "rules" or guidelines regarding people like me who enjoy collecting stamps and postmarks? In the distant past I was able to go to my local post office and get things nicely postmarked for sending items to other collectors. These days a town/city postmark is highly desirable to collectors as the trend is now for real postal used items rather than the " unaddressed Tallents House special postmarks sent in a separate envelope that never get actually handled by postal staff". I've made a return to collecting and would like to get "real" mail. Obviously I cannot expect staff to handstamp loads of items at busy times but I'd like to know the policy and practice in effect just now.
Keep up the good work.

Scotty

[Lounge Lizard]

Regarding "go to my local post office and get things nicely postmarked for sending items to other collectors" I think that for many years it was only Special Delivery and Standard Parcels where the stamps were cancelled by the Date Stamp in the Post Office, but since about four years ago this also applies to First and Second Class Packets, anything really that wouldn't be automatically sorted, so that Mail Centre staff on handstamping duties could be reduced - a cost cutting measure that actually gives you more chance of obtaining local postmarks.

[scotzm]

looks like I will have to get to know my local post office staff a bit better and maybe get my mail...with real stamps on... postmarked. There is a LOT of mail coming to me without any postmarking at all. I have a friend who takes any deliveries with nice stamps but without postmarking to his local post office and they cancel the stamps for him. Cannot see any problems with that as that does ensure the stamps cannot be used again. On ebay it is common to see "re-usable" stamps on offer so he is doing Royal Mail a favour ?

[Lounge Lizard]

looks like I will have to get to know my local post office staff a bit better and maybe get my mail...with real stamps on... postmarked. There is a LOT of mail coming to me without any postmarking at all. I have a friend who takes any deliveries with nice stamps but without postmarking to his local post office and they cancel the stamps for him. Cannot see any problems with that as that does ensure the stamps cannot be used again. On ebay it is common to see "re-usable" stamps on offer so he is doing Royal Mail a favour ?

Yes, get to know your local post office staff a bit better, at a quieter time of the day for them if possible, but remember they've a harder job making a decent living than in years gone by and they make more money using Horizon labels rather than putting proper stamps on.
There certainly is a LOT of mail coming through without any postmarking at all mainly because when Mail Centres are regularly short staffed handstamping duties are one of the first to go - false economy for Royal Mail no doubt, with all the 're-usable' stamps on ebay, but that's how it is.
You may not be aware that there are still several hundred SPDOs ( Scale Payment Delivery Office ) in rural areas across the country, small delivery offices attached to Sub Post Offices and at some of these 'Local' letters don't leave the village, the stamps date-stamped as they would have been a century ago !

[scotzm]

.... and at some of these 'Local' letters don't leave the village, the stamps date-stamped as they would have been a century ago !

Great news. I miss the days when I could get mail postmarked in places like "HALFPENNY GREEN" , "SIXPENNY HANDLEY" and such exotic places
I'm now going to tour around the places I have lived and get the local handstamp. Like you advise... not at peak times... and I'll certainly ask nicely and have the stamps already on the mail. Truth to tell, many of the latest issues of GB stamps are unavailable (not cost effective really, I suppose) at many offices and can only be obtained from Philatelic sources or larger offices. Showing my age... I can remember my local village post office lady keeping ALL new issue sets for me and especially the "traffic-light gutter pairs" which are worth quite a lot to collectors. I still get good service from my new local office and fully support the use it or lose it approach. Cheers.

[Lounge Lizard]

.... and at some of these 'Local' letters don't leave the village, the stamps date-stamped as they would have been a century ago !

Great news. I miss the days when I could get mail postmarked in places like "HALFPENNY GREEN" , "SIXPENNY HANDLEY" and such exotic places
I'm now going to tour around the places I have lived and get the local handstamp. Like you advise... not at peak times... and I'll certainly ask nicely and have the stamps already on the mail. Truth to tell, many of the latest issues of GB stamps are unavailable (not cost effective really, I suppose) at many offices and can only be obtained from Philatelic sources or larger offices. Showing my age... I can remember my local village post office lady keeping ALL new issue sets for me and especially the "traffic-light gutter pairs" which are worth quite a lot to collectors. I still get good service from my new local office and fully support the use it or lose it approach. Cheers.

I might add that they will most likely only postmak it if it's going into the postal system, and that if it's of a small enough size to be automatically sorted then it will probably end up with an ink jet postmark and / or bar code on the stamp(s) as well.
"traffic-light gutter pairs" - the earliest ones from around 1972 were worth a bob or two if I remember correctly.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

£720

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GB-QEII-MNH-H ... 760wt_1217" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Lounge Lizard]

£720

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GB-QEII-MNH-H ... 760wt_1217" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I never knew you were so interested in such things.
I've only recently been told that there's a fine line between a hobby and a mental illness.

[newsubbie]

I own a large village post office (with mailwork sorting). I have a few collectors who buy new issue stamps from us - and we cancel them at their request. We are lucky enough to have the 'proper' date stamps, including one that's nearly 100 years old. We use that one for cancelling collectors stamps. We just have a list of what people want (i.e. first day covers, full sheets, traffic lights etc) and put them aside accordingly. I have a couple of customers who we post stamps too, as their local offices wont bother with first day covers/ cancelling etc. It'll just depend on what your local offices do I suppose...