I had a stamp stuck on an envelope that was not Franked and so thought
had never been used. So i cut around it and stuck it to a new envelope
and posted it. but i got a note from the post office that i needed to go
in and pay extra.
As an experiment i used a stamp that i knew for sure had never been used
but had been stuck on an envelope. So i again cut around it and posted
it to myself and it arrived.

Does the post office have some way of detecting if a stamp had been used
through royal mail even though there is no visible sign of Frank Marks?

On 23/06/2018 19:31, john west wrote:
I had a stamp stuck on an envelope that was not Franked and so thought
had never been used.Â* So i cut around it and stuck it to a new envelope
and posted it. but i got a note from the post office that i needed to go
in and pay extra.
As an experiment i used a stamp that i knew for sure had never been used
but had been stuck on an envelope.Â* So i again cut around it and posted
it to myself and it arrived.

Does the post office have some way of detecting if a stamp had been used
through royal mail even though there is no visible sign of Frank Marks?

I thought they used UV spots over the stamp to cancel it.

Some time ago I reused a DVD case by putting a stamp on an inner sleeve,
which then could be wiped clean after every use!

Fredxx wrote:

john west wrote:

Does the post office have some way of detecting if a stamp had been
used through royal mail even though there is no visible sign of Frank
Marks?

I thought they used UV spots over the stamp to cancel it.

I have some vague re-collection of that too.

On 23/06/2018 20:04, Andy Burns wrote:
Fredxx wrote:

john west wrote:

Does the post office have some way of detecting if a stamp had been
used through royal mail even though there is no visible sign of Frank
Marks?

I thought they used UV spots over the stamp to cancel it.

I have some vague re-collection of that too.


They have used phosphor bands on stamps for at least 4 decades to help
prevent fraud. The royal mail suggests that that they can detect stamps
that have been washed (franking removed) by the degradation in this
phosphor. In this case the stamp hadn't been washed.

Could it have been been the wrong postage amount for the size of the
envelope that resulted in the additional payment rather than the reuse
of a stamp?

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

Some nut at the post office in a sw London town had a bit of a fit some
weeks ago and started sticking post paid stickers over the windows in our
reusable pouches even though they were Articles for the Blind free post. The
meant that the pouch was no longer reusable without a lot of work by our
volunteers getting the glue and bits of paper off the pouch so we could
remove the address label to turn it back to outgoing. I'm sure the person
meant well, covering up the slot where the label could be removed but had
not thought it through. Needless to say we had a moan as there were 12
pouches to clean and it took hours, Each pouch costs a fiver after all.
Brian

--
----- --
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"Fredxx" wrote in message
news
On 23/06/2018 19:31, john west wrote:
I had a stamp stuck on an envelope that was not Franked and so thought
had never been used. So i cut around it and stuck it to a new envelope
and posted it. but i got a note from the post office that i needed to go
in and pay extra.
As an experiment i used a stamp that i knew for sure had never been used
but had been stuck on an envelope. So i again cut around it and posted it
to myself and it arrived.

Does the post office have some way of detecting if a stamp had been used
through royal mail even though there is no visible sign of Frank Marks?

I thought they used UV spots over the stamp to cancel it.

Some time ago I reused a DVD case by putting a stamp on an inner sleeve,
which then could be wiped clean after every use!

On 24/06/2018 08:00, Brian Gaff wrote:
Some nut at the post office in a sw London town had a bit of a fit some
weeks ago and started sticking post paid stickers over the windows in our
reusable pouches even though they were Articles for the Blind free post. The
meant that the pouch was no longer reusable without a lot of work by our
volunteers getting the glue and bits of paper off the pouch so we could
remove the address label to turn it back to outgoing. I'm sure the person
meant well, covering up the slot where the label could be removed but had
not thought it through. Needless to say we had a moan as there were 12
pouches to clean and it took hours, Each pouch costs a fiver after all.

You have pouches? That sound rather grand: like diplomatic pouches.

--
Max Demian

On 23/06/2018 19:31, john west wrote:
I had a stamp stuck on an envelope that was not Franked and so thought
had never been used.Â* So i cut around it and stuck it to a new envelope
and posted it. but i got a note from the post office that i needed to go
in and pay extra.
As an experiment i used a stamp that i knew for sure had never been used
but had been stuck on an envelope.Â* So i again cut around it and posted
it to myself and it arrived.

Does the post office have some way of detecting if a stamp had been used
through royal mail even though there is no visible sign of Frank Marks?
Yes. I think it is based upon markings visible under UV light.

--
--

Colin Bignell

On 23/06/2018 19:50, Nightjar wrote:
On 23/06/2018 19:31, john west wrote:
I had a stamp stuck on an envelope that was not Franked and so thought
had never been used.Â* So i cut around it and stuck it to a new
envelope and posted it. but i got a note from the post office that i
needed to go in and pay extra.
As an experiment i used a stamp that i knew for sure had never been
used but had been stuck on an envelope.Â* So i again cut around it and
posted it to myself and it arrived.

Does the post office have some way of detecting if a stamp had been
used through royal mail even though there is no visible sign of Frank
Marks?
Yes. I think it is based upon markings visible under UV light.

I believe it is illegal to reuse, however maybe the envelope paper is
causing the issue.....

quote....
"I have tried this on a stamp to check the results. You spray a little
WD40 on the back of the paper the stamp is stuck to. When the paper
starts to go translucent you gently ease the stamp of the paper, drop
the stamp on a little talcum powder to dry it off. "

Well you just proved that they do.

I bet your name is on their dodgy persons list now.

The obvious thing is to franc with a sort of ink that glows in UV this will
then not obscure the wonderful pictures on stamps.
It also means that its harder for the public to know if its been sitting
around in a post office sack for weeks. I'm not a fan of Royal Mail at the
moment, They are pretty poor at getting things reliably to where they are
going in a timely manner.
Brian

--
----- --
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"john west" wrote in message
news
I had a stamp stuck on an envelope that was not Franked and so thought had
never been used. So i cut around it and stuck it to a new envelope and
posted it. but i got a note from the post office that i needed to go in and
pay extra.
As an experiment i used a stamp that i knew for sure had never been used
but had been stuck on an envelope. So i again cut around it and posted it
to myself and it arrived.

Does the post office have some way of detecting if a stamp had been used
through royal mail even though there is no visible sign of Frank Marks?

On 23/06/2018 19:31, john west wrote:
I had a stamp stuck on an envelope that was not Franked and so thought
had never been used.Â* So i cut around it and stuck it to a new envelope
and posted it.
You are tighter than a Yorkshireman:-)

Are you a Scot?

--
Adam

john west wrote:
I had a stamp stuck on an envelope that was not Franked and so thought
had never been used.Â* So i cut around it and stuck it to a new envelope
and posted it. but i got a note from the post office that i needed to go
in and pay extra.
As an experiment i used a stamp that i knew for sure had never been used
but had been stuck on an envelope.Â* So i again cut around it and posted
it to myself and it arrived.

Does the post office have some way of detecting if a stamp had been used
through royal mail even though there is no visible sign of Frank Marks?

Steam them off don't cut around.

FMurtz wrote
john west wrote

I had a stamp stuck on an envelope that was not Franked and so thought
had never been used. So i cut around it and stuck it to a new envelope
and posted it. but i got a note from the post office that i needed to go
in and pay extra.

As an experiment i used a stamp that i knew for sure had never been used
but had been stuck on an envelope. So i again cut around it and posted
it to myself and it arrived.

Does the post office have some way of detecting if a stamp had been used
through royal mail even though there is no visible sign of Frank Marks?

Steam them off don't cut around.

Wont help given that they use fluorescent dots to indicate
that its franked and easy to see the fluorescent dots yourself.

On Mon, 25 Jun 2018 15:53:03 +1000, cantankerous geezer Rot Speed blabbered,
again:


Steam them off don't cut around.

Wont help given that they use fluorescent dots to indicate
that its franked and easy to see the fluorescent dots yourself.

You know that HOW, Rot ...given that you neither live in the UK, nor saw the
stamp, nor have any dealings with the Royal Mail, but live in far away
Ozzieland? BG

--
dennis@home to know-it-all Rot Speed:
"You really should stop commenting on things you know nothing about."
Message-ID:

On 25/06/2018 06:23, FMurtz wrote:
john west wrote:
I had a stamp stuck on an envelope that was not Franked and so thought
had never been used.Â* So i cut around it and stuck it to a new
envelope and posted it. but i got a note from the post office that i
needed to go in and pay extra.
As an experiment i used a stamp that i knew for sure had never been
used but had been stuck on an envelope.Â* So i again cut around it and
posted it to myself and it arrived.

Does the post office have some way of detecting if a stamp had been
used through royal mail even though there is no visible sign of Frank
Marks?

Steam them off don't cut around.

That worked with gummed stamps. It is less effective with self-adhesive
ones.

--
--

Colin Bignell