"Non-Machineable Surcharge"
I recently received a package of stamps from the United States. There were two stamps on the envelope; one is a 'Forever' stamp, the other, marked as above. I checked with the USPS website, and while I think I understand the principle behind this type of stamp, I would like to know how such postage works in reality. Does the 'surcharge' stamp get added to the Forever stamp, because of the envelope size? If so,what is the surcharge?
Comments
The two stamps on your envelope would total $1.25 in postage. My assumption is that this would cover the $1.20 rate for up to one ounce for an international letter. Since this envelope contained merchandise, however, the sender severely underpaid the required postage rate, which varies depending upon the country to which the envelope was sent. The minimum, however, would have been in excess of $10.00.
Seriously Richard, your erudite and articulate explanation was extremely helpful. The letter was sent to Canada.
Secondarily, as I've never seen this set up before, would a Forever 'Global' stamp make any difference?
You are correct, I am an old geezer (63+ years) who spent a lot of years in business answering questions from around the world, with many answers going to individuals who did not have the best grasp of English. Since the subjects covered often involved chemicals where confusion could cause severe issues to both individual safety and to the process involved, concise descriptions were required.
Robert,
An individual "Global Forever" stamp is presently valued at $1.20. My assumption is that the individual involved overpaid by 5 Cents because either they did not have a Global Forever stamp or wanted to get rid of the non-machineable surcharge stamp.
If the cover was merely a two-ounce letter - for which the butterfly stamps are intended despite the confusing 'Non-Machinable' indicator - the sender probably thought the butterfly stamp was merely intended for the second ounce and added it to his Forever franking. The butterfly stamps are intended to carry a 2-ounce letter - not to be added to a Forever stamp.
However, if the sender was a philatelist and knowledgeable, the $1.25 in total franking would just slightly overpay the 2-ounce rate for a 'Large Envelope'. It would be interesting to see a scan of the entire envelope you received, if you still have it.
The USPS has stamps that are inscribed "Two Ounce", was well as "Three Ounce", for envelopes that fall within those weight ranges. The Non-Machineable stamp is intended to cover the rate for envelopes that outside of the USPS guidelines for envelope size for regular first class rate envelopes. The envelope may weight less than one ounce, but because of its non-uniform size, requires the non-machineable rate surcharge which just happens at this time to be the same rate as for an addition ounce of weight.
If you had a non-uniform sized envelope that happened to weight 1.5 ounces, it would require the non-machineable weight surcharge (15 Cents) and also the second-ounce surcharge (also 15 Cents). If you just stuck a non-machineable rate stamp on that envelope, you would be underpaying the required postage by 15 Cents.
I just went into the USPS website, asked for the rate for a non-standard envelope weighing 1.5 ounces and got a quote of 85 Cents. That confirms the calculation of 55 Cents + 15 Cents for additional ounce + 15 Cents for odd-sized envelope.
It will pay for the 2 ounce rate as long as the surcharge for the second ounce and the non-machineable surcharge rate are the same amount (which they are at present, both being 15 Cents).
But please note that there are stamps specifically sold by the USPS for the two-ounce rate, one of which is pictured below. The next time there is a rate change, the additional ounce surcharge and the non-machineable surcharge may not be the same, in which case the two stamps could not be interchanged without either over-paying or underpaying.
Although you could use the following stamp to pay for the 1.5 ounce non-machineable envelope as described in my previous post:
The USPS does not care what is printed on the stamp in regards to type of service. As long as there is sufficient postage value present on the mailing to cover the appropriate rate, it goes through without a problem. One can mix FOREVER stamps, NON-MACHINEABLE SURCHARGE rate stamps, older AIR MAIL stamps and the newer GLOBAL stamps, TWO OUNCE and THREE OUNCE stamps, the older stamps that have their values printed on them, SEMI-POSTAL stamps and even service inscribed stamps all on the same cover and it will go through. I have done this so I know it is possible.
I can use the service inscribed stamps as First Class postage because I have a permit to do so. The service inscribed stamps include BULK MAIL stamps, PRE-SORT stamps, etc. Again, as long as I include a sufficient number of them to cover the First Class rate, the mail goes through. The only issue is that I have to present any such mail to a clerk in person so that they can be hand-canceled.
The clerks at my post office are well aware of my postage stamp antics and are very tolerant of me in this regard. They assume that I have added the correct face value in stamps and that it covers the appropriate rate. I don't get too many comments from customers about the stamps that I use on my mail, but every once in a while someone says "Thanks!".
The stamps that can't be used on mail include but are not limited to Official, Postage Due and Certified Mail stamps. Also don't try using Duck stamps or any other type of hunting permit stamp.