I see stamps issued by "Post Office Machines" from various countries, listed as FRAMA stamps.
In the attached scan, how are these US stamps considered?
I understand that a vending machine should offer the same stamps or booklets available at the font desk.
But these stamps are printed right at the moment I made the payment.
Are these stamps cataloged somewhere?
Virgil
Few more questions:
1. Maybe I was wrong, but are these stamps printed just before dispensing or they are pre-loaded already printed?
2. Where I can get these stamps in MNH condition?
I think "FRAMA" is a brand name for a company based in Switzerland, which I think supplied them to some European postal authorities in the beginning (and perhaps still does).
I think, but I could be wrong, that the USPS never used that particular vendor, and so that name never really caught on here, but I have seen 'frama' used generically to mean 'computer vended postage' (which is what Scott calls them).
For current and future US issues, you should be able to buy them at face value from any US post office that has an "APC" (Automated Postal Center). That's the standalone machine in post office lobbies that you see people use to weigh packages and buy postage for them. (There's usually a giant "mail box" right next to it to mail those packages.)
One option on the menu is to buy 'stamps', which are then printed on demand for you. (I think the minimum purchase is $1, but you have a pay with a card -- the machines do not take cash.) I'm not a big user of these machines, but when I tried to buy Christmas-themed stamps this last year, it seemed like you got the labels with designs only if you were purchasing the 1-oz first class rate. If you needed a different rate (either smaller or larger), then it was printed on a blank label stock instead.
Hope that's helpful! Perhaps someone with more experience can confirm or correct my comments here.
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"You gotta put down the duckie if you wanna play the saxophone. (Hoots the Owl -- Sesame Street)"
Under 'Location Types', pull down and select 'Self-Service Kiosks'. Then in the next field over, enter your zipcode. On 'Within' next to that, select however many miles you'd like to find one within with the radius you choose, then press the 'search' button.
That should tell you which locations near you have that machine.
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"You gotta put down the duckie if you wanna play the saxophone. (Hoots the Owl -- Sesame Street)"
(I happened to have accumulated a few different types over the years, and have been thinking about listing them (I have a tiny little store on Hipstamp, but with no US listed yet), but I see for the most part, even the older ones, still sell for quite reasonable prices.)
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"You gotta put down the duckie if you wanna play the saxophone. (Hoots the Owl -- Sesame Street)"
We have the machine in the lobby of the Exton post office. I've bought both the flag and the Charlie Brown Xmas stamps there. Occasionally I'll try the machine to see what comes out. That's how I discovered the Peanuts stamps.