Once you buy stamps from the Post Office, generally all sales are final. So, you can’t sell stamps back to the Post Office, but you do have some options. Instead, you can sell your stamps to a Postage Buying Service for a cash payment. Continue reading to learn more.
Selling your stamps to a postage buying service
Just because you can’t sell your stamps back to the Post Office, doesn’t mean you can’t get a cash refund for your postage. Luckily, there are services who buy unused postage stamps from the general public.
These services will buy your unused stamps in any condition, as long as they are still in good enough shape to send mail with. The amount of cash you’ll receive is dependent on the condition and face value of the postage.
It’s useful to understand some basic accounting definitions here, as the face value of the stamps can be considered an asset that is being liquidated.
Click here to learn how to sell your unused stamps to a Postage Buying Service
What options does the Post Office provide?
The Post Office only allows customers to exchange their stamps if they were purchased in the past 30 days. They will replace the stamps with ones of the same value. This may be a solution if you’re planning to use the stamps, but they are too damaged to use for mailing.
You can read more about the Post Office’s exchange policies here.
They will also allow you to return your stamps to be exchanged for other denominations, totaling your purchase receipt. This may be useful if you purchased stamps in the wrong denomination.
Let’s say you purchased First-Class Rate Forever Stamps ($0.68 value, 2024). However, you’ve decided that you are going to send packages instead of envelopes. Instead of sticking dozens of stamps on each box, you can exchange the First-Class Forever Stamps for ones of a higher denomination (ie. $10.40 stamps for a Small Flat-Rate Box, 2024).
