A
personalised stamp is a
postage stampA postage stamp is adhesive paper evidence of a fee paid for postal services. Usually a small rectangle attached to an envelope, the stamp signifies the person sending it has fully or partly paid for delivery...
where a picture or
photographA photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...
can be added to the stamp by a member of the public, some non-governmental entity, or a governmental entity that is not in an official stamp-issuing capacity; it is obviously to be distinguished from personalised
rubber stampRubber stamping, also called stamping, is a craft in which some type of ink made of dye or pigment is applied to an image or pattern that has been carved, molded, laser engraved or vulcanized, onto a sheet of rubber...
s as well as "Postal Pal," a label with picture on which a regular postage-stamp can be placed. (In Austria the
denominationIn philately, the denomination is the "inscribed value of a stamp". For instance, if you visit the post office to buy a stamp to pay $1's worth of postage you will receive a stamp that has the value $1 printed on it in words or numbers....
of personalised stamps can now be changed as well.) In addition to mere personal expression the designs of personalized stamps have served a number of other purposes such as the attempt to find
missing personA missing person is a person who has disappeared for no known reason.Missing persons' photographs may be posted on bulletin boards, milk cartons, postcards, and websites, along with a phone number to be contacted if a sighting has been made....
s.
A
personalised stamp is a
postage stampA postage stamp is adhesive paper evidence of a fee paid for postal services. Usually a small rectangle attached to an envelope, the stamp signifies the person sending it has fully or partly paid for delivery...
where a picture or
photographA photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...
can be added to the stamp by a member of the public, some non-governmental entity, or a governmental entity that is not in an official stamp-issuing capacity; it is obviously to be distinguished from personalised
rubber stampRubber stamping, also called stamping, is a craft in which some type of ink made of dye or pigment is applied to an image or pattern that has been carved, molded, laser engraved or vulcanized, onto a sheet of rubber...
s as well as "Postal Pal," a label with picture on which a regular postage-stamp can be placed. (In Austria the
denominationIn philately, the denomination is the "inscribed value of a stamp". For instance, if you visit the post office to buy a stamp to pay $1's worth of postage you will receive a stamp that has the value $1 printed on it in words or numbers....
of personalised stamps can now be changed as well.) In addition to mere personal expression the designs of personalized stamps have served a number of other purposes such as the attempt to find
missing personA missing person is a person who has disappeared for no known reason.Missing persons' photographs may be posted on bulletin boards, milk cartons, postcards, and websites, along with a phone number to be contacted if a sighting has been made....
s. Some stamp-issuing entities have in turn used their personalised stamp systems to issue "personalised" stamps personalised
by the stamp issuing entity.
What is or possibly could be characterised as advocacy has also given rise to controversy; see below.
Dispensing methods
Personalised stamps can be obtained by the public or would-be purchasers or designers in a number of ways.
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
Australia Post has permitted personalisation of labels adjoining its stamps. They cost AU$19.95 per set.
FinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland
, is a Nordic country and democracy situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland...
Personalised stamps are available in Finland in sheets of 20 and eight-stamp booklets.
MalaysiaMalaysia is a country in Southeast Asia that consists of thirteen states and three Federal Territories, with a total landmass of . The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. The population stands at over 28 million inhabitants...
Malaysia Post offers personalised stamps, though apparently purchasing is restricted to certain entities.
The NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
Royal TGP Post has permitted personalisation of postage stamps.
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
Poczta PolskaPoczta Polska is the Polish public post service.- History :Before the postal system was established, correspondence was delivered by messengers. In the Middle Ages, such services were available only to the privileged classes - monarchs, rich merchants and some of the organised communities, like...
has permitted personalisation of labels adjoining several types of Polish postage stamps.
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
Royal MailRoyal Mail is the national postal service of the United Kingdom. Royal Mail Holdings plc owns Royal Mail Group Limited, which in turn operates the brands Royal Mail , Parcelforce Worldwide and General Logistics Systems...
has permitted personalisation of labels adjoining their stamps.
United NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace...
The United Nations has permitted personalisation of labels adjoining its stamps.
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
In the United States, personalized stamps – also known as customized postage – are technically a form of meter labels and are governed by the United States Postal Service. As meter labels, they are not supposed to be cancelled.
While consumers may find that customized postage is available in a number of retail and online outlets, the USPS has authorized different companies to handle select aspects of the program.
Providers, including
Pitney BowesPitney Bowes Inc. is a Stamford, Connecticut-based manufacturer of software and hardware and a provider of services related to documents, packaging, mailing, and shipping, collectively referred to as mailstream. The company has approximately 36,000 employees worldwide...
, Endicia and
Stamps.comStamps.com is a Los Angeles, California-based company that provides Internet-based mailing and shipping services. Stamps.com is a public company and trades on the Nasdaq exchange under the symbol STMP.- History :In April 13, 1998, the U.S...
, are authorized to generate, transmit and print the indicia barcodes, ensure that images conform to USPS standards, market and sell customized postage and fulfill customer orders.
Partners such as Zazzle can approve imagery, market, sell and fulfill orders, but they must be associated with an authorized provider who creates the indicia using an approved postage evidencing system.
Affiliates like
Fuji-People:* Mr. Fuji, ring name of wrestling and manager Harry Fujiwara* Keiko Fuji, a Japanese singer of the 1960s and 1970s, and mother of Hikaru UtadaFictional characters* Fuji , a character in the Stormwatch series...
can market, sell and fulfill orders, but are not authorized to approve imagery or print postage and must be associated with an authorized provider who creates the indicia using an approved postage evidencing system.
Pitney BowesPitney Bowes Inc. is a Stamford, Connecticut-based manufacturer of software and hardware and a provider of services related to documents, packaging, mailing, and shipping, collectively referred to as mailstream. The company has approximately 36,000 employees worldwide...
, , Stamps.com, Zazzle.com and
Fuji-People:* Mr. Fuji, ring name of wrestling and manager Harry Fujiwara* Keiko Fuji, a Japanese singer of the 1960s and 1970s, and mother of Hikaru UtadaFictional characters* Fuji , a character in the Stormwatch series...
offer
United States Postal ServiceThe United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States. It is one of the few government agencies explicitly authorized by the United States Constitution. Within the United States, it is commonly...
-approved personalised postage via Stamp Expressions, PhotoStamps and ZazzleStamps and Yourstamps.com respectively.
Some customers order the postage online and it is mailed to the recipient at a premium over the cost of postage; there has been some criticism of how much this premium is. Somewhat different is PremierPostage.com, which offers licensed U.S. postage of a similar type (outside the regular U.S. stamp programme and with similar indica), but issued by the company, not personalised by the individual.
Consumers and businesses can also print their own postage using a small, specialized printer, such as the Pitney Bowes Stamp Expressions Printer. Recent innovations include postal kiosks, where consumers can download an image at their local convenience store.
While initially considered a consumer application, Pitney Bowes offers a Customized Postage Partnership Program that provides corporations and small business owners with an opportunity to take advantage of this business opportunity. Commercial applications include:
- Merchandising, where companies can promote sales and market collectibles, either in postage format or as a framed premium.
- Photographers and Greeting Card companies can sell customized postage to customers to commemorate special moments or upcoming events.
- Nonprofit Organizations and Universities use customized postage to capture the attention of potential and existing donors.
- Marketers and advertising agencies can add customized postage to envelopes to boost brand and image awareness for their clients.
Although most postal regulations permit the exclusion of "objectionable" pictures on the stamps,
The Smoking GunThe Smoking Gun is a website that posts legal documents, arrest records, and police mugshots on a daily basis. The intent is to bring to the public light information that is damning, shocking, outrageous, or amazing, yet also somewhat obscure or unreported by more mainstream media sources...
in its investigation managed to create American postage stamps featuring the Rosenbergs,
Jimmy HoffaJames Riddle Hoffa was an American trade unionist.Hoffa served as the General President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters from 1958–1971 despite being incarcerated during the latter four years of his tenure...
, Ted Kaczynski, Monica Lewinsky's dress,
Slobodan MiloševićSlobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and of Yugoslavia...
and
Nicolae CeauşescuNicolae Andruţă Ceauşescu was a Romanian politician who was the Secretary General of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, President of the Council of State from 1967, and President of Romania from 1974 to 1989...
.
Within a few weeks of the article detailing this abuse, PhotoStamps revised its policies, and as of September 2004 the company no longer accepted images that included adults or teenagers. They have since allowed these images again, under more stringent
terms of serviceTerms of service are rules by which one must agree to abide by in order to use a service. Usually, such terms are legally binding....
.
At least some Yourstamps sheets come with a bonus of free
stickerA Sticker is a piece of paper, sticky on one side, and usually with some pattern on the other. They can come in many different shapes and sizes and are put on things such as lunchboxes, in children's room, on paper, lockers notebooks and so on...
s.
Humane Society of the United StatesThe Humane Society of the United States , based in Washington, D.C., is the largest animal advocacy organization in the world. In 2007, it had 10.6 million members, and a budget of US$120 million....
controversy
REACT Consulting Group filed a lawsuit against Zazzle for allowing Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) ZazzleStamps it alleged promoted or could promote an anti-hunting agenda while rejecting designs claiming "sportsmen" were conservationists. Some of the HSUS ZazzleStamps were later removed from sale (on August 31, 2006), an action preceded by calls from SuperVegan blog to "BUY TONS NOW!". However, there have been questions about why stamps which appear to promote hunting have been permitted.
Copyright
In some cases certain aspects of copyright law relating to personalised postage are unclear. However, Canada Post claims sole copyright in Canadian personalised stamps.
External links