Personalised stamps

A personalised (or personalized) stamp is a postage stamp, with (or without) an adjoining label on the left, on which, for a fee, an image and/or text of the purchaser's choosing may be placed. The stamps vary from country to country, and while some are normal stamps with a personalised label on the left attached by perforations, elsewhere the stamps are more properly regarded as one-piece personalised meter stamps with a colourful design next to the indicia. Stamps produced by Zazzle.com for the United States, for instance, are one-piece, self-adhesive with die cut margins to emulate perforations, and visually very similar to normal United States postage stamps, except for the addition of an IBI (information-based indicia; encoded by black and white little squares) along one edge. Also, a numeric serial number appears next to IBI.

Examples given by postal authorities who offer this service usually depict family members, pets or other uncontroversial subjects but users quickly realised that they could place almost any image in the space. For instance, there have been attempts to publicise missing persons, promote political causes such as Tamil independence, or to place the image of criminals or other controversial individuals on the stamps. The rules of most countries generally prohibit such things, however, stamp producers may not spot every attempt to circumvent their rules, particularly when it is not obvious who or what is being depicted, or that the image has some political or other significance.

The Austrian Postal Service has permitted personalisation of postage stamps. In Austria the denomination of personalised stamps can now be changed as well.

Royal Mail has permitted personalisation of labels adjoining their stamps. The stamps are produced in small sheets known as smilers sheets.

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 "a form of meter labels", they are not supposed ("they are not required") to be cancelled for postal purposes. Instead, a scanning machine at the post office is supposed to scan and void the postal value of that personalized stamp. For philatelic purposes, the postmarking of a personalized stamp is permitted, and it is harmless to USPS. In fact, a visible postmark is a further protection of revenue for USPS, since a postmarked personalized stamp is far less likely to be re-affixed on a mail piece for another mailing. 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 selected aspects of the program.

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Wikipedia