Immortalized: Or, Photo Stamps on a Budget

I recently found an eBay seller that helped make my desire to have custom postage stamps a reality, and for a reasonable price! (After it was all totaled up, I actually paid less than face value (FV) for my first order!) This is in no way an ad or sponsored post - I'm simply a happy customer who wants to share her source! Disclaimer: this is my own experience. Your mileage may vary, buyer beware, etc., etc.

Custom postage stamps have been available for several years, but I never felt like I could justify the cost. A few weeks ago, however, I saw the Haunted Canada* stamps, and started wishing in earnest for postage stamps that were more fun. The USPS has some good stamps, but they are really behind when it comes to some other countries. I checked the prices online for ordering customized stamps and realized that even with my little obsession and growing collection, I still couldn't bring myself to pay over twice the FV for stamps ($1.10 plus shipping).

As you've probably guessed by now, I spend a bit of time on eBay, looking for good deals on vintage postage. I had seen this listing come up repeatedly, but paid little attention until I found myself really wanting custom stamps. I read the listing very carefully. The seller, pnmsales, had (has) a 100% rating and tons of glowing reviews indicating that this was the real deal, so I took the risk and ordered some.

How it works: some time ago, a photo stamp company sold a stamp creation kit, with software and a gift code that allowed purchasers to design and order a sheet of first class postage stamps. Those gift certificates are still valid, and good for one sheet of whatever the first class value is on the date of order, minus about 1.5¢. The seller I've ordered from (account linked above) sells the kit for $9.75, with free shipping, and (at this time) offers $1 off for every two kits you purchase. So, if you order two, they are $9.25 each. When you order the actual stamps and  redeem the gift certificates, you pay shipping plus a couple of cents per sheet.

While you wait for your eBay order to arrive, plan your stamps. The Photo Stamps site does not offer guidelines for sizing images, just on subject (important) and actual file size. You need to read the guidelines, re: what you can put on a stamp. You can use your own art, logos, etc. as long as they don't violate any decency rules. The fewer subjects the better. To make ordering easier, use editing software to crop your images into squares, and make them as high resolution and size as you can, while keeping the file size under 5mb. (Stamps.com could learn a lot from Moo.com and their excellent image sizing guidelines.) I do not know at which point in the process "improper" stamps are halted - the company may print your stamps and the USPS may refuse to deliver, or the order could be rejected. So make sure you read carefully and follow the guidelines!

For my stamps, I ended up using some digital art images done by myself or my husband, a great picture of one of our cats, and a creative commons-licensed image of Herman, the sloth at the Detroit Zoo. (I "met" Herman several years ago, and have several videos of him, hanging out just over my head, but none of the angles lent themselves to a stamp, so I had to make due. I made sure to get one that was licensed for re-use.)

Once you receive your eBay order, and you're ready to create your stamps, open the boxes and tear off the little strip that seals the CD envelope (you don't need the CD; do not install the software).

Side note: while the site is functional, I cannot access it with my login any longer (successful log in, but site "cannot be displayed").  I placed a second order as guest and will do the same in the future. I hope it's just a glitch and not them trying to prevent me from using the gift certificates!

Visit  Photo.Stamps.com and create your stamps, following the directions on the site (the current first class postage rate should be selected by default). When it's time to check out, there will be a space to redeem gift certificates or coupon codes. That's where you will enter the code from the CD envelope(s). Just keep entering and applying the codes until you've entered one per sheet. You should see a small balance - a few cents per sheet, plus shipping. Pay that, and wait for your stamps to arrive.

For my first order, I created several sheets, for myself and gifts, and paid $3.11 at checkout, bringing my cost per stamp to just under 49¢ each. Ordering two sheets today cost me $3.03 at checkout (see screenshot), bringing the cost per stamp to a tad under 54¢ each!

[Beware: The stamps are shipped in fairly flimsy envelopes with no support, so unless you have a huge mail box, the envelope will be bent slightly (or possibly folded in half), and so will the stamp sheets. All of my sheets were bent and there is a bubble down one row on each, but they weren't seriously damaged and are usable. I'd be pretty annoyed if I'd paid full price for them.]

*Regular stamps available from Canada Post. They did a set in 2014 and a set in 2015, I have one sheet of each, even though they're useless to me as postage. They are that cool.


(Sorry about the delay. I've had a rough couple of weeks.)