Don't buy postage stamps at an Eastern Bank ATM

[ron_newman]

Wainwright sold them at cost (44 cents each), but Eastern is charging $8.80 for a sheet of 18, which is a 5-cent markup per stamp.

Comments

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

I forget what Fleet charged back in the day, but it was also a fairly obnoxious markup.

[josephineave.livejournal.com]

I was surprised to learn that, even though most stores & ATMs don't add a mark-up anymore, the USPS sells them at face value to the stores/banks. They don't even give retailers that accept Priority Mail a cut of the action either, unless they decide to charge their own "handling charge."

[eredien]

Yeah, I thought it was illegal to charge extra anywhere, but apparently not everywhere...

* Can stamps be sold at a higher price?


The Postal Service sells stamps at face value to everyone. We have no control over the pricing policies of private entrepreneurs, companies or agencies who resell our products. A charge at a higher price is most likely imposed to earn a return on their investment of capital and effort. The prices they charge are, no doubt, established on the basis of their needs and market evaluations.

Customers may avoid paying more than the stated value for First-Class Mail postage by purchasing stamps at their Post Office, through Stamps By Mail, phone, online, Automated Postal Centers and retail outlets that are involved with our consignment programs or from one of the many postal stores.

[ron_newman]

When I was younger, I commonly saw little mechanical postage vending machines in groceries, pharmacies, and the like. They sold small quantities of stamps at very high markups.

[ron_newman]

I thought it was just a constant 50 cents markup back in the day, which was pretty insignificant if you bought the maximum number of stamps in your transaction (something like 72 or 80 of them).