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Comment by alias_neo | Hacker News Reader

> but ordering stamps... on eBay

OP was ordering US stamps to include _in_ the letter, on an SAE (self-addressed envelope) they were sending _from_ the UK, so that the FSF could reply (from the US) using said stamps.

As a millennial myself, I have no idea where else I'd look for <recipient country> stamps should I want to include them on a SAE I was sending to said country, so that they recipient wouldn't incur the cost of replying to me.

I don't find looking on eBay particularly strange, though I'd do a quick search for alternatives first.

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> I have no idea where else I'd look for <recipient country> stamps should I want to include them on a SAE I was sending to said country

I would try to buy them online from their post office. For the USA, there is https://www.usps.com/business/postage-options.htm:

“Print Labels Online with Click-N-Ship

With your free USPS.com account, you can pay for postage and print just one label or a batch of shipping labels online”

Germany has (https://www.iamexpat.de/expat-info/germany-news/deutsche-pos...):

“You simply need to open the app, select the appropriate postage service, tick “Code for labelling” (Code zum Beschriften), and pay with PayPal. You will then immediately receive a code, consisting of the letters #PORTO and an eight-digit string, which you must write in pen in the top right-hand corner of the envelope or postcard. Then, just pop it in the post box, and you’re done! The code is valid for 14 days and can only be used for Germany-bound mail.”

That 14-day limit may not be a good idea for this use case.

that honestly seems more complicated and likely to fail than just buying the correct stamps on ebay.

That German app is not available in the App Store in my country (and I presume in any country other than Germany), so I would also be forced to go to eBay for stamps

Then I would Google for an alternative, and find https://shop.deutschepost.de/briefversand/briefmarken/briefm...

You use an International Reply Coupon https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_reply_coupon

You obviously read neither the blog post nor the Wikipedia article.

The Deutsche Post '#PORTO' method does not apply to international shipments, unfortunately. However, you can still purchase barcode labels online for printing, and conventional stamps are simply values in Euro cents so can be used for both domestic and international deliveries.

In addition, the 14-day limit no longer applies. Deutsche Post were challenged in court, and the digital stamps must now last for as long as conventional stamps do:

https://nrwe.justiz.nrw.de/olgs/koeln/j2023/3_U_148_22_Urtei...

I just priced a stamp to send to New Zealand using that USPS website and it came to over USD$20 so that's not a realistic option. To be fair I had to take some guesses with weight (what the fuck is an ounce and how many letters fit into one?) and dimensions (they don't have units on that website, so I guess my letter is 6x3 whatevers).

Sure but, on the other hand, this was overly kind of him. In general, unless it is explicitely requested that you must provide a stamped envelope for the reply the assumption of snail mail is that each side pays for its own envelopes and stamps.

And you could also put a dollars bill in the envelope?

From the UK...?

The Post Office will sell you US currency, but AFAIK not US stamps.

Perhaps a couple of grams of silver?

How to get accountants to hate you in one easy step

Offhand, I don't think I've ever mailed an International letter or package.

Is return postage something that, normally, my local post office would help me with? E.G. do they have some method of marking or adding post to a package that would be accepted globally (or at least within the destination country)?

That's the International Reply Coupon mentioned in the article, but it's not supported by all countries.

I think I've sent far more international letters and parcels than domestic. Christmas cards for elderly relatives in the country I was born in, and postcards when I travelled abroad.

Some obscure things I sold on eBay were mostly sent abroad.

"""

United Kingdom

The Royal Mail stopped selling IRCs on 31 December 2011[26] due to a lack of demand. United States

The United States Postal Service stopped selling international reply coupons on 27 January 2013.[27]

"""

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_reply_coupon#Uni...

That explains why I was confounded in my efforts to search within USPS results.

yep, article also mentions them:

> I was disappointed to find out that the UK’s Royal Mail discontinued international reply coupons in 2011. The only alternative that I could think of was to buy some US stamps.

I send $3 U.S. with QSL (ham radio) cards. It seems like everybody is able to convert that to local currency to cover postage.

I send international reply coupons with QSL cards. They no longer sell them in Ireland, where I live, but you can still order them from Swiss Post, online. They work everywhere. They mail them to you for free.

https://shop.post.ch/en/packing-sending/sending-letters/regi...

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