The Post Office may allow you to exchange your stamps for ones of the same value or denomination. However, they do not provide cash refunds for stamps. If you want to get money back for your stamps, try using a stamp buying service.
Exchanging Stamps For A Different Design
Let’s say that you purchased $100 of Christmas stamps for the holidays. Now that the holidays are over, you have a remaining $20 of Christmas stamps left over. Not ideal if you are wanting to send out mail post-holiday season.
You can ask the Post Office to exchange your stamps for a generic design, like the U.S. flag. You may need to fill out an exchange request form, which will ask for your personal information like address and photo I.D.
Exchanging Used Stamps
Stamps must be unused in order to be exchanged. They cannot be removed from mail that has already been sent.
You can tell if a stamp has been used or not in a couple of ways. First, it will still be adhered to it’s backing, much like a sticker. If it has no backing (or no glue/gum for older stamps) it is considered used.
Second, if the stamp has been canceled it cannot be exchanged. Cancels are red or black ink that’s placed over the top of the stamp design. Cancels are applied to stamps so they cannot be used again.
Getting Money Back For Your Stamps
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, the Post Office does not provide cash refunds for stamps. Regardless if they are unused, your only option is to exchange them for other stamp designs. However, you can still get money for your stamps outside of the Post Office. Return My Stamps will exchange your stamps for a cash payment.
