h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

In England, stamps cost their face value (i.e. a 27p stamp costs 27p) and I thought this was the case everywhere else. However, when I was on holiday in Greece this Summer I was charged 200 drachmas for a 180 drachma stamp. Bearing in mind, I seemed to be overcharged for everything in the 'tourist' resort where I was staying, I was probably also being over-charged for the stamp, but being English I didn't dare saying anything for fear of looking stupid. What I want to know is should stamps cost their face value? Can they be charged out at any price? Do I have the right to refuse to pay more than the value of the stamp?

I think that was a rip-off, but perhaps you were buying elsewhere than the post office and were paying for the service. Or maybe the Greek post office even obliges others to charge extra. This is certainly not the case anywhere else in Europe that I have been.

I thought stamps in England just said "1st" or "2nd" regardless of what they cost.

In Germany you can get Charity Stamps - especially around Christmas, but they are marked with the extra charge. The extra 10 Pf then goes to charity. These are, needless to say, specially printed stamps.

Please ask Mahogany Twipet - a guy on this site who lives in Greece - just post the question to his home page.

In the US they just started issuing stamps with the extra charity value. There's a breast-cancer one, I think, which retails for 40 cents, seven cents more than the first-class rate. Grocers often sell ordinary stamps for 40 cents, just to avoid the change dilemma and to make extra money. I think it's technically illegal. On the other hand, stamp dealers often sell stamps for far more than their face value, especially if they are rare ones.

Most stamps in the UK just say first or second (so the post office can keep the same stamps around when they change the price ). You can still buy stamps to whatever value over the counter though, and asking for a first class stamp, you get given the 27p stamp of whatever the current design is. During this year there are new designs each month to mark the millenium.

This 1st and 2nd thing in Britain though, it works the other way round too. If I buy 1000 "1st" stamps now, I can go on using them for the next three price rises, and no one will notice I paid less for them. How is that supposed to work?

You can do exactly that, buy 1000 first class stamps now and still use them when the price goes up. However, if there is a price increase imminent, some post offices will limit the amount of first class stamps you can buy and make you buy ones with the face value on them (i.e. 27p) to stop you taking advantage of this.

With reference to my original question, the stamps I bought were in an ordinary shop (there were no post offices), they were certainly not charity stamps and it is my firm belief that I was just being over-charged (taken advantage of). Next time I shall question their over-charging (however when some Italians did this in another shop over something else - the shop owner threw them out!!).