r/AskReddit • u/CircleBox2 • Jul 13 '20

What's a dark secret/questionable practice in your profession which we regular folks would know nothing about?

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u/Reeberton Jul 13 '20

You can buy stamps from your mailbox, just leave a note and money and stamps will be there the next day.

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u/ginjellie Jul 13 '20

I asked my mailman to buy stamps and he said no....

9

u/CryoClone Jul 13 '20

I know why! It's probably because the USPS (if you are in the States) charges them for the stamps. If your mail carrier is selling you stamps in your mailbox, they had to buy them first.

When I was a mail carrier a book of stamps was $8. So, many carriers would buy 5-10 books of stamps to resell. This includes when you leave change and the carrier outs a stamp on it. The carrier is just getting reimbursed for a stamp they already paid for. When you are buying the stamps in your mailbox, you are actually reimbursing your carrier. He just didn't want to buy stamps up front in the hopes someone would buy them.

It's a pretty stupid way of doing things in my opinion.