Have you ever heard the term “hand-cancelled” or “non-machinable” and wonder what they mean and how to do it? My envelopes are often non-machinable, but neither that nor hand-cancelling means they are spared all the machines! Here’s what you need to know!
The United States Postal Service (USPS) has sorting machines that reads the address on your envelopes and determines where it needs to go. One of the machines also “cancels” the stamps (so the stamp cannot be reused). That is why most of the mail you receive in your mail box has those grey marks and peach barcodes on the envelopes. The machines do well with flat mail, but with anything non-standard, the machine can cause tearing and extra scuff marks. Other machines read the address and sort the letters according to their destination.
What counts as non-standard? While not a definitive list, here are the most common non-standard mail issues:
Wax Seals inside the envelope or out (or anything lumpy like a thick knot in ribbon)
Metallic ink or red ink (interferes with the machines ability to read the address)
Square envelopes and addresses written perpendicular to the short side of the envelope rather than the long side.
If your envelope has any of these, affix the appropriate amount of postage, and tell your post person the envelope is non-machinable.When hand cancelling is needed (which saves the envelope from the first machine), they usually cancel the postage with a rubber stamp, but don’t be surprised if other they just scribble through them with an ugly ball point pen (this is especially befuddling when they do that to cool and unique vintage postage stamps)! If you are worried about that, ask them what they use to hand-cancel. Hand cancelling doesn’t cost any extra money, but some post offices say you have to pay for the non-machineblae surchrage (even though hand-cancelling and non-machinable aren’t the same thing. You won’t get anywhere arguing, so find a post office you like and stick with them. When I have to use a different post office than normal, I just apply extra postage if they ask -or- I wait until I find another post office.
I might add- this works in theory. Sometimes the envelope simply arrives both hand-cancelled and machine-cancelled, non-machinable mail is sometimes run through all the machines… be prepared for the possibility and risk. Continue reading below…
So what do you have to do if you have non-machinable mail? As of April 2023, a standard letter under 1 oz costs 63 cents to mail (one forever stamp). This amount is set to increase summer of 2024, so always check with your post office. You can buy 1.03 cent stamps (63 cents + 40 cents), or you can use a forever stamp with 40 cents worth of vintage stamps. Or all vintage stamps! It’s up to you, as long as it’s 1.03 cents. Whether your envelope is non-machinable, or whether you prefer to have it hand-cancelled, I recommend either taking your mail to the post office or handing it directly to the carrier (mentioning that it is non-machinable mail and / or that you’d like it hand-cancelled). You could also try putting the envelope in your mail box with a post it note asking for the mail carrier’s kind attention to put this in the non-machinable stack. If you put it in a mail slot, or if the carrier just chucks it into the “outgoing” bin, it will most likely go into a container that gets dumped into the sorting machine.
Some post offices will let you cancel the envelopes yourself, some will tell you they don’t hand cancel anything. Some will tell you that you that non-machinable costs extra (even though it doesn’t). Find a post office that you like and stick with them because they can be a huge help to you when weird postage questions arise. I find most postal workers I’ve met are very helpful (while some claim they can’t read and wont deliver anything written in cursive… yes, really).
I hope this cleared up any confusion you may have had about the terms “hand-cancelled” or “non-machinable.” Please remember, these guidelines are written by me, not the USPS. Service and results will vary greatly. Sometimes, despite following official guidelines, letters can be ripped, lost, or take a long time to get to the addressee. The USPS wants your mail to get to its destination, but they aren’t perfect. Try to laugh off any mishaps! Most of the time, my letters arrive safely and in pretty condition (one even arrived 6 months after being sent!). Good luck snail mailing!