Semipostal stamps are the only US postage that does two jobs: it carries your letter, and it funds a cause. That second job is paid for by a surcharge built into the price — which has a consequence people miss when they go shopping.
A semipostal can never be cheaper than an ordinary stamp. Not in a sale, not in a clearance, not ever. The surcharge is the point of the product.
How the pricing works
A semipostal sells for the First-Class rate plus a mandatory surcharge, and the surcharge is what goes to the designated cause. Typical pricing lands in the $0.75–$0.85 range per piece.
Congress authorizes each semipostal individually, and the proceeds are directed to specific programmes — breast cancer research and Alzheimer's research being among the best known. The revenue is tracked and reported, which is precisely why the Postal Service protects it closely.
The red flag that requires no expertise
If a site offers semipostal stamps at $0.40 a piece, they are counterfeit. There is no ambiguity here and no judgement call required.
That price is below the First-Class rate alone, before any surcharge. No sourcing arrangement, liquidation or clearance can produce it, because the stamp's entire purpose is to cost more than ordinary postage. A seller quoting it is either misdescribing the product or selling fakes — and in practice it is the latter.
This makes semipostals unusually easy to vet. The price tells you everything.
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Why charity stamps are not treated leniently
There is an assumption worth correcting: that charity-issue stamps get softer treatment because the cause is good. They do not.
Genuine stamps carry phosphor tagging that sorting equipment verifies on every piece, and the filters do not read intent. Untagged stock is pulled from the mail stream regardless of what is printed on it.
For a nonprofit that means a donor appeal stopped in transit — which is worse than a commercial mailing failing, because the appeal was the revenue, and the timing usually cannot be recovered.
Buying them properly
Semipostals are ordinary stock in every respect except price. Buy them the way you would buy anything that has to work:
- Commercial invoice from a supplier with a verifiable US business address and a tax ID. For grant-funded mailings this is not optional — the expense has to be substantiable.
- Payment through normal commercial channels. A request for payment by personal transfer app ends the conversation.
- A phone number that answers when there is a question about a shipment.
- Inspect on arrival: pull a few at random and check adhesion and print quality. Under a loupe, genuine printing is sharp; counterfeit ink tends to bleed at the edges.
| Verification point | Verified specialist | Marketplace risk |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Above First-Class, surcharge included | Below First-Class alone |
| UV response | Correct phosphor glow | Inert / dark |
| Ink precision | Sharp, no saturation bleed | Dull, bleeding edges |
| Payment | Corporate card or terms | Personal transfer app |
Budgeting for them
Because semipostals cost more, using them across an entire large mailing is a real budget decision. Many organizations use them selectively — on donor-facing mail where the cause connection reinforces the message — and ordinary Forever stamps for operational correspondence.
Build the quarter's budget from the USPS Notice 123 charts, and watch the Postal Regulatory Commission for changes affecting both First-Class rates and semipostal surcharges. Current fraud patterns are published by the USPS Office of Inspector General and the FTC.
Where to buy
The USPS official store, or a specialist such as Forever Stamp Center for bulk quantities with proper invoicing. For an emergency local top-up, the USPS location finder. If the history interests you, the Smithsonian National Postal Museum covers the subject well.
The short version
A semipostal costs more than a regular stamp by design, because the surcharge is the donation. Anything priced below the ordinary First-Class rate is counterfeit — and the fraud filters do not care that the cause was a good one.
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Retired USPS mailroom supervisor with 30 years of service in Chicago. He now contributes columns on Forever Stamps, sharing trusted advice on spotting counterfeit risks and finding reliable discount deals for everyday mailers.
