Ordering From Oneco Post Office

The postmaster from the Oneco PO was at the Great American Stamp Show this year (2024). He stopped by some of the organization booths and passed out information on how he can better serve collectors with ordering info. Since then I have both talked to him and ordered items from him. The process is quite straight forward. For coils to get a PNC he lists the minimum numbers of stamps you must order. You should be able to print the forms I uploaded making the process even easier. If you have questions on an item in stock I would suggest checking with him. Note he covers all postage which is a great deal. He carries a lot of stock to help out collectors but needs to move this stock to be able order more, so ordering from him really helps him to continue this service.

Below is his Intro letter.




Below is the current lists he sent me. Note his unit price shows shows cost of pane/booklet or individual stamps price. If individual you multiple the unit cost by the pane number to get the Value $ on he order form.

Are cheques still widely used in the US? My current account no longer comes with a chequebook.

I wouldn't say that checks are widely used in the US, but they still have their place. Like when the auction house wants to charge a 3% fee for a credit card or PayPal transaction, checks are preferred.

Most utility bills are set up to be paid automatically these days, and I haven't seen anyone use a check at the supermarket or local post office in ages. But my old fashioned gardener still requires a check (or cash) as they aren't set up to take credit cards or even Venmo . . .

GeoffHa: banks and credit unions in USA still usually offer, per institution, a variety of deposit accounts. Among banks there are usually a level of fees imposed based on activity or $. Credit unions usually have few if any fees.
At one CU I have a paperless account, fee-free except if nothing happens in the account for 90 days. At another CU I have paper checks, they provide free due to my age.
I receive monthly checks from a court and two different small businesses I do part time work for. I use paper checks for donations by mail, and for occasional transactions for government taxes or fees where I want a paper trail.

Interesting - thank you. The auction houses I use don't take credit cards any longer - presumably because of buyers trying to reclaim monies. It's all debit card by phone, bank transfer (which is free here) or some form of rapid, automated payment when the house already has your card details. I've had to stop accepting cheques on ebay because it's just too fiddly for me to take a tube ride to my bank to pay them in.

Well there's one way how checks in US are different from cheques in Britain. In US we can deposit the check using our mobile phone. Don't need to get on the tube to do it. Even before mobile phones, we could deposit them at an ATM on any street corner.

My previous bank had the facility for customers to scan cheques and pay them in - unfortunately, the rest of their service had too many failings!

GeoffHa

The postmaster who does this service is rather unusual as the USPS does most of its philatelic sales through the Stamp Fulfillment Center - you can go to the USPS site, click Contact and look for the number for ordering stamps and stamp supplies. So due to the Oneco's postmaster's unusual status, he may have more restrictions than the Fulfillment Center. In addition the post office is located in a small suburb not far from the countryside in Connecticut. The nearest large town is Waterbury. He may have older customers used to using checks. The postal counter of his post office does takes cards but from in-person sales (as with practically all US post offices).

Just note the postmaster at Oneco sells most of what you get from the USPS Stamp Fulfillment center. The main benefit is you can get smaller quantities of coils for longer periods of times and, sometimes, commemorative stamps no longer sold online. He does not sell First Day Covers, stamp stationery and some of the collector folios that may have stamp proofs you find on the USPS site. On the other hand, the postmaster is a long-time philatelist who goes to shows and knows his stamps - something rare to find from a USPS employee. I highly recommend the service - especially as the postmaster is getting older so who knows if the service will be maintained years from now!

PS An unrelated sidebar only tangentially related to this discussion but there is a philatelic vendor you can buy online with your card or Paypal - it is one of the very few PRIVATE local posts left (and one that actual does postal services) in the US - Rattle snake Island in Ohio. If this interests you also, check their website for stamps and covers. I have had an email conversation with the one who runs this service and he does sell covers from 1967 - 1977 too but you have let him know on the site's contact form. Here is a link to their site - https://www.rilp.org/

P.S>S Their was a very active local post based in Hawaii from the late 1990's through 2014 and a few years ago you could buy stamps used or unused, booklets or singles, and fdcs but according to the site an auction house bought their entire inventory. THis study provides an overview of stamp issues fromthis former private local post. https://www.pisc.org.uk/hawaii-post.html

The best you can do is call Oneco and see what options there may be.