Personal Postage (Photostamps, Zazzle,Endicia)  were considered to be "stamps" by collectors and the USPS until autumn of 2005.  The October 3 issue of Linn's Stamp News reported that the Cancellation Service office at the Stamp Fulfillment Services in Kansas City had rejected a photo stamp sent in for a special cancel.  The return letter stated that the USPS considered photo stamps to be meters and thus cannot be cancelled.  Linn's confirmed that this is in fact the USPS's official policy.  We certainly didn't know that but have found in the 1991 issue of the DMM (Domestic Mail Manual) the paragraphs can be found:

Subsequent issues of the DMM have dropped this verbiage. Current DMM volumes contain sections that lump Personal Postage in with postage meters. In DMM300 chapter 604 section 4 Postage Meters and PC Postage Products we find the paragraph:

b. PC Postage products are software-based solutions for managing postage accounts. Mailers purchase postage using a computer and print indicia using desktop or label printers. PC Postage products print IBI indicating postage payment and may print directly onto mailpieces, shipping labels, and USPS-approved customized labels. PC Postage products are offered by commercial providers approved by the USPS. PC Postage products are typically offered by providers through subscription service agreements. Some components of PC Postage systems may be purchased as authorized by the USPS.

Here we present a group of photo stamp images donated by Craig Selig from Stamps.com, Endicia.com and Zazzle.com.  The photo stamps from the three services are available in a wide range of colors and the buyer can usually choose vertical or horizontal configurations.  We do not attempt to show all the color varieties nor all the values.  Craig does make an effort to represent the varieties available on his website.  Since photographs are copyrightable, Craig has used his own photographs for his site and we show these items with permission.

Note: Some of us believe that Personal Postage issues need to be cancelled for USPS revenue protection, just as other undated issues, like the APC, require cancellation. In any case, USPS canceling equipment routinely cancel these tagged items in the mail stream.

Note: Scott listed these stamps by the values.  For example, the original Stamps.com issue is listed as 2CVP1-2CVP7 since the values available were 23, 37, 49, 60, 83, 1.06 and 3.85.  These count as the first meter stamps listed by Scott.  Scott has chosen not to list meter stamps in the past. However, in 2008 Scott announced that it would no longer list Personal Postage and removed these listings from future catalogs.

Personal Postage Catalog; One MSS member has endeavored to build an independent catalog of US Personal Postage issues.  This is a work in progress at this date and can be found at www.ephemera4u.com/