Re-using an un-franked postage stamp?

[mrs.chappie]

While browsing eBay I found a listing (several listings in fact) for batches of un-franked postage stamps - from letters that have been through the postal system but have no visible cancellation sign on them.

I mentioned this unusual listing to my cousin and he said that stamps are now cancelled using a frank that is invisible to the naked eye, so you cannot tell if the stamp has been cancelled or not.

Anyhoo, my question is - are eBay sellers lawfully allowed to sell these stamps? And do you think my cousin is right about invisible franking?

[mrs.chappie]

I sent my mum in law a birthday card with a tiny ladybird on the front. I felt sure it wouldn't need a large-letter stamp on it - the ladybird was very small indeed.

Well, it turns out it did need the extra postage on it. MIL had to pay over a quid at t'other end for her birthday card. She phoned me up and gave me some GBH of me ear 'ole. Since then I have invested in a perspex price guide .... the same one that the Post Office uses.

[boxtops]

It's narrower than you think, mrs c - I've got a cardboard version (isn't the perspex one about seventeen quid?).

[mrs.chappie]

Boxy, I think I paid around a tenner for it off eBay. It's exactly the same as the PO one.

[footieshorts]

The eBay sellers often state that the stamps they have for sale are purely for collectors and should not be used for postage.