[Dx-qsl] IRC Redemption

[Dick Flanagan]

If you have an IRC you can do one of two things with it:  turn it in for 
one unit of international postage OR request a REFUND of one cent less 
than YOUR purchase price of the original IRC.  Only the original 
purchaser can request a REFUND otherwise you are limited to trading it 
for one unit of international postage.

As a very specific example of what you CAN NOT do is get a refund for an 
IRC you did not buy.  Think about it...if you could do that, you could 
take an IRC someone sends you intending for you to turn it in for a unit 
of your local international postage (currently worth $1.10 US) and then 
turn around and ask your local Post Office for a refund of the purchase 
price (less one cent) instead..which is usually twice what it is worth 
in postage.

This was done very notoriously in 1920 by a gentleman named Charles 
Ponzi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponzi_scheme).  Ask Bernie Madoff 
how well that eventually worked out for him.  :) Charles Ponzi didn't 
invent the scheme, but he made it notorious enough it became associated 
with his name.  And, yup, he used IRCs.  :)

--
Dick Flanagan K7VC
dick at k7vc.com

On 12/11/2013 1:33 PM, Richard F DiDonna NN3W wrote:
> The kicker that I have to deal with is that I have a not insignificant 
> number of US origin IRCs. Technically speaking, you can get $0.01 
> below the face value of the IRC in postage - BUT ONLY if you were the 
> original purchaser. Back in 2010, a clerk REFUSED to accept US origin 
> IRCs under the premise that I couldn't prove that I was the original 
> purchaser.
>
> Anyone else dealt with this little issue?
>
> 73 Rich NN3W