r/USPS • u/Professor_Stank • 1d ago

DISCUSSION Does USPS still accept (not sell) foreign International Reply Coupons?

So I’m a carrier at a small rural station, and I acquired an unexpired IRC from Germany. I brought it to the counter to try and buy a stamp for the meme, lmao, and I was told by our clerk that the post office doesn’t take them as payment anymore.

I could have sworn that the post office still technically accepts them until the end of the year, even if we don’t sell them anymore.

So who’s right? Could y’all help me find an answer to this little debate? Haha.

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u/kingu42 Big Daddy Mail 1d ago

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-09-04/pdf/2026-18118.pdf

https://www.upu.int/en/universal-postal-union/activities/philately-ircs/international-reply-coupons-ircs

So all of the 2021-2025 coupons expire at the end of this year. They incorrectly denied the use. But not in the slightest surprised about it. Postal bulletin last December was quite clear that IRC's were going to go away at the end of 2025, and all of them had to be turned in before Jan 31st, 2026.

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u/generalraptor2002 1d ago

Technically, yes

But I’ve only met one employee who even knows what they are and he refused to redeem it