Austrian Philatelic Society Packet Regulations

(as adopted on 17 July 2020)

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P1  Members of the Society who are resident in the United Kingdom shall be eligible to receive the Exchange Packet if they so notify the Hon. Packet Secretary in writing and furnish two satisfactory references. The Executive Committee shall have the power to refuse access to the Packet or to delete the name of any member from the circulation list without assigning any reason. (It is not possible to extend the availability of the Exchange Packet to members residing outside the United Kingdom because of difficulties from insurance and taxation requirements).

P2 a)  Absence from Home and Changes of Address must be reported to the Hon Packet Secretary at once to avoid unnecessary delay in the circulation of the Packets. Members who are responsible for undue delay may be called upon to defray any expense incurred or, for persistent offenders, removed from the list.

P2 b)  A member who wishes to discontinue seeing the Packets must give one months notice to the Hon Packet Secretary.

P2 c) Members passing the packet forward shall contact the recipient before posting to ensure that the Member will be aware that it is en route and is at home to receive the packet. They should also confirm that the address on the circulation list is still current. Contact can be made by phone or email but a response shall be received before posting. The use of voice mail does not constitute making contact unless the potential recipient rings back. Members receiving a phone call or email shall note who rang and in respect of which packet and shall contact either the other member or the Hon Packet Secretary if it doesn't turn up in a week. Members unable to get a response within 48 hours shall mark the circulation list "skip" to indicate that the Member concerned has been "skipped" and shall make contact with the next Member on the list. Members lower down the list shall try to re-route the packet to include "skipped" members after circulation has continued for (say) a fortnight. Annotations and changes to the circulation list shall be clear and legible!

P3  Material for the Packets may be accepted from non-members subject to the payment of the normal commission charges.

P4  Stamps must be mounted properly in the standard booklets on the right hand pages only, and the net selling prices clearly marked in ink above them. The catalogue number and/or value may be inserted in pencil to the left of the selling price. Blocks etc must be indicated by diagrams and due note made of any thinned, repaired or doubtful stamps.

P4a  Cheaper stamps may be sold in ‘lucky bags’ all to sell at the same price. ‘Lucky bags’ should be contained in a stout envelope marked with the price of each stamp and columns for Members to enter their name, the number of stamps remaining, the number of items taken, and the total price paid. Such bags shall contain no more than 250 items and will only be circulated entirely at the vendor’s risk.

P5 a)  Booklets of damaged or excessively priced items, or containing items not from Austria or associated territories, may be rejected by the Hon Packet Secretary and returned to the owner at the owner’s expense.

P5 b)  Where contributors describe a stamp by a catalogue number or in any other manner, the Hon Packet Secretary cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of the description. Intending purchasers must satisfy themselves by reasonable methods before purchase.

P6 a)  A member removing stamps must sign his name (not initials) or, preferably, use a rubber name stamp in each space from which a stamp has been removed. Care shall be taken not to damage other stamps by pressure or ink leakage.

P6 b)  Members must enter on the front of every booklet received the number of stamps or items purchased by them and the value thereof.

P7 a)  Upon receipt of a Packet, careful examination should be made for all spaces from which stamps have been removed. If any spaces are found without signature or if any other irregularity is observed, notice must be sent at once to the Hon Packet Secretary AND the member from whom the Packet was received. In all cases the value of the missing items and the postal expenses incurred will be charged to the last member seeing the Packet prior to the omission being reported. If you don’t notice a missing stamp, you will pay for it!

P7 b)  Any member suspecting SUBSTITUTION of one or more stamps by others must not pass on the Packet to the next member, but return it at once to the Hon Packet Secretary stating his complaint. This procedure is essential under Insurance regulations.

P8  A Packet may be retained for forty eight hours, after which it must be passed on to the next member on the postal list. If a Packet is sent through the post, it must be by Ordinary First Class Letter Mail, do not use recorded delivery. A Certificate of Posting must also be obtained. For some bulky, low value Packets, Second Class postage will be acceptable to our insurers but ONLY when this is clearly indicated on the circulation list by the Hon Packet Secretary. If it is convenient to hand the Packet to the next member on the circuit, a receipt for it must be obtained in order to comply with Insurance regulations.

P9  One of the advice slips (enclosed with each Packet) must be completed and posted, together with a remittance for the value of the stamps removed AND the Certificate of Posting or the receipt for delivery by hand, to the Hon Packet Secretary at the time of forwarding the Packet to the next member on the list. A member who does not remove any stamps must nevertheless complete the advice slip, stating the dates of receipt and despatch of the Packet. The production of a Certificate of Posting or the receipt is essential for a successful insurance claim. Members failing to send this to the Hon Packet Secretary and unable to produce it in the event of a loss will be held personally liable for the value of that loss.

P10  Members are reminded that they are personally responsible for the packet when it is in their care, especially when out of their normal residence. The insurers may well meet a claim if a Member is mugged and the packet stolen but have no obligation if the packet is "unaccompanied" in the strictest interpretation, or if carelessness is involved. Packets left in cars are not covered by our insurance. Members shall not allow any other person to have access to the packet except in their presence.

P11  No markings, other than those prescribed in Rules P5 and P6, shall be permitted on the sheets in a Packet except where an item is considered to be wrongly described, in which case comment may be made provided that the member making such comment also signs his name.

P12a  Neither the Society nor the Hon Packet Secretary shall be held responsible for the debts of members, or for material lost in transit or otherwise. The Packet will be insured by the Society (except against War risks, damage caused by a member whilst working on a packet, or loss when unattended, such as theft from a parked car.)

P12b Note that material in transit from vendors to the Packet Secretary is NOT insured by the APS until received by an officer. Packets under the APS’s control or in transit between members are insured providing they are sent as prescribed in Rule 8. Packets being returned to vendors are insured by the APS

P13  A commission of 10% will be deducted from all sales to defray expenses including postage and insurance, the surplus being transferred to the funds of the Society or used to buy in further material for circulation in the Packet. Return of unsold material to vendors will be by post with the postage deducted from sales

P14  All material submitted for circulation in the Packet will be deemed to be vested in the name of the Hon. Packet Secretary for the whole period it is in the hands of the Society and its members. Selling members will be deemed, by the act of submission of book or books, to assign to the said Hon. Packet Secretary all claims, title to sue or other legal rights competent to them in respect of each book or books.

P15  Any member receiving the packet after the 5th December in any year shall confirm to the Hon Packet Secretary as soon as possible that he has the packet safe and will post it onwards after Boxing Day.

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©APS. Last updated 26 October 2011; checked and reconfirmed 17 July 2020