"Postkrav" (cash on delivery), or in Danish "postopkrævning", parcel cards are a separate category of parcel cards; they combine the normal function of a parcel card (to manage the delivery of and have a receipt for a parcel) and the function of money collection through the postgiro (postal payment). This method is used in many European countries. It is very commonly used in Faroe, Denmark, and the other Scandinavian countries to allow the recipient / buyer of a package to pay for it upon receipt. Payments were managed by a form / card usually with [two or three?] parts. The parts were originally a single intact piece of paper (thin card stock) separated by rouletting. Frequent senders of such cards could have their company name imprinted on the cards. There are various versions of official and unofficial cards; these differences are very collectible.
Part A bears the stamps, the name and address of the recipient (the person being billed, the payer), the sender / originator (person to be paid) information, the amount to be collected, and the weight of the package (at one point in time, one card could be used for multiple packages to the same recipient, thus that information could be recorded). This "A" receipt part is normally kept by the recipient (person being billed) or the post office. Part B, an example of which I have not recently seen, is probably used by the post office to send back to the originator / payee which they can then use the card to see that the money has been paid into their account. If there is a Part C, it is virtually never seen by philatelists; it would likely be the originator original copy for their files. The originator mails the still-connected Parts A-B to the package recipient, who will owe the money, the payer. When the payer accepts and pays for the package, Parts A and B are then separated. Part A is marked as paid and is kept by the payer (or retained by the post office for their records???). The post office puts the funds into the originators account and likely records the payment by marking Part B as paid and likely sending Part B back to the originator. Part A, bearing the stamps, is fairly seldom seen (thus most may be kept by the post office) under normal conditions, except when the payer does not pay the amount due -- in that case, the still-connected Parts A and B are returned to the originator along with the package. Such a return can be observed by rayon/pen lines on Parts A and/or B through the payer name and address. Most examples of these cards that come to the market are the result of being returned to the originator because of non-payment or because examples the post office may have been supposed to keep were not retained.
Additional services can also be purchased by the originator. The front of Part A may have a check-box for "Innskrivaður pakki" (registered package) and separately an area titled "Virðispakki" (insured package). Thus there are four possible postage cost elements: the postage for weight, the COD fee based on amount, a possible registration fee, and a possible insurance fee.
In addition to the Part A bearing the stamps, Part A also usually receives, on the reverse, a so-called "office stamp" handstamped postmark, typically four lines such as "Postverk / Føroya / [Date] / [Town Name]". These handstamps ARE A TYPE OF POSTMARKS! They are not (yet) listed in the Faroe postmark catalog listings, however, they deserve to be listed and are in important, if little-acknowledged, aspect of Faroe philately. |