The term Cinderella takes its name from the familiar fairy tale wherein the often neglected stepchild was not allowed to attend the royal ball, in the same way the Cinderella stamp is not allowed in exhibitions; in relation, the term may have been acquired for the reason that these stamps are considered stepchildren of philately.

In the area as broad as Cinderella stamps, collecting cinderellas might be a turn off to collectors as there is no such thing as a complete collection, since there is no catalogue that tells what exist and almost no way of compiling one.

Cinderella stamps typically cover an extensive variety of stamp-like labels.  Some of which are Revenue stamps, also known as fiscals stamps or tax stamps, these are used to indicate that a specific tax has been paid. All levels of the government, issue these stamps in order to pay taxes on almost anything; and there is also the License or Royalty stamps, a stamp indicating payment of license, also called royalty fee.

 

The Local carriage stamps such as the U.S. locals are stamps used to pay postage within a limited area only and require the regular postage stamp, one that is nationally or internationally valid if the letter travels outside of local area. It can be privately produced or officially issued.

Telegraph stamps are stamps used as a kind of service fee stamps to indicate that the transport of telegrams has been paid and were usually issued in countries where telegraph lines exist.

Railway stamps, like the Danish railway parcel stamp, are used in the consigning of letters to the railway for partial routing.

Fantasy stamps, from the name itself, these are usually make-believe stamps issued for countries that do not exits or places that do not operated a postal system. A famous fantasy stamp is the Led Zeppelin stamp.

Poster stamps, in the simple sense, are stamps created to advertise a product or event. Not only are they poster-like in appearance but also in function. Many of the poster stamps are just the reduced version of actual posters and were used to advertise the events the poster was created for.

Another huge percentage in the Cinderella stamp category are the Charity Stamps, also called as Charity seals; as implied by the name, these stamps were sold by charitable organizations in order to raise funds, and the best known charity stamps are the Christmas seals, which were sold to the public to affix to their Christmas cards, with the earnings going to charity.

Lastly, the Philatelic Exhibition seals are stamps created as souvenirs of philatelic events and often issued in four sets.  These stamps are very popular among stamp collectors as it has an official connection to the hobby.

These are the categories of Cinderella stamps in general, but some might be privately created purely for decorative or amusement purposes.  Most of these stamps are officially issued, however it does not have any postal validity.