A Cinderella is a stamp-like label that is not a postage stamp.  Cinderella stamps cover a variety of objects, such as locals, labels, tax stamps, fiscals, revenues, poster stamps, charity seals, forgeries, fantasies, phantoms, parodies, and items created for advertising or amusement. This are collectively referred to as Cinderella stamps due to  being neglected and given step-motherly treatment by some philatelists similar to the famous story of Cinderella. In the beginning the collectors collected everything with great enthusiasm. Before the turn of the century Cinderella along with revenue stamps, and postal stationery were separated from the mainstream stamp collecting.

One of the attractions (turnoffs to some) of collecting Cinderella stamps is that there is no such thing as a "complete" collection, since in most categories of this area, there is no catalog of what exists, and almost no way to compile one. Anyone can create a stamp to advertise or promote a product, and thousands of businesses, societies, event promoters, and individuals have been doing so for over a hundred years. The area is rich varied, challenging and full of pleasant surprises.