Royal Mail Smart Stamp Free Trial

MSE_Martin

What's the deal?

The Roayl Mail has started a new online postage service allowing you to print the stamps you need from home whenever you need them.

How does it work?

You need to subscribe* and then you can track all your spending and top up your account online. Simply chose the postage you want e.g. first or second class and you then have 24 hours to use it. Every item has a unique eight digit code to prevent fraud and duplicate items.

How much does it cost?

Usually it costs £4.99/month for a three month subscription but at the moment Royal Mail is offering a free trial of the service which means cancel after three months and you will get your money back (so ensure you diarise that).

Once subscribed you'll need to pay for stamps on a pay as you go basis with a £5 minimum top-up.

Earn extra cashback if you're prepared to play


Memebers of cashback scheme Quidco will receive £15 cashback when you sign up for this trial via it which means you're basically getting paid £15 to try it out! If you don't know what a cashback site is read Internet Shopping: Cutting Edge Time & MoneySaving Techniques

T's and C's of trial subscription

• Contract must be cancelled after the third monthly fee has been taken and before the fourth monthly fee is debited from your account.
• [SIZE=+0]Cancellations must be made in writing to SmartStamp Account Closures, FREEPOST, PO Box 555, Brampton, BARNSLEY, S73 3AX.[/SIZE]
• On cancellation you'll receive a a cheque for £14.97 to cover the three months payment.
• Subscription refunds will be by cheque and will be sent by post within 60 days of receipt of the cancellation.

* Using these links helps the site stay ad-free and free to use, as they’re ‘affiliated links’ which invisibly take you via commercial price comparison services like Moneysupermarket or Find, which then pay this site per click

You shouldn’t notice any difference, the links don’t impact the product at all and the editorial line (the things I write) is NEVER impacted by the revenue. If it isn’t possible to get an affiliate link for the best product, it is still recommended and still included. The following royalmail.com is an identical unaffiliated links provided for the sake of transparency. Click on the following link for more details on how the site's financed.[/I]

russimp

I'm a bit confused here.

Does this mean that you need to pay a monthly subscription AND pay for every 'stamp' you buy?

If so, why would anyone want to fork out an extra £5 a month to use the service (unless your mailing in large bulk, and it could save time).

The cashback and 3 month trial sounds good though!

Chris.

Ausweb

Just to update this - I used smartstamp early last year when they had the same offer -(used to ebay lots of things), When you cancel, they can take a couple of months to return your payment and any left over credit,


However ......

They now offer a similar service for Free (i.e. only pay for the stamp)

Log on to royal mail.com or click the link below

http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/jump3?mediaId=26800663&catId=400043&campaignid=olphomepagepromo

You can now print your own stamps and pay individually by CC or credit your account by debit card (min £3.50)

Now you only pay for the stamps you print - No £5 p/mth charge,

I've Found it invaluable + if you print a letter/stamp incorrectly you can re-print it (with smartstamp you had to send it off for a credit ( - this may have changed...)

' Difference as far as I can see is that smartstamp gives you the option to customise your 'postage labels'

michaelthelamb

I would have expected there to be a price difference between any online service and an offline (stamp) service due to lower costs from online.

No need for stamps, sales network for stamps, easier verification etc. The savings from online are there (even if only a couple of pence) but the consumer doesn't see any benefit since under the current pricing. And online printing isnt that much more convenient. In fact, it would prove a hassle with many home printers.

I'm all for online but I think they should be providing a bigger benefit to online users!

Epiphone

Smartstamp is OK and it does add a certain oomph to your mailshots but 4.99 a month was too much so I cancelled it for that reason.

Mumstheword

I've been printing my own stamps for a while now using their free service.

The problems are:

You have to print each individually, with a destination on - you print a label or an envelope

You have to post by the end of the next working day

Site is a bit slow, and there are about 5 or 6 pages to go thru for each individual stamp




Can't think why I'd want to pay per month for the service !!! Unless anyone can tell me the benefits of the pay-for service over the free service??

meldrew_2

Just use Royal Mail's free service!!!

Yes, you DO have to post by the next day - but great if (as us) you don't live near a Post Office.

potbelly

I will continue to buy my stamps at my local Post office, not because I don't like doing things on-line but because I want to support their business.

We need to realise that not everything can be done on-line but it may be too late when all the actual Post Offices have been closed.

And you need to be very careful that, with the recent changes to the way postal costs are calculated, that you get the right amount, or your recipient will be surcharged. More money for the Royal Mail, one upset friend/ customer!

Robboseven

I assume that this service is mostly be aimed at small businesses (why would an individual pay £4.99 amonth) however it works out more expensive so why would you?

Remember that if you post anything other than a DL or C5 envelope you will have to print on an adhesive label - which you have to buy, plus you are using your own ink. If you do print directly onto the envelope you will probably waste some when your printer decides to chew them up.

If you are a small business or you ebay a lot just buy the self adhesive stamps online from royalmail.com. You get free next day delivery if your order is over £35 and when Royal mail announces a price increase you can buy them in advance and save even more as they are only marked 1st or 2nd class.

It's a gimmick

Andy_ArT_Trigg

Mumstheword wrote:

Can't think why I'd want to pay per month for the service !!! Unless anyone can tell me the benefits of the pay-for service over the free service??

The subscription service is for business users. You download some software and you can add your company logo or a slogan at the side of the printed stamp. It also supports most of the labels used by business' and lets you create templates etc.

As Martin says, the 3 month trial could be taken advantage of by non business users but I would have thought you'd need to post a fair amount to be worth the effort. Ebay users may well find it useful but if posting in a jiffy bag you'd need to print onto lables.

AlexWright

Robboseven wrote:

Remember that if you post anything other than a DL or C5 envelope you will have to print on an adhesive label - which you have to buy, plus you are using your own ink. If you do print directly onto the envelope you will probably waste some when your printer decides to chew them up.

Or just print onto plain A4, cut it out and stick to the parcel.

Robboseven wrote:

It's a gimmick

A Gimmick that has saved me hours of queueing in the post office.

Though I use the free service, not the subscription!