EXPIRED Stock up on stamps before 30th April

hvd201

Firstwatch wrote: »

I was in the PO today to post a couple of ebay sales and bought another three books of 2nd....however it was really sad, as a man came in and asked the queue loudly, "has anyone picked up or handed in some books of stamps? I bought 700 and they're not in my pocket anymore"...he looked really upset...

Aww, poor guy! I'd be beside myself.
I had a waitrose.com delivery today and the guy was in awe of me lol, the total came to £1.57 and he was just astonished. I'd used £15 off voucher and then John Lewis gift vouchers so it only put £1.57 on my credit card :rotfl:
I got £88 of 2nd class large letter stamps and some £15 of groceries which were all on special offer :j

cafenervosa_2

Hey, could anybody confirm that if I wanted to send a Packet upto 750g at £2.20 it is totally fine to stick on 4x 2nd class stamps valued at 50p after April 30th then a 20p stamp.

Nobody has had any problems with doing it this way in the past?

It's just that i've always had my packets weighed at the counters but after the price rise it sounds like it will be more beneficial to use stamps for a while.

hvd201

cafenervosa wrote: »

Hey, could anybody confirm that if I wanted to send a Packet upto 750g at £2.20 it is totally fine to stick on 4x 2nd class stamps valued at 50p after April 30th then a 20p stamp.

Nobody has had any problems with doing it this way in the past?

It's just that i've always had my packets weighed at the counters but after the price rise it sounds like it will be more beneficial to use stamps for a while.

Currently a packet up to 750g is £2.61 via 2nd class post, interesting that this will decrease but I'm not impressed with the smaller packet price brackets such as 0 g- 100g packets at £1.33 and 101g - 250g at £1.72 are being scrapped. That's nearly a 50% increase for those smaller packets :eek:

In answer to your question, yes, if your package costs £2.20 after the price hike then you can use 4x 2nd class stamps (@ 50p each) & a 20p stamps. Alternatively use 2x 2nd (@50p each) plus 2x 1st (@ 60p each) to cover the £2.20 postage.

hvd201

I always pre-stamp my letters and packages before I go to the post office. I still have some 1st and 2nd class stamps from stocking up before the previous price rise and have stocked up with more stamps recently from various places - ocado, waitrose.com, WH Smith, Staples & my local post office. I've got a few years worth now as it seems silly not to with the price rise & no doubt a further price rises the following years.
I always use value of the 1st or 2nd class stamps towards the postal cost required and keep some 1p, 2p & 10p stamps in as well to top up when necessary.
My local post office are more than happy with this as well as providing me with the proof of postage or recorded slips. I'm always spot on so it doesn't take any longer than normal and sometimes even makes it quicker.

cafenervosa_2

hvd201 wrote: »

I'm not impressed with the smaller packet price brackets such as 0 g- 100g packets at £1.33 and 101g - 250g at £1.72 are being scrapped. That's nearly a 50% increase for those smaller packets :eek:

Yea this is a huge increase, that's not quite sunk in yet but guess we will have no choice but to pay it.

cafenervosa_2

hvd201 wrote: »

I always pre-stamp my letters and packages before I go to the post office. I still have some 1st and 2nd class stamps from stocking up before the previous price rise and have stocked up with more stamps recently from various places - ocado, waitrose.com, WH Smith, Staples & my local post office. I've got a few years worth now as it seems silly not to with the price rise & no doubt a further price rises the following years.
I always use value of the 1st or 2nd class stamps towards the postal cost required and keep some 1p, 2p & 10p stamps in as well to top up when necessary.
My local post office are more than happy with this as well as providing me with the proof of postage or recorded slips. I'm always spot on so it doesn't take any longer than normal and sometimes even makes it quicker.

I'm in the process of stocking up myself and using stamps will be a new system for me but like you say it makes perfect sense to save money in the long run.

I am a little concerned about the proof of posting as I usually just get the receipt and dig it out if I need too, whats a good system to use when your just using stamps because it can take a while writing out all the addresses on the slips.

yankeesalu

yes, so bad luck this guy I have never met such thing

hvd201

cafenervosa wrote: »

I'm in the process of stocking up myself and using stamps will be a new system for me but like you say it makes perfect sense to save money in the long run.

I am a little concerned about the proof of posting as I usually just get the receipt and dig it out if I need too, whats a good system to use when your just using stamps because it can take a while writing out all the addresses on the slips.

At the post office I ask them for a proof of postage certificate and they enter a few details and print one off for me. My local post office doesn't do the hand written proof of postage certificates any more, just the electronic ones printed off on the same machine which prints the receipts. The post office lady just enter the price as pre-paid (the price still shows up on the certificate just like it would do when buying the stamps at the post office) and prints it off without any problems at all.

hvd201

A tip is to get a piece of paper and write down which stamps make the best combination for various price brackets, it will save you a lot of time in the long run and you can add to the list as you go.

Eg. for the new prices write down
£1.10 = (1x 2nd) + (1x 1st)
£2.20 = (2x 2nd) + (2x 1st)
£4.30 = (5x 2nd) + (3x 1st)
£5.90 = (1x 2nd) + (9x 1st)

Then when you have to stamp up packages just go onto the online royal mail price finder, work out what the postage price will be and then refer to the list to see what stamps you need to add.
It saves me a lot of time and effort and you can add prices as you go along onto the list like eg. for when you have to add 95p (!) for recorded mail.

I am surprised that recorded is going up to 95p, eBayers will be hit by that as well. The worst thing is that the postman hardly ever gets a signature and just either leaves it on the doorstep or signs for it himself.

EDIT: For the 95p recorded cost, eg, making the £1.10 -> £2.05 I'd do
£2.05 = (1x 2nd) + (1x 1st) + (1x 1st LL) + 5p

^^ if you are a regular recorded mail user then it would be worth stocking up on the 1st large letter stamps and getting a few 5p stamps so you're sorted for when you turn up at the post office and it saves time as well

I hope that helps!

hvd201

I was just thinking about it and the cheapest way to cover the new recorded fee at 95p would not be buying up large letter stamps before the price rise to cover it and some 5p stamps.
For 1x 1st LL (now 77p, changing to 90p) + 5p the total cost at today's price would be 77p + 5p = 83p (a saving of 12p by buying up stocks now).
Instead 2x 2nd (now 36p, changing to 50p) would cover the 95p charge with 5p overpayment but the total cost at today's price would be 72p (saving 23p by buying now before the price rise). That's a 24% saving and for someone regularly using the service it could really make a difference.