Kantar - Royal Mail Monitoring and Posting Panel

Money_Grabber13579

adamp87 said:

That’s really frustrating. I’ve been saving the special presentation packs but will probably need to sell them before January unless they are going to swap them out for the new style stamps in a presentation pack. Which I guess they won’t 

The stamps in the presentation packs are unaffected (for now) unless they are a Christmas presentation pack. So no need to use them or sell them as they’ll continue to be valid after January 23.

djp64

As Money-Grabber13 has already said, the new rules only apply to definitive stamps (those with just the Queen's head and a value on them) and Christmas stamps.

The collectors stamps, including presentation packs, are currently unaffected by the rules.

I have some of the collectors booklets which have 4 definitive stamps and 2 'collectors stamps'.  Unsure how these are affected but will ask when the scheme launches

Money_Grabber13579

djp64 said:

I have some of the collectors booklets which have 4 definitive stamps and 2 'collectors stamps'.  Unsure how these are affected but will ask when the scheme launches

In that case, the 4 definitive stamps will become invalid from January 23 but the 2 commemorative stamps will not.  Quite how that will work with the swap out scheme remains to be seen though…

NBLondon

Money_Grabber13579 said:

djp64 said:

I have some of the collectors booklets which have 4 definitive stamps and 2 'collectors stamps'.  Unsure how these are affected but will ask when the scheme launches

In that case, the 4 definitive stamps will become invalid from January 23 but the 2 commemorative stamps will not.  Quite how that will work with the swap out scheme remains to be seen though…

Good question - if you cut the booklet so as to keep the 2 commemoratives; will you be able to exchange the 4 definitives for a new style 4x1st?  I'd expect so - same as if you had bought a sheet of 50, used 32 and wanted to exchange the remaining 18.

No answer from Kantar yet.  I've a cube to drop off tomorrow so if it's not too busy I'll ask my friendly subpostperson if she has any extra info on the swap scheme.

NBLondon

littlemoney said:

If we exchange our stamps via Royal mail service will this identify us as panellists and automatically mean we can't do the survey?

Not necessarily.  Plenty of non-panellists will have stocks of stamps - they may have bought to beat a price rise (MSE approach) or small businesses/clubs/charities who do mailshots.  

littlemoney said:

As of now I think it will be difficult to sell our stamps on eBay as people won't want to buy many due to the limited life. I hope Kantar will help us but ....

I'd expect the price to drop a bit as the deadline approaches.  People who are buying to get stamps at a discount won't want to build up a large stock that they then have to exchange and those who buy just as many as they need may get a bigger bargain.

Rianam

Hopefully they will get a system sorted where you can’t buy any normal stamps anymore but
still can use them if you have some 

Jonty6262

"Alternatively, non-barcoded stamps can be exchanged for the new barcoded version through Royal Mail’s ‘Swap Out’ scheme. 

The ‘Swap Out’ scheme will open on 31 March 2022. Forms will be available via a variety of channels, including local Customer Service Points; the Royal Mail website and via our Customer Experience team. Customers will be able to use a Freepost address. Further details will be announced shortly."

https://www.royalmail.com/sending/barcoded-stamps

XDA

I’ve had a message saying my current stint is coming to an end. I don’t think I’ll bother accepting the invitation to rejoin in 6 months time.

In this current stint I’ve had to request my monthly reward stamps multiple times. I haven’t received a diary (I haven’t chased as I’ve bought my own as I needed one at the start of the year, not half way through January!). The changes to sending parcels so you are only rewarded once to take a sack containing 3 parcels etc.

I feel it’s not really worth the hassle.

Anyone else feel this way?

NBLondon

Jonty6262 said:

"Alternatively, non-barcoded stamps can be exchanged for the new barcoded version through Royal Mail’s ‘Swap Out’ scheme. 

The ‘Swap Out’ scheme will open on 31 March 2022. Forms will be available via a variety of channels, including local Customer Service Points; the Royal Mail website and via our Customer Experience team. Customers will be able to use a Freepost address. Further details will be announced shortly."

https://www.royalmail.com/sending/barcoded-stamps

The key thing to note is that Post Offices won't be involved. You can't just swap there and they won't have the paperwork.  Customer Service Points (at Delivery Offices) will have the forms but it isn't clear whether they will be able to swap there and then (and if they do - what stocks they will have...)

jaybee

XDA said:

I’ve had a message saying my current stint is coming to an end. I don’t think I’ll bother accepting the invitation to rejoin in 6 months time.

In this current stint I’ve had to request my monthly reward stamps multiple times. I haven’t received a diary (I haven’t chased as I’ve bought my own as I needed one at the start of the year, not half way through January!). The changes to sending parcels so you are only rewarded once to take a sack containing 3 parcels etc.

I feel it’s not really worth the hassle.

Anyone else feel this way?

I have just had the same message. 

For the first time during this stint I have had to chase the monthly reward stamps but I have received the diary.

Currently I'm not sure about continuing (if invited). It has become difficult for me as the only Post Office within walking distance for me is only open for three days a week so that makes it impossible to do anything that requires going into the PO on the days they don't open. The next nearest PO in my area would involve a 10 mile round walk (I don't drive) or two bus journeys.