Unused Royal Mail Stamps

sg3000

Hi everyone, I'm currently dealing with a relative's estate and amongst their possessions, I've found they have over 100 packs of x12 Royal Mail 2nd class stamps, which at 65p each means they're worth over £800! Apart from using them for sending lots of letters, does anyone know whether I can sell them or get a refund? I couldn't see anything on the Royal Mail website. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Best wishes.

Spoonie_Turtle

You can certainly sell them, but as a potential buyer I would advise you to include in the description where you got them from.   There are an awful lot of fakes being sold so even though I am in the market for bulk stamps I won't buy unless I can be sure they are genuine. 

tacpot12

Did you find a receipt for the stamps, or do you know anything that would account for that volume of stamps? 

knightstyle

I was looking to buy about 100 2nd class stamps and see that a book of 12 costs £7.92 but you can get a discount. 
However Ebay sellers seem yo charge around £10 for the same!  Who would pay more than official price I wonder?  Does anyone buy them?

maxsteam

Fortunately the value will have risen with the price of a 2nd class stamp. Yes, they are still valid for postage and yes, you can sell them. Many people buy stamps, keep them in albums for many years then swap them or sell them. I can't imagine why anyone might want to see a receipt. You cannot, however, return them to Royal Mail for a refund.
Unless they are something unusual (like fakes), you will be unlikely to be able to sell them for more than their current face value. Some stamp booklets are rare but it's more likely that you have something ordinary. If so, I would guess that, auctioning say 5 books at a time on eBay, would get about £30 per 5 books.
There are people on eBay who sell "unfranked, off paper, no gum" stamps. These are stamps that have been used but not marked by a franking machine. While it is legal to sell these stamps, it is illegal to use them twice for postage. I am presuming that, as you've mentioned the stamps being in packs, they are unused, in their original condition and they can easily be used for postage.

martindow

knightstyle said:

I was looking to buy about 100 2nd class stamps and see that a book of 12 costs £7.92 but you can get a discount. 
However Ebay sellers seem yo charge around £10 for the same!  Who would pay more than official price I wonder?  Does anyone buy them?

I suppose they have a postage cost they want to cover.  Presumably there is a market for selling to people who are shielding and don't want to go into a PO or where it is difficult to travel.  It is similar to having milk delivered where you pay over 70p a pint compared with far cheaper supermarket prices.

sg3000

Many thanks for your comments, they are greatly appreciated. 

NBLondon

Like others have said - you can sell them on eBay.  Some collectors will pay over face value for a specific booklet - depends on the year, the printer and other things but you'd need to do a bit of research to work out if there are any rare ones in the pile.   
If you sell as a job lot - you'll get way less than face value.  Selling in small batches will improve it but talks more time and effort.
Other ideas: 

• If you are on good terms with your local corner shop; they might do a deal to taken them off your hands.
• If you know a local charity or community organisation that sends out newsletters; they might do a deal.