Royal Mail barcoding stamps - existing stamps valid only until 31 Jan 2023

NBLondon

Olinda99 said:

thanks for the clarity. One question - if you decide not to take the risk of keeping the old booklets and decide to swap them out, then does it matter if you get sheets or booklets in return? It may do but I can't see how - but maybe i am missing something ?

If you want them for postage - the difference is negligible. If you want to then sell them on - it may affect the price you get for them.

SpideressUK

Having posted for advice on a different thread within the MSE site and having spent a long time reading all the posts on this thread and generally feeling that it was unlikely I'd get my special delivery postage refunded in the "swap out" for the over £1K of "face value" none-bar coded stamps I have I took the plunge and sent them off to UK Stamp Company Ltd who trade under webuyanystamps and am reassured to be able to report this company is legitimate and has paid the £851.51 today. 

I posted the stamps Friday they were received Monday and I was paid by the Tuesday.  So if you have more stamps to "swap" than you are ever likely to use and if you bought them long enough ago to be able to lose about 50% of their current "face value" and either still make a profit or at least not too much of a "hit" I'd recommend using their service.

JWM

SpideressUK said:

Having posted for advice on a different thread within the MSE site and having spent a long time reading all the posts on this thread and generally feeling that it was unlikely I'd get my special delivery postage refunded in the "swap out" for the over £1K of "face value" none-bar coded stamps I have I took the plunge and sent them off to UK Stamp Company Ltd who trade under webuyanystamps and am reassured to be able to report this company is legitimate and has paid the £851.51 today. 

I posted the stamps Friday they were received Monday and I was paid by the Tuesday.  So if you have more stamps to "swap" than you are ever likely to use and if you bought them long enough ago to be able to lose about 50% of their current "face value" and either still make a profit or at least not too much of a "hit" I'd recommend using their service.

Sorry I don't understand.

You said you had over £1,000 of stamps but didn't want to swap with Royal Mail as you feared you wouldn't get the SD cost of £6.45 refunded.

So instead you sold them for £851 which is a loss of at least £150??

That makes no sense.

Doc_N

JWM said:

SpideressUK said:

Having posted for advice on a different thread within the MSE site and having spent a long time reading all the posts on this thread and generally feeling that it was unlikely I'd get my special delivery postage refunded in the "swap out" for the over £1K of "face value" none-bar coded stamps I have I took the plunge and sent them off to UK Stamp Company Ltd who trade under webuyanystamps and am reassured to be able to report this company is legitimate and has paid the £851.51 today. 

I posted the stamps Friday they were received Monday and I was paid by the Tuesday.  So if you have more stamps to "swap" than you are ever likely to use and if you bought them long enough ago to be able to lose about 50% of their current "face value" and either still make a profit or at least not too much of a "hit" I'd recommend using their service.

Sorry I don't understand.

You said you had over £1,000 of stamps but didn't want to swap with Royal Mail as you feared you wouldn't get the SD cost of £6.45 refunded.

So instead you sold them for £851 which is a loss of at least £150??

That makes no sense.

Except that it’s in real money, rather than stamps.

JWM

Doc_N said:

JWM said:

SpideressUK said:

Having posted for advice on a different thread within the MSE site and having spent a long time reading all the posts on this thread and generally feeling that it was unlikely I'd get my special delivery postage refunded in the "swap out" for the over £1K of "face value" none-bar coded stamps I have I took the plunge and sent them off to UK Stamp Company Ltd who trade under webuyanystamps and am reassured to be able to report this company is legitimate and has paid the £851.51 today. 

I posted the stamps Friday they were received Monday and I was paid by the Tuesday.  So if you have more stamps to "swap" than you are ever likely to use and if you bought them long enough ago to be able to lose about 50% of their current "face value" and either still make a profit or at least not too much of a "hit" I'd recommend using their service.

Sorry I don't understand.

You said you had over £1,000 of stamps but didn't want to swap with Royal Mail as you feared you wouldn't get the SD cost of £6.45 refunded.

So instead you sold them for £851 which is a loss of at least £150??

That makes no sense.

Except that it’s in real money, rather than stamps.

But it's a loss of more than £150. If the swapped stamps couldn't have been used then why not sell on eBay - even better sell in a few years after a couple of price rises 

Utter madness to save £6.45 - which you would have been refunded anyway.

SpideressUK

JWM said:

SpideressUK said:

Having posted for advice on a different thread within the MSE site and having spent a long time reading all the posts on this thread and generally feeling that it was unlikely I'd get my special delivery postage refunded in the "swap out" for the over £1K of "face value" none-bar coded stamps I have I took the plunge and sent them off to UK Stamp Company Ltd who trade under webuyanystamps and am reassured to be able to report this company is legitimate and has paid the £851.51 today. 

I posted the stamps Friday they were received Monday and I was paid by the Tuesday.  So if you have more stamps to "swap" than you are ever likely to use and if you bought them long enough ago to be able to lose about 50% of their current "face value" and either still make a profit or at least not too much of a "hit" I'd recommend using their service.

Sorry I don't understand.

You said you had over £1,000 of stamps but didn't want to swap with Royal Mail as you feared you wouldn't get the SD cost of £6.45 refunded.

So instead you sold them for £851 which is a loss of at least £150??

That makes no sense.

I bought the stamps in about 2003 the bulk were the 1st class "forever" ones with about 350 more being the 2nd class "forever" ones so I probably paid what is about 30 or 40% of what is the current "face value" price.  Therefore it is no "loss" to me to sell them at 50% or just over 50% of their face value.  There was no point in me having over £1K "tied up" in stamps even if they were the barcoded ones (for which I'd have likely had to in effect pay the £7 ish SD charge since the swap out seems to be failing to refund it) as then I'd just have lots of money tied up in stamps that I am unlikely to ever use in my life time and either face having to try to sell them at less of a discount on something like Ebay etc but by the time that sellers fees and postage are considered I'd probably still be getting a 50% return plus with all the Ebay scams that go on with people claiming not to have received what you know you put in the package and Paypal generally refunding them without argument I'd be most likely working at a loss.

This was a really good way for me to turn what has been effectively tied up as "dead money" in stamps left over from my self employed days into cash.

TOP_CAT

Depends when the seller bought the stamps .
When was it recently ?
I think in 2020 possibly.... I cant recall but one year recently they had three price rises in a year .

Actually someone on here will know which year stamps were 15% cheaper ?
I bet it wasnt that long ago 

SpideressUK

JWM said:

But it's a loss of more than £150. If the swapped stamps couldn't have been used then why not sell on eBay - even better sell in a few years after a couple of price rises 

Utter madness to save £6.45 - which you would have been refunded anyway.

Hence my comment "if you bought them long enough ago" -  I bought them in about 2003, I don't know what I paid for the 1st class but I had a note on one of the 100 sheets of the 2nd class that they were 20p each so I guesstimated I probably paid about 1/3rd of overall current face value price.  With regards to other ways of selling like eBay I think I responded to that in a different reply - same for keeping hold of them for a few more years when they go up in value again ........I think in a few more years even less people will be using actual stamps, I'd still have the same issues around eBay and the like for selling and I'd have £851.51 less in my bank account today with lots of "dead money" sat around in stamp form.  In a few years time the selling options to companies like the one I just used might also be less if "real stamps" have got to the point of being rarely used so I'd rather sell now since its no loss to me and might even have been a "profit"

SpideressUK

TOP_CAT said:

Depends when the seller bought the stamps .
When was it recently ?
I think in 2020 possibly.... I cant recall but one year recently they had three price rises in a year .

Actually someone on here will know which year stamps were 15% cheaper ?
I bet it wasnt that long ago 

Bought about 2003 ish I had a note on the 2nd class they were 20p each but not sure what I paid for the 1st class at that time.

SpideressUK

Doc_N said:

Except that it’s in real money, rather than stamps.

...and is being invested in premim bonds so might even "make" a bit of money on top if I am lucky!