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

cx6

I predict this forum or the Consumer Rights forum will be filled with threads along the lines of: 'I sent £54.90 worth of stamps to be swapped and RM said there were only £34.80 do I have any rights...'

soolin

cx6 said:

I predict this forum or the Consumer Rights forum will be filled with threads along the lines of: 'I sent £54.90 worth of stamps to be swapped and RM said there were only £34.80 do I have any rights...'

I also think we will get the same threads we got when pricing in proportion came in , people saying they used a proper RM stamp but their grandchild got charged a surcharge  due to insufficient  postage. The issue around letters and large letters caused problems for probably the best part of 2 years - mainly affecting older people . I’ve been to the post office and also to the mail delivery centre this week and there isn’t a leaflet, poster or notice anywhere telling people about these changes. I mentioned it to some family members who hadn’t a clue this was happening. 

misterthrifty

Something like this has been anticipated since RM was sold by the gov't, the new owners have been delivering letters and parcels with postage that was purchased before the sale and they have had to bear the cost. There are many £ millions of stamps with collectors or others that RM would love to invalidate, looks like they have started the process. RM are still issuing new commemorative stamps without a barcode so they will probably be around for quite a while, they will deal with the NVI & definitives first (apparently the £1 is forged a lot). 
The last time there was a buy back scheme (decimalisation) RM paid 80% of face I believe, so it will be interesting to see what they do this time? Will they only swap like for like (1st for 1st) or will they accept 100s of small denomination stamps?

soolin

I'm really doing my best to make a dent in my stock here, I was quite pleased to have a few large letters that were charged at £1.99 as a handful of them used nearly £10 of stamps - still a very long way to go though...

rhcp

As it is a freepost address you have to send them to, I am going to just send a couple of books at a time.  Don't want to risk losing them all!

molerat

I currently have over £300 worth and only really use them at Christmas.  Will most likely stump up the £6 ish for SD to be safe.  Just hope the RM survey start sending out the new style pretty soon.

custardy

soolin said:

cx6 said:

I predict this forum or the Consumer Rights forum will be filled with threads along the lines of: 'I sent £54.90 worth of stamps to be swapped and RM said there were only £34.80 do I have any rights...'

I also think we will get the same threads we got when pricing in proportion came in , people saying they used a proper RM stamp but their grandchild got charged a surcharge  due to insufficient  postage. The issue around letters and large letters caused problems for probably the best part of 2 years - mainly affecting older people . I’ve been to the post office and also to the mail delivery centre this week and there isn’t a leaflet, poster or notice anywhere telling people about these changes. I mentioned it to some family members who hadn’t a clue this was happening. 

The sad thing is many people still dont get PIP
Its near near 14 years since PIP was introduced.
Every UK household got a leaflet/sizing template sent out at the time

TripleH

I have inherited my father's stamp collection which I intended to turn into art (know they are of little value). Thanks for the heads up about first day covers. Will remove the stamps from these as well as had considered trying to sell them.

soolin

TripleH said:

I have inherited my father's stamp collection which I intended to turn into art (know they are of little value). Thanks for the heads up about first day covers. Will remove the stamps from these as well as had considered trying to sell them.

I think it is such a shame, I remember going to stamp shows with my dad when I was young - the box of First day covers was always revered as being 'expensive' and vendors would watch you like a hawk as you shuffled through them to find ones you wanted.

This is why my house is full to the seams, I have hundreds of them and can't bring myself to get rid of them.

Ineedaservant

If you have a large surplus of stamps, you could ask all your friends and family to buy them from you as needed.  This would not only help to reduce your stock but also give you time to see how the swap system pans out.  I suspect that there will be many problems occur before the deadline for using them up happens.