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

soolin

swayzak said:

Hello

Bit late to the party here ...  I have small books of old Royal Mail stamps (1 with Queen's head only, the other with the band Queen).

Can I still swap these for the new stamps ?

Thanks

Yes, there is currently no finish date for the swap out scheme.

JDPower

Well I've just had my letter telling me my swap stamps were supposedly fake/used. Bought from the Co-op. So a national retailer is allegedly dealing in fraudulent stamps, according to Royal Mail   

NBLondon

swayzak said:

Hello

Bit late to the party here ...  I have small books of old Royal Mail stamps (1 with Queen's head only, the other with the band Queen).

Can I still swap these for the new stamps ?

Thanks

The ones with Queen (the Band) don't need to be swapped, they are Special Stamps which are still valid.

GDB2222

JDPower said:

Well I've just had my letter telling me my swap stamps were supposedly fake/used. Bought from the Co-op. So a national retailer is allegedly dealing in fraudulent stamps, according to Royal Mail   

Have you discussed this with RM and the Coop? Unfortunately, it would be rather easy for a staff member at the Coop to swap fake stamps for real ones. Or, possibly, fake ones got into the distribution system. Either way, RM may be 100% correct that you bought fakes. 

Of course, it’s also possible that RM have made a mistake. 

Fellwalker

A heads up and warning.  I'd thought Christmas Stamps remained valid.  But that seems to be only partially true.  

My friend just sent a card to her nephew using an old Christmas stamp (non-barcoded) and he was charged for insufficient postage paid - PLUS the penalty (He wouldn't tell her how much it was, but I think it would be £1.50, double the second class postage cost!). 

Everything I had read said Christmas Stamps would still be valid, could not be exchanged, and did NOT suggest there would be any excess to pay. Even the MSE latest post on this subject in June said they remain valid and did not mention a surcharge .

If we do need to add more postage to the card we're sending, it would seem to be 7p - 2nd class just rose from 68p to 75p.

Other picture stamps are valid but from the questions on this page:-

What happens if I use a non-barcoded stamp after 31 January 2023?
Mail posted with non-barcoded Definitive stamps after 31 January 2023, will for the first 6 month be delivered as normal, no surcharge will be raised. After this 6 month grace period, an item with a non-barcoded stamp would be treated as if there is insufficient postage. Any item that has insufficient postage is subject to a surcharge. Surcharge fees can be found on our website.

What stamps shouldn’t I send in for swap out?
Christmas Stamps: although we are adding barcodes to Christmas Stamps — non-barcoded Christmas Stamps will remain valid as postage after 31 January 2023 — so there is no need to swap them out.

Originally you said Christmas stamps are being barcoded and non-barcoded Christmas stamps would become invalid as postage - has this changed?
Following our announcement on 1 Feb 2022, and subsequent discussions with key stakeholders, including feedback from our customers, we have removed Christmas stamps from our Swap Out scheme. These stamps are mostly kept by customers to send their Christmas cards and we anticipate that the vast majority will have been used by the end of this year. We are still adding a barcode to Christmas stamps, but non-barcoded Christmas stamps will remain valid so can continue to be used after 31 July 2023 and therefore there is no requirement to swap them out.

It appears from the Royal Mail website that the cost could be either £1.50 or £2.50.

Fees explained

Unpaid postage

The charge you'll need to pay is shown on the "Fee to Pay" card. It has been calculated in the following way:

Item size	Current price	New price (from 30 October 2023)
Letter/large letter No postage paid/Counterfeit stamp Insufficient postage paid Use of Non-barcoded stamp	£2.50 £1.50 £1.10	£5.00 £1.50 £2.50

molerat

Christmas non barcoded stamps are still valid, poorly trained Royal Mail staff is the problem unless of course the postage was insufficient for the item, there are many cards with decoration on the front that are are over 5mm so LL.  If the stamp was sufficient you need to raise a complaint with photos of the offending item and you will be reimbursed in stamps.

Fellwalker

molerat said:

Christmas non barcoded stamps are still valid, poorly trained Royal Mail staff is the problem unless of course the postage was insufficient for the item, there are many cards with decoration on the front that are are over 5mm so LL.  If the stamp was sufficient you need to raise a complaint with photos of the offending item and you will be reimbursed in stamps.

It was a small card - but the problem is that the sender is over 80 and her nephew (actually nephew's son) is hundreds of miles away, and only 7. The nephew isn't good with filling in forms, but I'll see if I can ease their way.
I've also raised the question direct with Royal Mail Help on Twitter (yes I know it has changed name) so may get a definitive answer on Monday.

GDB2222

I did send some Christmas stamps in for swapping, and they were indeed swapped. So, it might be simpler just to do that.

soolin

I still have hundreds of pounds worth of picture stamps , including Christmas ones. Seeing so many mentions of RM incorrectly surcharging on these stamps due to them not being valid that I’m nervous about using them. 

A couple of other forums/websites have also had people complaining that their letters are being surcharged so it isn’t just in here. I sent out birthday cards during the summer using Dr Who stamps , I’m worried how many of those never reached the recipients. 

subjecttocontract

Last week I bought 10 first class stamps from my local post office. There is no barcode......oblong, picture of holly and marked 1st class up to 100g........what the hell is going on ? Are they valid? They better be !