Advice re Royal Mail stamp swapout

NBLondon

stampswapper said:

 In the meantime if I send letters and pay for postage at today's rates without using the stamps I've got then theoretically I will gain that £20 price rise.

That's nonsense.  You are suggesting paying out money now instead of using the stamps you already own so as to get a theoretical profit from holding onto the stamps until the next price rise.  So whatever you spend buying more stamps has to be offset against the £20 "profit".  A "profit" because you can't claim that profit without selling the stamps.

If there is a price rise between now and 31st Jan 2023 then it will apply equally to both your existing holdings or to the barcoded replacements - so hold or swap makes no difference - you will still have the same number of stamps.  After that date, non-barcoded stamps will plummet in value unless they are rarities.  Plus molerat is right -  if you have numerically valued stamps in your stash - they will lose value in any price rise so swap early to get green barcoded 2nds.

The only way to make money out of the scheme is to buy lots of old 1st or 2nd class stamps now at below face value and immediately swap them to get new barcoded ones then either use those for postage or sell them at something nearer to face value next year.

stampswapper

It is not nonsense - think about it. I do not have any numerically value stamps so that is irrelevant. I said I have 1st and 2nd Class stamps that I have previously purchased. I can either use them at today's postage rates or get them exchanged for barcoded 1st and 2nd Class stamps either now or next year or whenever as there is not yet an end date to swap. So, by holding on to them and buying postage instead to send letters today I will have those stamps available to be converted and usable at whatever rate Royal Mail increase it to either later this year or most certainly next year. So, in actuality, not just theoretically, I will have more stamps that can be swapped so I will indeed make a gain. I did not say profit as that would mean selling them to someone else, but it would be a gain and anyone who already has 1st and 2nd Class stamps could do the same. Maybe it was an exaggerated comment but I was simply trying to make a point.

NBLondon

stampswapper said:

 So, in actuality, not just theoretically, I will have more stamps that can be swapped so I will indeed make a gain. 

It is nonsense.

If you have 117 First Class NVI now and you hold on to them you have 117 stamps.   If you swap them now, you have 117 stamps.  If the price goes up and then you swap them you still only have 117 stamps.

The "gain" is the difference between what you paid for a given stamp and the value on the day you use it - but if you are not selling them then the gain is never realised.  If you swap now the gain is unchanged.   What you have done is paid in advance for a service.  If you paid 60p for it in 2012; you now get a service that costs 95p.  If that goes up to 96p in December, you get the same service.  You can use the old stamp that you paid 60p for or the 2022 barcoded one that it was swapped for and still get the same service whether the current price is 95p or 96p or more.

If you buy stamps now instead of using the stock - that comes off your gain.  If there's a 1p rise in December, the 117 stamps in hand give you a total increased gain of £1.17.  If you have bought just one more stamp in the interim instead of using one of the stock your increased gain is £1.17 minus £0.95 or 22p.  Whereas using one of the stock stamps only reduces your gain to £1.16.  What's the name of this website again?

stampswapper

A gain can be made when it exceeds the rate of inflation, nothing to do with if I sell the stamps or not. Royal Mail recently increased 1st Class from 85p to 95p and £1.29 to £1.45 with another rise possibly later this year due to the latest rate of inflation - if not there will no doubt be a substantial rise next year. So, if I have 117 stamps now and exchange them for new barcoded ones I can use them at whatever rate is in force - that's okay. But, if I need to send say 117 letters before the next price rise and use the stamps I already have I will need to pay the higher price next year to send more letters. If, however, I buy stamps at a Post Office to send the letters (at today's rates) then I will still have the 117 stamps to swap and use next year when the prices will have undoubtedly gone up. I'll make a guess and say that they will go up at a rate higher than inflation so in that case I will indeed have made a gain. It is all down to the number letters, stamps, inflation and just how high Royal Mail increase their postage rates. With inflation about to hit 10% do you really think they will only raise the cost of sending a letter by just 1p?

NBLondon

You could put the stamps in a time capsule and leave instructions in your will for your grandchild to not use them until the price of a first class letter is £6.95  that would be a much larger gain - but still pointless.

All you are arguing now is "buy now to beat the price rise".  If you know/can estimate how many you will need in a year, then it may make sense to buy 3 years' supply. May because you are tying up funds in the stock of stamps.  That's normal business practice.  If you know you will need 10 between now and the next price rise and 120 after that then you can perhaps save pennies by keeping your stash until the price rise.   If the other way round, use the stash first.

For the saving to be significant you would need to be sending out large mail shots.  In which case, going to metered mail is probably going to save you more anyway...

Whether you swap your existing stock now or wait until after the price rise is completely irrelevant.  The old stamps and the barcoded replacements make the same gain.  A gain which has no real world meaning until you either sell that stamp for more than you paid for it or use it and realise the gain by getting a service.

stampswapper

Well, as I said previously, I currently have £200 worth of 1st & 2nd letter and large letter stamps and these in fact were all purchased before the recent price rise so I've already made a personal 'gain' so it doesn't really matter when I swap them. They will all get used eventually, barcoded or not. Yes, it was Martin Lewis who actually encouraged people to "beat the price rise" but then I've been doing that for the last 10 years or more when I used to sell quite a lot of stuff on Amazon and eBay. I always stocked up the month before the stamps went up and used them over the following years. I couldn't lose unless Royal Mail went bust of course, but it was better than having money in the bank earning no interest at all.

petersy

stampswapper said:

Well, as I said previously, I currently have £200 worth of 1st & 2nd letter and large letter stamps and these in fact were all purchased before the recent price rise so I've already made a personal 'gain' so it doesn't really matter when I swap them. They will all get used eventually, barcoded or not. Yes, it was Martin Lewis who actually encouraged people to "beat the price rise" but then I've been doing that for the last 10 years or more when I used to sell quite a lot of stuff on Amazon and eBay. I always stocked up the month before the stamps went up and used them over the following years. I couldn't lose unless Royal Mail went bust of course, but it was better than having money in the bank earning no interest at all.

Yes, it's much better than money in the bank, as your stamps will keep up with inflation and might exceed inflation the way things are going. 

Current inflation is around 9%, so your stamps will most likely go up 9% this year or early next, whereas if you had the same value in a bank, you would be losing 9% a year in purchasing power. 

ballisticbrian

Hi there, I haven't the inclination to read 8 pages but anyway, I took a considerable sum of stamps to the post office today addressed to freepost stamp swap and they can't give me proof of posting as it has no post code. Is Royal Mail asking us to cough up to get new stamps by paying for special delivery?

soolin

ballisticbrian said:

Hi there, I haven't the inclination to read 8 pages but anyway, I took a considerable sum of stamps to the post office today addressed to freepost stamp swap and they can't give me proof of posting as it has no post code. Is Royal Mail asking us to cough up to get new stamps by paying for special delivery?

If your significant amount was over £200 then go to the swap out page (lots of links above) and it will explain about reimbursement for special delivery. 

ballisticbrian

Thank you Soolin, I had printed that >200 form, speed read a snipet from each paragraph, read send vis special delivery, screwed up paper and threw into waste paper bin. This is the kind of speed I operate at.