Standard first-class stamp prices to rise by an inflation-busting 8% from 2 April

MSE_Molly_G

First-class stamp prices will rise by an inflation-busting 8% for standard size letters from 2 April, Royal Mail has confirmed. Other stamp prices will also rise, including second-class stamps by a larger 13% – though if you buy stamps at their current price, you'll still be able to use them after the price goes up.

Standard first-class stamp prices to rise by an inflation-busting 8% from 2 April – here's how to beat the hike

If you haven't already, join the forum to reply.

soolin

A quick look at the prices and it looks as though my 2nd class large  letter at £1.55 is remaining the  same, I was already worried it would go up again this April.

Rantband

Not sure I believe this but it looks like LL 250g(not online) has been REDUCED from £2.40 to £2.10. Perhaps Soolin could you confirm I am not seeing things.

RFW

Rantband said:

Not sure I believe this but it looks like LL 250g(not online) has been REDUCED from £2.40 to £2.10. Perhaps Soolin could you confirm I am not seeing things.

I buy RM from an account so I'm muddled on prices but they were rumoured to be doing this. It looks like it's reduced from £2.30 to £2.10.
The steady price rises of smaller items has meant I've had to ditch quite a few products.

Rantband

RFW said:

Rantband said:

Not sure I believe this but it looks like LL 250g(not online) has been REDUCED from £2.40 to £2.10. Perhaps Soolin could you confirm I am not seeing things.

I buy RM from an account so I'm muddled on prices but they were rumoured to be doing this. It looks like it's reduced from £2.30 to £2.10.
The steady price rises of smaller items has meant I've had to ditch quite a few products.

The 2nd class LL 250g online has been reduced from £2.30 to £1.90.

soolin

The last price increase put a huge leap in large letter prices between 100g and 250g , it would be nice if that huge differential is addressed. 

molerat

Rantband said:

Not sure I believe this but it looks like LL 250g(not online) has been REDUCED from £2.40 to £2.10. Perhaps Soolin could you confirm I am not seeing things.

You are correct

Also the 500g band did not really exist, it jumped from 250g to 750g.  Now 1LL is still the one 250g - 750g band but 2LL 500g now at  £2.50 down from £2.70 and 750g is staying at £2.70

Mutton_Geoff

The MSE article suggests buying in bulk ahead of the rise. If you do this, make sure you buy from Royal Mail directly as Ebay & Amazon are awash with fakes.

Spoonie_Turtle

Mutton_Geoff said:

The MSE article suggests buying in bulk ahead of the rise. If you do this, make sure you buy from Royal Mail directly as Ebay & Amazon are awash with fakes.

Or from official other sources like Costco or WHSmith. 
But an excellent point, definitely be wary of buying anywhere other than RM online 

Mutton_Geoff

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Mutton_Geoff said:

The MSE article suggests buying in bulk ahead of the rise. If you do this, make sure you buy from Royal Mail directly as Ebay & Amazon are awash with fakes.

Or from official other sources like Costco or WHSmith. 
But an excellent point, definitely be wary of buying anywhere other than RM online 

I only speak from experience. A friend bought his stamps from Amazon to post Christmas cards. I had to pay RM £5 for them to deliver the card. The postman had left a postcard "insufficient postage" but when the friends card was delivered, they had ticked the box "counterfeit postage" on the front. 

Spoonie_Turtle

Mutton_Geoff said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Mutton_Geoff said:

The MSE article suggests buying in bulk ahead of the rise. If you do this, make sure you buy from Royal Mail directly as Ebay & Amazon are awash with fakes.

Or from official other sources like Costco or WHSmith. 
But an excellent point, definitely be wary of buying anywhere other than RM online 

I only speak from experience. A friend bought his stamps from Amazon to post Christmas cards. I had to pay RM £5 for them to deliver the card. The postman had left a postcard "insufficient postage" but when the friends card was delivered, they had ticked the box "counterfeit postage" on the front. 

Yeah that's unfortunately not a surprise at all - as you say, they really are awash with fakes.
I've needed a lot of stamps over the past few years so have looked a bit into where sells them and reliable, big established businesses like Costco and WHSmith - places that have physical stores - are fine for stamps on the whole. 
Any solely online business, I haven't found any that didn't ring alarm bells. 

And eBay/Amazon are absolute plague zones for counterfeits (on eBay some honest people do sell genuine stamps from postage panel testing, but unless you really know what you're doing it's hard to discern those amongst the fakes) and you're definitely right to warn people away from them.