1st class letter stamp for 2nd class LL items.

soolin

I'm probably the last person on here to realise this- but 1st class letter stamps are now worth £1.65 whereas a 2nd class LL only costs £1.55 to post.

I have hundreds and hundreds of 1st class letter stamps, some barcoded and some pictorial and no hope of ever using them - but I sell a lot of LL items under 100g both on my business account and occasionally on my private account (where they are exempt from SD). That means I could use the 1st class stamps to cover my LL postage.

I'm a little nervous about doing it purely because I do see scare stories about both PO and RM failing to recognise pictorial stamps- and indeed I have had letters with picture stamps on them refused at my main PO before, and have had to ask a senior manager to step in and explain their validity. However, can anyone see a flaw in my plan to use a 1st class stamp but perhaps write under it 2nd class LL postage- or something like that?

I only use stamps for regular buyers or those buyers using a selling account to also buy  and still always ask for POP. I might even make inroads into my stamp stash if this works!

TimeLord1

Royal Mail's machines read barcodes and sort mail based on the service paid for. A 1st class barcoded stamp will likely be processed as 1st class mail. Even with a handwritten note, there's no guarantee the machine will override its primary function. 

When you say without barcode do you mean Christmas stamps? You could send a large parcel using lots and get proof of postage.  But with eBay lately tracking is everything. Maybe lot them up for sale.

kalsha

I am in exactly the same boat as you.   I was very upset when I realised that 1st class stamp was 10p more than 2nd class large letter as I too send a lot of large letters.  So far I haven't used the first class  for 2nd class LL and forgoing the 10p.  But previously whenever I have sent anything using my own valid stamps making up the £1.55 with a first class stamp and odd ones from my old presentation packs I always write in bold that it is 2nd class large letter.   I have lot of old presentation packs which are not selling at all so I am breaking them up and using all the odd amounts to make up £1.55.
I know it is only 10p extra but it adds up to a lot when you are sending lot of large letters.   I might have to start doing that when I run out combinations to use!

savergrant

soolin said:

I'm probably the last person on here to realise this- but 1st class letter stamps are now worth £1.65 whereas a 2nd class LL only costs £1.55 to post.

I have hundreds and hundreds of 1st class letter stamps, some barcoded and some pictorial and no hope of ever using them - but I sell a lot of LL items under 100g both on my business account and occasionally on my private account (where they are exempt from SD). That means I could use the 1st class stamps to cover my LL postage.

I'm a little nervous about doing it purely because I do see scare stories about both PO and RM failing to recognise pictorial stamps- and indeed I have had letters with picture stamps on them refused at my main PO before, and have had to ask a senior manager to step in and explain their validity. However, can anyone see a flaw in my plan to use a 1st class stamp but perhaps write under it 2nd class LL postage- or something like that?

I only use stamps for regular buyers or those buyers using a selling account to also buy  and still always ask for POP. I might even make inroads into my stamp stash if this works!

Not used barcoded stamps myself but have used 1st class letter special issue stamps and just written 2nd class large in the top left.
It's my understanding that first class stamps can still be topped up for more expensive services, although it may be that Royal Mail would prefer you to put them towards first class large letters.

inthedepthsofthesea

I've done this a couple of times, but taken the items into a post office. The first time it got "2nd" handwritten on it by the person behind the counter, but the second time it just went into the 2nd class bag as it was.

Olinda99

I would write 2L in felt pen on the front

soolin

TimeLord1 said:

Royal Mail's machines read barcodes and sort mail based on the service paid for. A 1st class barcoded stamp will likely be processed as 1st class mail. Even with a handwritten note, there's no guarantee the machine will override its primary function. 

When you say without barcode do you mean Christmas stamps? You could send a large parcel using lots and get proof of postage.  But with eBay lately tracking is everything. Maybe lot them up for sale.

Barcoded stamps are machine read for value, not class as far as I understand. So a modern 1st class barcoded stamp would be read as £1.65. 

The pictorials I have are sheets of picture stamps, myth and fantasy, royal wedding , Star Wars etc - all just show 1st. I always used to use them for parcels with a little crib sheet depending on values each year, so it might have been 2 x 1st class letter stamps and a 15p top up for instance. I never use stamps for parcels now at all as the price is dearer than buying from RM online, but for LLs under 100g there’s no price difference so worth doing.

I’m happy to lose the 10p per LL as I’ve got in the region of £1000 worth of these which I shall never use. If I sold them, and nothing much sells now, I’d get around 25% of face value after fees etc.

I am aware of the non tracking issue which is why I don’t use stamps for every LL buyer , but have been using my stock of 2nd class LL ones for a while w with POP.

soolin

I've given it a try today, sent 2 business and 1 private sale using a 1st class letter stamp writing below it '2nd class large letter postage', mail centre were happy to take them.I'll report back if I have any issues.

I used barcoded stamps today, but I may try pictorials tomorrow.

soolin

TimeLord1 said:

Star Wars stamps might be worth flipping. 

Unfortunately not, loads on eBay not selling even where seller will only get about 40% of face value back.