Stamp swap

[Ostrich]

We had loads of old 1p, 2p, 5p and upwards stamps at work that I sent back. Expected to get a batch of equivalent value of 1st or 2nd class stamps, we just got new versions of the 1p, 2p, etc stamps.

We sent back around £45-worth at the start of the scheme, a mixture of values, and got the replacements back inside a fortnight.
We included some 1p, 2p 5p etc, and got bar-coded replacements for those, but also some 4p, 8p etc for which there isn't a bar-coded equivalent, so they converted those into 1st and 2nd bar-coded ones, giving me slightly over-the-odds in value.
We kept back some "old" 1sts and 2nds for use during the year and for our Christmas cards; if there's any left over we'll probably swap out before the deadline.

 

[Old Yard Dog]

Wouldn't it be a darned sight simpler if they just let people use their old stamps indefinitely and just phase the new ones in over the course of time? There is no need for all this rigmarole.

 

[Gloster]

Wouldn't it be a darned sight simpler if they just let people use their old stamps indefinitely and just phase the new ones in over the course of time? There is no need for all this rigmarole.

Because that would mean that people can continue to use fake or pre-used stamps indefinitely, which is the root of the problem.

 

[Peter Sarf]

Wouldn't it be a darned sight simpler if they just let people use their old stamps indefinitely and just phase the new ones in over the course of time? There is no need for all this rigmarole.

We can assume that the bar code has a purpose. The non barcoded stamps will defeat that purpose. So the old stamps need to stop being used.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Nov 2022 ==

And @Gloster has in mind the following need.

Because that would mean that people can continue to use fake or pre-used stamps indefinitely, which is the root of the problem.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Anyone still waiting to receive "swapped out" stamps?

 

[Puffing Devil]

Anyone still waiting to receive "swapped out" stamps?

Only from 2/3 weeks ago.

 

[2192]

I sent back about £150 worth of stamps recorded delivery when the scheme was first announced, mostly first, requesting the equivalent value in seconds (as I seldom used firsts). But they sent (promptly) mostly repacement firsts. The reason I had a surplus of firsts was I used to stockpile just before the price went up, and miscalculated my usage one year!

 

[Seehof]

I think a lot of us did the same!
Hence the reason I still have a lot of Christmas stamps without a barcode from last year! I understand these and other picture commemorative stamps can be used long past the cut off date. I intend to use these next year.

 

[DelW]

I've managed to use up all my second class, but I'll have a dozen or so first class to exchange.

This was the solution used by a friend of mine who had inherited stocks from their father's collection. The top right must be 42 years old (Queen Mother's 80th).

 

[Ediswan]

I've managed to use up all my second class, but I'll have a dozen or so first class to exchange.

This was the solution used by a friend of mine who had inherited stocks from their father's collection. The top right must be 42 years old (Queen Mother's 80th).View attachment 125539

'Singing Carols Round the Christmas Tree' is even older, 1978.

 

[DelW]

'Singing Carols Round the Christmas Tree' is even older, 1978.

I wondered if that might be older, being a lower denomination. Also whether the pictorial ones might have been worth more than face value to a collector, but I expect they'd probably have checked that out.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

This was the solution used by a friend of mine who had inherited stocks from their father's collection. The top right must be 42 years old (Queen Mother's 80th).View attachment 125539

...and probably worth ( a little bit ) more if they'd left it alone in mint condition instead of using it! Same for the other older ones...

 

[Ediswan]

I wondered if that might be older, being a lower denomination.

I got the date from The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/christmas/2016/12/08/50-years-royal-mails-christmas-stamps/

1978 'Singing Carols Round the Christmas Tree' is by the famous renaissance illustrator Faith Jaques.

At the time, 2nd class started at 7p (60g).

 

[Gloster]

At the time, 2nd class started at 7p (60g).

And no doubt everybody said, “7p. 7p! It’s ridiculous the way they rip you off nowadays. I can remember when you could send a parcel the size of a battleship all the way to Australia (other colonies are available) for less than half a brass farthing. I don’t know what the world is...”

 

[Elwyn]

My local post office told me yesterday that they have put back the cut off date from 31st January to July 2023. I don’t have that in writing but the postmistress said I could carry on using the old style stamps till then.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

My local post office told me yesterday that they have put back the cut off date from 31st January to July 2023. I don’t have that in writing but the postmistress said I could carry on using the old style stamps till then.

That's correct. A six month extension. There was an announcement to this effect in mid November.

Also, you should now be able to collect "Swap Out" application forms from your local Post Office.

 

[zero]

...and probably worth ( a little bit ) more if they'd left it alone in mint condition instead of using it! Same for the other older ones...

lol, no. Dealers will pay about 50% of face value, I trade them for about 70% of face value, a few months ago I got about 1000 of those QM ones for equivalent of 6.5p each. Really annoying to use as you need a big enough envelope to fit them (£1.65 250g large letter needs 13x 12p + 9p). Long strips curl up when you wet them making them tricky to stick, and the post office staff complain about having to cancel so many.

My local post office told me yesterday that they have put back the cut off date from 31st January to July 2023. I don’t have that in writing but the postmistress said I could carry on using the old style stamps till then.

That has actually been known for over a month https://blog.norphil.co.uk/2022/11/ever-more-thoughts-on-royal-mail.html

 

[Ediswan]

And no doubt everybody said, “7p. 7p! It’s ridiculous the way they rip you off nowadays. I can remember when you could send a parcel the size of a battleship all the way to Australia (other colonies are available) for less than half a brass farthing. I don’t know what the world is...”

Australia still seems cheap given the distance. £2.55 for a 100g letter.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

lol, no. Dealers will pay about 50% of face value

Dealers as in collector / stamp shops?

More than one has told me that as a rule of thumb when selling a stamp ( as in for a stamp collector ) you should reckon on getting 30% or 40% of the Stanley Gibbons catalogue value ( and they also said never buy stamps from Stanley Gibbons because, except for the rarities, most stamp shops will have the exact same available at about 50% the catalogue value. Looking at the SG catalogue values, I can well believe that!

Admittedly it's about 5 or 6 years since I last asked...

 

[zero]

Dealers as in collector / stamp shops?

More than one has told me that as a rule of thumb when selling a stamp ( as in for a stamp collector ) you should reckon on getting 30% or 40% of the Stanley Gibbons catalogue value ( and they also said never buy stamps from Stanley Gibbons because, except for the rarities, most stamp shops will have the exact same available at about 50% the catalogue value. Looking at the SG catalogue values, I can well believe that!

Admittedly it's about 5 or 6 years since I last asked...

Well the dealers I know do it on a private basis, i.e. they don't have a shop and most of them don't even have a website, you meet them at fairs and by word of mouth etc. I mainly use them to get cheap stamps for my ebay sales plus posting coins and stamps that I trade to other people.

I do have a collection but I wouldn't ever pay more than face value... and for the past 10 years RM has pretty much been just trying to take collectors' cash, most people I know are not interested in buying the crap stamps they have been are printing

In fact today I have decided that I'm going to use most of my "collection" or swap it, I really can't see it gaining in value even in 30 years time as most of that stuff is as common as chips

 

[Gloster]

An item in today’s Grauniad suggests that the six month extension is not actually that, but just a ‘grace period’. It also makes clear that the withdrawal of non-barcoded stamps applies to all those with just the Queen’s head on, including all those odd values (1p., 2p., etc.) that tend to accumulate.

 

[bleeder4]

First I've heard about this. I've had Christmas cards from people in the post with fancy barcoded stamps, so I know there are new stamps out, but I had no idea old ones wouldn't be valid for much longer. For my own Christmas cards this year I sent them out with my remaining London 2012 stamps from the Olympics. Royal Mail bring out new stamps every few years but you've always been able to keep using existing ones. There must be millions of people with old stamp books lying around, it's just always been taken for granted that stamps remain valid.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

For my own Christmas cards this year I sent them out with my remaining London 2012 stamps from the Olympics.

These ones don't need to be "swapped out" (or used straightaway). Just the plain, non-commemorative, non-barcoded stamps need swapping out.

 

[Ediswan]

An item in today’s Grauniad suggests that the six month extension is not actually that, but just a ‘grace period’. It also makes clear that the withdrawal of non-barcoded stamps applies to all those with just the Queen’s head on, including all those odd values (1p., 2p., etc.) that tend to accumulate.

Do this still happen ? I haven't had any low value stamps for years. The traditional source was the 'small change' in books of stamps from vending machines, do those machines still exist ?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Australia still seems cheap given the distance. £2.55 for a 100g letter.

£4.20 if it's deemed to be a slightly bulkier "large letter".

The traditional source was the 'small change' in books of stamps from vending machines, do those machines still exist ?

If there are any such stamp book machines left in situ, they are almost certainly blocked up / non-operational.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Anyone still waiting to receive "swapped out" stamps?

The 'Swap Out' application that I submitted back in November has now been processed/returned, so it wasn't "lost in the post". Covering letter from Royal Mail is dated 16th January 2023.

 

[eoff]

I have not swapped any yet and I have over 150 pounds worth of stamps.
As far as I can tell, I need to collect 8 pre-paid envelopes and send them off in order to protect myself against any being lost in the post.
The only issue might be that some have reported that counters don't want to give a certificate of posting for a Freepost item.

 

[jfollows]

I have not swapped any yet and I have over 150 pounds worth of stamps.
As far as I can tell, I need to collect 8 pre-paid envelopes and send them off in order to protect myself against any being lost in the post.
The only issue might be that some have reported that counters don't want to give a certificate of posting for a Freepost item.

Why 8 envelopes? Why pre-paid? It's FREEPOST.
I did them all (also >£150) in one (https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...ded-postage-stamps.228045/page-3#post-5597372) last March.
I just stuck the envelope in the local post box round the corner.
Obviously it's possible that more things might have gone wrong when I sent them off, but I don't think I've ever had anything important that I've posted fail to arrive. I even had my postage refunded because the envelope I used was pre-paid first class (only because the only large envelopes I have are pre-paid ones) ( #80 ).

 

[Mcr Warrior]

The only issue might be that some have reported that counters don't want to give a certificate of posting for a Freepost item.

Correct. The supposed issue however wasn't it being a Freepost address, it was the absence of any postcode.

 

[Mojo]

Have they started scanning the bar-coded stamps yet? I received a lot of items over Christmas which had not been stamped over by the machine, but got an item recently which someone had crossed through with a black marker.