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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think stamp barcodes will reduce the number of poison-pen letters.

89 replies

thirdlaw · 15/01/2023 14:08

Royal Mail have introduced bar codes on their stamps. Each stamp is now uniquely identifiable. The barcodes don't contain any personal information, but it will presumably be possible to determine the location and time of purchase, assuming the retailer scans the barcode on the book of stamps when you buy it. Aibu to think this will make people think twice about sending poison pen letters, especially the ones that might be nasty enough to warrant police investigation?

I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere - Royal Mail just say they are to improve security, with no detail on what they mean by that.

OP posts:
frenchnoodle · 15/01/2023 14:50

SmudgeButt · 15/01/2023 14:46

How can the bar coding stop the stamp being reused? Surely not every single stamp out of the thousands and thousands sold will have a unique code on it?

Why wouldn't each one have an identification number?

What would be the point of doing the code on everystamp otherwise?

purplefacemask · 15/01/2023 14:49

😂

steff13 · 15/01/2023 14:47

TooBigForMyBoots · 15/01/2023 14:29

When I was a child, I thought Poison Pen Letters had poison in the ink that would kill the reader. I was a bit disappointed when I found out that was not the case.🧐

I like your way better.

SmudgeButt · 15/01/2023 14:46

How can the bar coding stop the stamp being reused? Surely not every single stamp out of the thousands and thousands sold will have a unique code on it?

Cookerhood · 15/01/2023 14:45

They don't scan each stamp when they sell them. That would take ages.
I was sent a poison pen letter about 10 years ago. It was quite exciting 😂

5foot5 · 15/01/2023 14:42

Ah but surely the best way to trace the writer of a poisen pen letter is to look carefully at the typeface of all the words and letters and figure out which magazine they have been cut out of. Then you ask the lady in the newsagents if she can recall who bought a copy of, say, Horse and Hound recently. Bingo.

SeeYouNextTLol · 15/01/2023 14:42

Letters 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

frenchnoodle · 15/01/2023 14:36

Freysimo · 15/01/2023 14:34

Is every single card/letter scanned to see if the stamp has been used before?

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I suspect so. But the end user can't tell which has been scanned and which hasn't.

janeeyreair · 15/01/2023 14:36

@Pinkflipflop85 Wow! I had no idea, Perk of the job I guess!

100thname · 15/01/2023 14:35

Ahhh, but you see most poison pen letters are not sent by post, they are slipped under the door, pinned to a cardigan in the changing rooms during a hockey match, or at the bottom of a tuckbox. Anyone who read boarding school stories knows this!

Y7drama · 15/01/2023 14:35

Mydogatemypurse · 15/01/2023 14:18

Ha ha ha

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😂😂

Freysimo · 15/01/2023 14:34

frenchnoodle · 15/01/2023 14:26

It will stop you being able to reuse stamps, which is unfortunate.

Is every single card/letter scanned to see if the stamp has been used before?

Pinkflipflop85 · 15/01/2023 14:34

janeeyreair · 15/01/2023 14:24

It might help theft of stamps? I often see on FB those huge sheets of stamps selling at massively reduced cost.

I mean who buys more than a book of 12 at the very most?

Royal mail staff are given big sheets of stamps every Christmas.

We have about 200 stamps in our house - very tempting to sell them on!

BitOutOfPractice · 15/01/2023 14:32

I went on a course last week and we needed to buy some materials. The man running the course told us where we could buy them locally, but also the address of a shop in London that we could send a cheque and a stamped addressed envelope to. I thought it was quite quaint. But blimey what a faff!

TooBigForMyBoots · 15/01/2023 14:29

When I was a child, I thought Poison Pen Letters had poison in the ink that would kill the reader. I was a bit disappointed when I found out that was not the case.🧐

BitOutOfPractice · 15/01/2023 14:29

Aww I want to live in a time of poison pen letters. So much more classy than a Facebook messenger post.

Limesodas · 15/01/2023 14:29

Have we time travelled back to the 1800’s who even uses the phrase ‘poison pen letters’ let alone sends them

Headabovetheparakeet · 15/01/2023 14:28

HoldingTheDoor · 15/01/2023 14:14

How's the weather in St Mary Mead today?

😂

PlaitBilledDuckyPuss · 15/01/2023 14:28

You'd just pay cash for the stamps to avoid any possibility of being traced.

frenchnoodle · 15/01/2023 14:26

It will stop you being able to reuse stamps, which is unfortunate.

HelpMeGetThrough · 15/01/2023 14:26

I mean who buys more than a book of 12 at the very most?

People who write poison pen letters? 🤷‍♂️

FOJN · 15/01/2023 14:26

He can they trace you if you pay cash for the stamps? You could buy the stamps and wait a few months to use them, CCTV at the place they were sold will probably no longer be available by the time the police trace where the stamp was purchased from.

janeeyreair · 15/01/2023 14:24

It might help theft of stamps? I often see on FB those huge sheets of stamps selling at massively reduced cost.

I mean who buys more than a book of 12 at the very most?

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 15/01/2023 14:23

As you can't get the police out for burglaries these days I doubt they're going to spend time and manpower on poison pen letters, even if they can be tracked.