Anyone work for Royal Mail / The Post Office I have a stamp question?

[frenchnoodle]

Will the new barcode stamps be able to be reused?

By that I mean right now you can sometimes peel an un-stamped stamp off and reuse it, getting one over on the system.

Will the unique barcodes stop this being possible?

I thought that was the whole point?

www.frama.co.uk/news/single/how-the-royal-mail-has-stamp-penny-pinchers-beat/
It is an age old money-saving trick used by the most scrooge-like amongst us. Mail bosses have warned people that re-using apparently unmarked stamps could leave the recipient facing a fine, due to technology which can spot stamps which have been through the postal system twice.

That's theft. No wonder stamps are so expensive.

It's stopping waste, and if you are at a point where you are peeling stamps off of envolopes you probably need to do it?

Agree?

I thought the same. but I've been questioning myself.

I've done it in the past when I was skint. People that can't understand that have lived a very fortunate life.

I had a nice, costs more than a stamp, charge and visit to the mail office in the freezing cold because someone sent me something with a reused stamp.

So you can't do it now, they're probably just too nice to tell you.

You were never meant to reuse stamps in the first place. This is why they've brought in the barcoded stamps because of people committing postal fraud, like you @frenchnoodle.

It's a few used reused unstamped stamps, it's hardly the level of Frank Abagnale!

It's stopping waste

How is reusing a stamp stopping waste?

The level of fraud is irrelevant. It's still fraud.

Yeah like others I thought that was the whole point of the stamps?

So it's a crime but it's not really a crime because, well, it's really little?

Paying for a stamp covers the cost of sending one letter of parcel. I don't work for RM, but I imagine that covers: the costs of admin, processing, staff costs (pay, sickness, pensions) transport, machines/ IT, buildings & rent etc etc. So the implication of people reusing stamps is that it would impact on how those costs are covered or not.

No mention of it stopping reuse on the Royal Mail website
www.royalmail.com/sending/barcoded-stamps

Royal mail give sheets of stamps away at the end of the year to employees as a perk of the job.

There is no way stamp reuse matches the amount they give away.

On that note I guess the new stamps have stopped me committing occasional fraud.

How is a perk of working for the RM at all relevant to Joe Public trying to re-use stamps?

I bet stores give staff discounts but that doesn't mean I can nick stuff 😂

I guess when it's a choice between a loaf of bread and a stamp (when you have one unstamped) I know I'd chose the loaf of bread and reuse the stamp. But if you've never had to chose then yes, it's fraud. How dare anyone try and save 60p by reusing a stamp and be able to actually eat for a few days.

I'm not sure this is true. Untill the end of this month I can fully legally use a 20p stamp from 1989 to send a first class letter, that's the whole service for 20p. Lot's of people only buy a book every few years these days, the prices will be whatever they paid at the time. There will be first class letters with stamps costing 95p, and ones costing 14p going through the same system with the same service.

There is no way this kind of thing can be worked out right down to the individual stamp price. Because users are still using stamps from years ago.

The money will be made on packages.

Oh no, people can’t steal anymore 😱 boo hoo.

Honestly if you’re defending your right to steal you need to take a serious look at yourself.

You won't be able to re use the barcoded ones no. That's the whole reason they are bribing them into use.

Free stamps for employees is hardly a perk when they want to cut 11k jobs in March, along with all the other nefarious terms being forced in. But hey here's some free stamps (you won't be able to use if the CEO gets his way and erases letter delivery as planned)!

How on earth is it stopping waste?

Yes, the same happened to me. It actually seemed out of character for the sender, but I didn’t think I could ask. How can they tell?

I'm only annoyed by the new barcode because it means I have to change existing stamps I have. I don't use many.

Unfortunately I've been to 4 different post offices and none of those will swap. So I have to send the stamps away to get changed.

This is very inconvenient for me. I need to supply my registered office with some SAE and I had hoped to do a quick change. Now I'll need to post them off.

And buy extra stamps to use in the interim which I don't really want to do because I already have enough stamps!

Grrrr

@NoNameNowAgain something about a clear liquid over them or something. So even when not stamped, they've been painted with something to say it's been through the system.

I mentioned I had to go to the PO to collect (as there was concern over the delay) but wasn't asked why and didn't feel right to raise it as it would sound a bit cheeky, I think.

A couple of years ago my eldest sent a letter to his grandma using a Morrisons savings stamp as it's all I had to hand. It arrived.
There must have been a very nice person in the sorting offices who could tell it was a children's letter.