Reusing a stamp that has been stuck on an envelope but not posted

[5foot5]

To be clear I am NOT trying to re-use a stamp that has already been through the mail.

I have an envelope with two 1st class stamps stuck on it but which we no longer need to post so I would like to get them off to reuse.

I found an article which said that the Royal Mail use UV scans to tell if a stamp has been through the mail so I thought that would be OK. However further down in the same article it said that since 2009 there has been something on a stamp which stays on the envelope if peeled off so they can tell if it has been used.

I am wondering if I just cut the stamp off and then use a glue stick to stick it on something else would that be OK?

Has anyone done this? Don't want to waste two perfectly good stamps

I had to go to a collection office to pay an admin charge to get a birthday card because someone did that. They put the stamp on an envelope that they didn't realise was too small so they cut the stamp off and restuck it on a bigger envelope. I did explain to the guy behind the counter but he was having none of it.

I'm assuming you can't just use the same envelope due to it being addressed already. In which case just stick a new address label on the same envelope.

Or if you are sending something bigger, stick the whole envelope to the front of the new envelope / parcel.

Thanks for posting this, I had no idea it could cause problems and have done it a couple of times (when I’ve messed up addressing envelope).

I am wondering if I just cut the stamp off and then use a glue stick to stick it on something else would that be OK?

that's going to be obvious without them having to use any secret techniques!

In the 70s my mum (waste not want not) often used to steam off a stamp that hadn't been franked and use a bit of Gloy to reuse it.

Oh how times have changed

Can't you paper over the address and just write the new address on the same envelope?

Really? Oh hell that is a bit of a bugger.

It is an A4 envelope with two stamps on as we didn't have a Large letter stamp. It might be a long time until next time we need to post anything in an envelope that size

Why don't you just gently steam it off and glue it back on?

The stamps won't expire so I would just leave them on there until you need a large envelope again.

Stamps do expire now, they are being changed at the end of the year to have bar codes so if anyone has the 1st or 2nd class ones with no monetary amount on, they need to be used

This might be the safest thing by the sound of it.

DH's fault! He wrote the letter to sort out some issue and asked me if we had any stamps. I bought a book recently and still had some so I gave hime one. Then realised it was an A4 envelope (and why he couldn't have just folded it in half and used a smaller envelope I don't know) so I gave him a second stamp to be equivalent of Large Letter.

Then after all that he said "Oh I have found the email address I think it would be better to sort it out that way." When I commented that it was a pity he didn't find the email address before using two stamps I got the "Pfft, they're only stamps"

Ask if any friends/family could use it and swap it for unused stamps or the cash value?

Oh God, really? How long will they last for? I usually buy a load of 2nd class ones at Christmas for cards and if there are any left over save them for the following year.

Have they publicised this much?

Really, is this actually a thing? I have done what a PP's mum has done and steamed of an unfranked stamp and used it, I only post to family members, so I would have heard if they'd been charged. Had no clue...off to Google now!

@MoiraQueen - I read it in a couple of places but I've not seen a huge publicity drive

Sorry, meant to tag @5foot5 there!

I've only seen one mention of it, possibly on mumsnet. I think it said you would be able to take them to a post office to change them though.

I had to go to the post office to pay for a parcel because of that. On the envelope it was stamped that the stamp was counterfeit!

For anyone with a load of stamps. You have till end of Jan 2023 to use them. Or you can swap them for the new versions in a scheme that opened at the end of March. Google royal mail stamp swap. You can swap in person or via the post.

So when did the new stamps become available? I bought this book just over a month ago - definitely some time in mid-March because I had some birthday cards to send. The individual stamps don't have barcodes on they just say 1st

www.royalmail.com/sending/barcoded-stamps?PSID=Google_PPC&cid=SC_FY2122_SM_71700000090178607_58700007649961417&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhIapkYeq9wIVkL7tCh152Q9CEAAYASAAEgIkN_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

if you don't need the envelope, tear off the bit with the stamps. Turn it upside down onto a sheet kitchen roll. Get a cotton bud, dip it in nail varnish remover and gently wipe it over the back of the envelope repeatedly until it's quite damp. You should be able to peel the stamps off and immediately stick them onto a new envelope.

Obviously this is only in this specific situation as these stamps have not been through the postal system.

Thank you that's interesting. I have heard of people steaming stamps off but not thus technique. My only worry would be because if the thing I read about stamps since 2009 having these bits on either side of the Queen which will stay on the envelope if peeled off