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

You can just cut the envelope around the stamp and glue into a new envelope. I used to do this all the time, for some reason stamps never seemed to get franked where I live and I'd sometimes buy stuff off ebay etc that'd be sent with loads of £1 stamps on the parcel which were untouched and could be re-used.

So when did the new stamps become available?

I buy books of second class stamps every month or so and my most recent one had the new bar-coded stamps. So I guess it happened within the past few weeks.

You also don't get as many, just 8 in the book instead of 12.

You can trade in your old unused stamps for new ones at the PO - they won't be wasted.
just stick the whole envelope on a new envelope.

@5foot5 @Glittertwins stamps do not expire, they have a monetary value. The new barcode has the value of the stamp in it. Before if you found an old stamp with 1st on it you might have paid 50p for it but to send a letter could be 65p so Royal Mail would lose 15p. Now they will be able to know how much was paid and potentially surcharge the shortfall when an old stamp is used. My husband is a postman.

He’s just added that non barcode stamps need to be used by the end of January. I thanked him for giving me all the information, finally 🤦🏻‍♀️

Rub some nail polish remover on the back of side of the paper - the stamp will peel off and you can reuse.

There is info here about them - it also says some monetary ones are to be included in having the barcode too.

stamps do not expire, they have a monetary value. The new barcode has the value of the stamp in it. Before if you found an old stamp with 1st on it you might have paid 50p for it but to send a letter could be 65p so Royal Mail would lose 15p. Now they will be able to know how much was paid and potentially surcharge the shortfall when an old stamp is used. My husband is a postman.

@LoveAllCakes
This is like stamps used to be years ago, but not quite as good.

I remember when instead of saying 1st and 2nd they used to have the monetary value on them. So if 1st class was, say, 17p (I am going back that far!) then you went to buy a 1st class stamp and they gave you a 17p one. But if 1st class postage then went up to 19p if you had any 17p stamps they were now no good on their own so you had to buy 2p ones to go with them.

When they change to say 1st and 2nd instead that seemed good because they were still 1st class stamps no matter if the price of postage had gone up since you bought them.

But with the new way it sounds like they will say 1st but not what you paid for them, only the bar code knows that and you might not remember. So potentially you could be using a stamp which would incur a surcharge without even realizing it.

Seems unfair not to be able to use any old stamps you have. As they were bought in good faith for a service.

the stamp swap looks like it’s only on ‘everyday stamps’. Does this mean you can’t swap Christmas stamps ?

It says Note: Special Stamps with pictures on and Christmas Stamps without a barcode will continue to be valid and don't need to be swapped out.

Oh thank you for that.

ill have to check what I have. I used to buy books of stamps and have probably used one or two a year.