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Original poster

Post Office Stamps Expiring!!! Read if you have any

123 replies

Le4nne · 16/01/2023 13:46

I just found out today that the Post Office are expiring stamps that do not have barcodes. Was supposed to be end of this month but has been extended to July. If you have any you intend to use after this time make sure you exchange them. I think it’s an absolute scam, especially since I don’t feel they’ve made it well know to people, hence this post

OP posts:
CombatBarbie · 16/01/2023 19:03

I only know because my mate is a post mistress. I haven't seen it advertised anywhere on TV or radio and was actually in post office on Tues and didn't see anything.

RedRiverShore3 · 16/01/2023 19:29

A lot of people may have thrown the flyer away as it was just put in with the junk mail part of the post, I spotted it and put it to one side but I bet DH would have just put it in the recycling, it was quite a small, one page leaflet, so easily missed

Abitofalark · 17/01/2023 23:45

I heard Martin Lewis on tv tonight telling people what it involves and he mentioned you can get the form at the post office. Hm...no you can't in my town anyway, I felt like shouting out at the screen.

lieselotte · 18/01/2023 08:10

RedRiverShore3 · 16/01/2023 19:29

A lot of people may have thrown the flyer away as it was just put in with the junk mail part of the post, I spotted it and put it to one side but I bet DH would have just put it in the recycling, it was quite a small, one page leaflet, so easily missed

Yes this is quite likely!

lieselotte · 18/01/2023 08:11

(I once missed a vehicle tax renewal letter because it looked like junk mail - now I know what to look out for).

Snugglemonkey · 18/01/2023 08:14

Thank you. I had not heard about this
and I have a few books of stamps.

IwtHs · 18/01/2023 08:25

I finally received my new stamps today. I got back the same amount I sent off. I was expecting to get less for some reason.

NotSorry · 18/01/2023 08:29

IwtHs · 16/01/2023 15:56

I sent off my old stamps ( book of 12 ) a few weeks ago and had nothing back yet. I think it was supposed to be returned in 7 working days.

OP it’s not a scam, you can just send them off freepost with a form

@IwtHs i just got mine back this week and I sent them off in November - I figured with strikes and lots of people sending them it might take a while

NotSorry · 18/01/2023 08:29

@IwtHs cross post

dayslikethese1 · 18/01/2023 08:41

I think I've misunderstood, I thought the deadline for using them was end of Jan but they could still be exchanged after that, is this not the case?

shallwethree · 18/01/2023 09:50

dayslikethese1 · 18/01/2023 08:41

I think I've misunderstood, I thought the deadline for using them was end of Jan but they could still be exchanged after that, is this not the case?

I thought the same as you, until I read this thread. I now think that you can continue to use stamps until July but if you have stamps to swap that still has to be done by the end of January. (Off to find the form I downloaded months ago!)

Grawlix · 18/01/2023 09:58

I think Royal Mail have massively bodged this whole thing, as evidenced by this thread. Despite their flyer campaign, it’s evident that not every household received one, and plenty of people are still in the dark about how the swapping scheme works. The fact that you can’t get the form at Post Offices is ridiculous.

I heard about it last year but not because we had a flyer; someone mentioned it to me. I happened to bring it up in a conversation with my solicitor who was amazed and had heard nothing about it (and was very grateful to have been told).

@dayslikethese1 - this is what the Royal Mail FAQs say:

You can swap out your stamps any time from 31 March 2022 onwards — there is currently no end date as to when you need to swap out your non-barcoded stamps by

As PPs have noted, they’ve extended the grace period for using the existing, non-barcoded stamps for 6 months after 31 January (although elsewhere in their own FAQs they manage to get this wrong 🙄).

When you send in your old stamps to be swapped, don’t panic if it takes a while to get the new ones back - mine took about 3 weeks. But it might be worth taking a photo of the completed form + stamps just in case they go astray and you have to pursue them. Even a couple of books are worth quite a lot. Ours came to about £50 so you don’t want them to go missing in the system.

Margo34 · 18/01/2023 09:59

dayslikethese1 · 18/01/2023 08:41

I think I've misunderstood, I thought the deadline for using them was end of Jan but they could still be exchanged after that, is this not the case?

No you're right - the deadline is end of Jan but there's a grace period of 6m where post with non-barcoded stamps will still be delivered and after that it will be insufficient postage surcharges applied. You can still exchange them 😊

It's been widely published about the stamps being upgraded with barcodes I'm surprised so many here have managed to miss it!

Whataretheodds · 18/01/2023 10:03

user1473878824 · 16/01/2023 13:51

They have radio and podcast adverts (I assume the same on TV), signs in post offices, if you buy stamps now they’re the new ones. It’s been well publicised for quite a while, it’s not been sprung on anyone.

I don't know how I've missed it either but Ive had nothing through the door and seen/heard nothing official. I only know about it through word of mouth. I told my partner just now, he didn't know.

Ginmonkeyagain · 18/01/2023 10:44

If the stamps can be used until July surely the solution is to ... umm .... just use them. If people have a lot of stamps at home it must be because they are regular users of stamps, so surely six months is enough time to use up any existing stash?

onemouseplace · 18/01/2023 10:47

I’ve had nothing through the door, but I did hear an advert today about this on a podcast for the first time!

I did know about it as both my parents and ILs told us.

Grawlix · 18/01/2023 11:00

Ginmonkeyagain · 18/01/2023 10:44

If the stamps can be used until July surely the solution is to ... umm .... just use them. If people have a lot of stamps at home it must be because they are regular users of stamps, so surely six months is enough time to use up any existing stash?

Not necessarily - we had quite a few eg large letter stamps, which we don’t use very often, so we might well not have used them all up in 6 months - but I didn’t want them to become useless and effectively lose the money I paid for them!

The fact they’ve quietly extended the deadline by 6 months looks to me as though Royal Mail might just have realised they messed up here.

Ginmonkeyagain · 18/01/2023 11:17

People are a lot more organised than me. My thought process tends to go

  • shit I need a stamp for send a thing,
  • I don't have a stamp,
  • now I need to find a retailer who will be open and convenient who will sell me a stamp,
  • buys a book of six stamps and is shocked by the cost,
  • vows not to use Royal Mail again unless absolutely necessary.
VioletaDelValle · 18/01/2023 11:23

It's been widely published about the stamps being upgraded with barcodes I'm surprised so many here have managed to miss it!

It can't have been that well publicised as so many ( including me) hadn't heard about this until I read this thread!

WindUpPenguin · 18/01/2023 11:51

It has been publicised but I think the window is way too short - even if extended to July. You can change old notes indefinitely as long as you go to the Bank of England. I think stamps should be the same. Fair enough if you have to send them off and pay for postage after a certain time, but stamps should be like cash in my opinion! I'm sure there are stamps squirrelled away in drawers I have forgotten about that I will come across in five years' time!

Athenen0ctua · 18/01/2023 12:37

Ginmonkeyagain · 18/01/2023 10:44

If the stamps can be used until July surely the solution is to ... umm .... just use them. If people have a lot of stamps at home it must be because they are regular users of stamps, so surely six months is enough time to use up any existing stash?

No, because I buy them for Christmas, that's the only time I use them. I'd been getting a new book to getting the new design, so had quite a few spare from previous years. July doesn't help, end of December would.

babsanderson · 18/01/2023 12:48

We had a lot of stamps we have sent in for replacement. I bought quite a few during covid to make up minimum orders when doing online shopping. I knew I would use them eventually.

BloodAndFire · 18/01/2023 13:33

Funnily enough (having posted on this thread yesterday) my replacement stamps have just arrived. I reckon it was about a week from sending off the old ones to receiving the new ones.

It's the right quantity (I had some large ones as well as standard size) and the new stamps are cool Grin

Noonesperfect · 18/01/2023 16:03

"
I did think it was a case of pot luck when I sent mine in, did wonder if they'd fall into the wrong hands.
Especially given the address to send them to you could hardly hide the fact of what was enclosed."

Yes this concerned me as well. I took my envelope with old stamps in to the post office and asked for a receipt of postage. She wasn't sure if she could do that for Freepost, but she typed something in and managed to get me a receipt. Only sent mine yesterday so am yet to find out if I'll get equal value stamps back. Sent over £37's worth. My daughter had an online business so sent a lot of mail, hence lots of "make up value" stamps. I.e. 1p, 2p, 5 p, 10 p etc..

Noonesperfect · 18/01/2023 16:05

To be fair although I knew about it, I agree that have hardly heard anything about it and am not at all surprised some don't know about it.