Now is the time to start using up your stamps if you have a stash tucked away at home.
For the current - so-called 'definitive stamps' - are being phased out by Royal Mail and will become worthless by the end of January next year. After this date, you can only use barcoded stamps and Royal Mail will treat any post sent with non-barcoded stamps on as having insufficient postage, so you may incur a surcharge.
The current charge, according to the Royal Mail website, for sending a letter or large letter without a stamp is £2, although the surcharge has not been confirmed yet.
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The barcoded stamps are on sale now, but Royal Mail is urging people to check they haven't got any old stamps lying about that will need to be used. If you don't think you will use your stamps in time, Royal Mail is operating a 'Swap Out' scheme to let you exchange these stamps for free.
You cannot take the stamps to the Post Office to be swapped, but you can to complete a standard 'Swap Out' form for stamps worth up to £200, or a Bulk Stamp 'Swap Out' form for stamps worth more than £200. Both forms are available on the Royal Mail website where they can be printed and filled out. If you don't have a printer, you can fill in this form here or call customer services on 03457 740740.
If you have collected the form or had it sent to you, it will come with a freepost envelope for you to send the form off with the stamps for free, and for those who have printed the form themselves, you’ll need to send the envelope to "Freepost Swap Out" - no other address details are needed.
Royal Mail is advising those sending bulk forms to send via special delivery and the additional cost of doing this will be refunded by Royal Mail in the form of barcoded stamps worth the same amount.
Nick Landon, Royal Mail chief commercial officer, said earlier this year: "Please check your kitchen drawers, wallets and purses for older non-barcoded stamps and make sure you use them up by 31 January 2023."
Royal Mail has also announced that four stamps that feature portraits of the Queen will also released in her memory and go on sale on November 10.
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