A first-class stamp will rise in price from 46p to 60p from 30 April after the regulator lifted some price controls on Royal Mail.

A second-class stamp will go up from 36p to 50p - some 5p below the top price allowed by Ofcom.

The regulator has allowed Royal Mail to set the price of first-class and business mail.

It claimed the future of the universal service was at “severe risk” without relaxing controls.

The 30% price rise in first-class stamps, and 39% rise for second-class, mark the biggest annual increase in percentage terms since 1975. Ten years ago, a first-class stamp cost 27p, and a second-class cost 19p.

Over the next seven years, the price of second-class stamps will be capped at 55p but this limit could rise with inflation each year.

The Price Finder website has been hit by technical difficulties for more than a week

People starting to send Christmas cards and presents from the UK are being hit by problems on a Royal Mail website.

The Price Finder page - which calculates postal costs of packages based on size and weight - has been closed due to “technical difficulties”.

Online stamp buying, redirection and redelivery services were also affected on occasions since last Monday.

The Christmas deadline for second-class post is 17 December and is three days later for first-class deliveries.

The problems, lasting more than a week, were caused by a migration of online services to a new computer server.

They come as one consumer watchdog urged people to plan ahead and beat the festive rush.

Glitch

The Price Finder website gives accurate postal cost information, for both UK and overseas mail, based on selections made on drop-down menus.

This includes weight, the location of the recipient, and the level of service required. It is part of a move to encourage people to deal with postal services at home, rather than by queuing at a post office, which includes postage labels and payment on the internet.

Small businesses and those using internet auction sites also use the service when it is operating.

However, anyone visiting the Price Finder site has found a service message explaining that it is not available.

“We are sorry for any inconvenience this is causing. We are working hard to fix these problems as quickly as possible,” the message reads.

Christmas is the busiest time of year for Royal Mail

A Royal Mail spokesman said that the shutdown had been caused by a shift of online services to a new server - a process that had been ongoing for 18 months.

Services that had been affected, with varying degrees, since Monday 21 November included paying for postage online, the smart stamp process allowing small businesses to print postage directly onto envelopes, as well as online redirection and redelivery services.

He apologised and said he hoped everything would be running as normal “very soon”. Services were still available as normal in post offices and on the telephone. He said the migration problems had not been anticipated before Christmas.

A document explaining stamp prices is available to download on the Price Finder website, as a temporary replacement to the interactive service.

But businessman Edward Rodden from Swindon, who has been using the mail service for ten years, was unimpressed

“Running a small business, [and being] totally reliant on online postage and smartstamp, I was unable to use it [the site] for a full four days,” he said.

Mr Rodden also said that he did not feel his complaints were being taken seriously, and that Royal Mail should face more competition.

‘Be prepared’

The problems come as findings by watchdog Consumer Focus - which suffered technical problems with its own website for less than 30 minutes on Thursday - suggested that people lacked planning and awareness of the Christmas rush.

Its survey, of 1,006 UK adults, found that a third of those asked said they would send all their Christmas post by first-class mail.

Around eight in 10 did not know the last posting dates for Christmas, including the final day for standard packages of 14 December, and the deadlines for sending overseas of between 5 December and 12 December.

Nearly one in five planned to leave their online and mail order shopping until the week leading up to Christmas.

An estimated 750 million cards will be posted in the UK this Christmas. Second-class stamps cost 36p and have a better delivery record of arriving within three days, than first-class cards - which cost 46p - arriving the next day.

“We would urge people to start thinking about Christmas post and stocking up on second-class stamps now,” said Robert Hammond, of Consumer Focus.

“Posting and ordering gifts early will save money and ensure things arrive in plenty of time. Mailing early also gives your postie a fighting chance to deliver the huge surge in Christmas post on time.

“A lot of people seem to be planning to leave things to the last minute and they may be in for a nasty shock if the weather turns for the worst as it did last year.”

Letter losses

Royal Mail recently reported pre-tax profits for the six months to 25 September of £187m, up from £50m in the same period last year.

However, this included an operating loss of £41m from the letters and parcels division.

In June 2009, the BBC News website revealed that personal data, including the signatures of recipients had been exposed to those tracking deliveries on the Parcelforce website.

The delivery service, part of the Royal Mail Group, apologised for the failure in the system which allowed people using the mail tracing service access to the name, postcode and signature at various addresses.

There should be no cap on prices for the vast majority of Royal Mail’s services, including business post, bulk mail, and large letters and parcels sent second class, the regulator, Ofcom, said.

The proposed seven-year deal, which could come into force in April, would see the cost of a second-class stamp rise from the current 36p to between 45p and 55p, a possible 53% increase.

There would be no limit on the price of a first class stamp, which currently costs 46p. One option could be to bring it more closely into line with countries such as Denmark, where a first-class stamp costs 67p, or Italy, where a next-day delivery costs 69p.

Daily Telegraph 26th October 2011

Royal  Mail has announced its annual stamp price rises which will take effect from 4  April 2011. Following these increases, UK stamp prices for standard letters weighing up  to 100g will continue to be amongst the lowest in Europe.

The announcement follows Postcomm’s decisions, published on 8 November, when the  regulator said Royal Mail could increase the price of stamped mail services by 10% on average and individual stamped mail services by up to 13%. The overall  increase to stamped mail prices will add around 7p to the average UK household’s  weekly spend of around 60p on postage.

The  main price increases are:

• The price of First and  Second class stamps for standard items weighing up to 100g will rise by 5p to  46p and 4p to 36p respectively.
• The cost of a Large Letter  stamp will rise by 9p to 75p for First Class items and 7p to 58p for Second  Class mail.
• An increase in prices for  franked mail by 3p to 39p for standard First Class items and by 3p to 28p for  Second Class Mail. This is the first increase for two years on franked mail  following a price freeze last year.

Moya  Greene, Royal Mail’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “We have thought carefully  about these increases as we are conscious of the difficult economic circumstances our customers are facing. No-one likes to pay more and we regret  having had to take these tough decisions on pricing. After these increases, we  will continue providing value-for-money as our prices will still be among the  lowest in Europe.

“We are  investing heavily to modernise our operations, which is all about providing our  customers with the services they need in today’s open, highly competitive postal  marketplace.  With the sharp declines in mail volume, our revenues are  falling. That means if we don’t generate more income, we will simply not be able  to keep funding our six-days-a-week collection, sorting, transport and delivery  operation to the UK’s 28 million homes and  businesses.”

The rise will take the price of a First and Second class stamp for standard letters to 41p and 32p respectively.

Postcomm began a consultation on the price changes proposed by Royal Mail and said in October that it had received 26 responses. It said that after considering those received, it had decided “it is still appropriate to make the changes” – applying to the period April 2010 to March 2011.

According to the post operator the price increase “reflects the continuing financial losses made by Royal Mail in collecting and delivering stamped mail” which it says was £250 million in 2008-09.

Alex Smith, Royal Mail’s Commercial and Strategy Director defended the decision: “Stamp prices remain affordable and represent excellent value for money – Royal Mail continues to offer consumers a more extensive, to-the-door, six days-a-week service than many European countries and does so at a lower price than most other operators.”

Royal Mail says that despite the price rise, the UK will continue to have some of the lowest prices in Europe – a fact which will be of little comfort to those who object to the increase.

Many customers will be surprised that Royal Mail needs to raise more revenue after only recently reporting a 4% rise in profits for the first half of 2009 compared to the same period a year earlier.

The fact that it is also the Royal Mail’s second price rise in a year is also a cause for contempt.

Unfortunately as there are few alternatives businesses have little choice but to accept the price rises.

The prices will change from Monday 6 April

The price of first and second-class stamps is to rise by 3 pence from 6 April, the Royal Mail has announced.

For standard letters weighing up to 100g, a first-class stamp will cost 39p, while second-class will be 30p.

Royal Mail stressed that the increases were within the price limits set by the regulator, Postcomm.

It also said that even after the latest set of rises, delivering stamped mail would remain a loss-making business for Royal Mail.

‘Very affordable’

Last year, Royal Mail lost more than £100m providing the universal mail service.

For large letters, the price of a first-class stamp will go up 9p to 61p while a second-class stamp will rise 5p to 47p.

“Stamped mail remains very affordable and consumers are still receiving excellent value for money,” said Luisa Fulci at Royal Mail.

“Most countries in Europe charge more to deliver less.”

Stepping forward on the 2nd Class stamps are the stereotypically burly bullies from Cinderella, the Ugly Sisters, who are joined, as if by magic, on the 1st Class stamps by Aladdin’s Genie.

There’s some low cunning at work on both the 50p and 81p stamps where Peter Pan’s Captain Hook and Snow White’s Wicked Queen are seen in typically evil mood.

We are also offering the Madonna & Child stamps first produced last year. These beautiful stamps feature classic paintings from the 14th and 19th centuries and reflect a more traditional view of Christmas through the universal image of a mother’s love for her child.

Also available this month Lest We Forget issued on 6th November 2008 As the 90th Anniversary of Armistice Day draws near, Royal Mail is proud to release the third and final in the acclaimed Lest We Forget series of commemorative stamps.

Royal Mail have announce that their prices will be going up again in early 2008. You can beat the price increase by stocking up NVI stamps (that show 1st or 2nd rather than 24p or 34p) which will still be valid after the price increase.

We sell stamps at a significant discount to the face value making it an even better deal. Look at our price and order today.

Tariff 2008

Pricing Changes

On Monday 7th April 2008 our new prices will come into effect. If you would like to look up the new prices, just view the document below to get straight to the updated price table for that particular service.

Key changes

• The 1st Class Letter price will increase to 36p for stamp and 34p for meter.
• The 2nd Class Letter price will increase to 27p for stamp and 24p for meter.
• Royal Mail Special Delivery® Next Day will increase by 30p to £4.60 for mail up to 100g.

January - Ian Fleming’s James Bond
February - Working Dogs
February - The Houses of Lancaster and York
March - Celebrating Northern Ireland
March - Mayday - Rescue at Sea
April - Insects (Endangered species part 2)
May - Cathedrals
June - Classic Carry On and Hammer Films
July - Airshows
August - Olympics
September - Uniforms of the RAF (Uniforms part 2)
September - 50th Anniversary of Country Definitives
October - Women of achievement
November - Christmas 2008
November - Lest We Forget (part 3)

Or, you’re probably awed over that huge collection of stamps featured at the nearby museum. You look at it and say, “That looks like an interesting hobby.”

Well then, welcome to the world of postage stamp collecting.

First things first. To start any activity, you have to have your materials and tools. In stamp collecting you’ll need:

- Your stamps
- Stamp album or stock book
- A magnifying glass
- A glass vessel, usually 8″ by 10″ or 10″ by 12″ in size, to soak your stamps in
- Lots of plain, white, paper towels
- A stamp drying book
- A thermometer
- Heavy books

These can be found at your local post office, DIY store and the internet. You might also want to buy a watermark detector, but if you’re just starting out, it isn’t really necessary yet.

Now on to the steps:

1. Get

If you’re starting from zero, the best way to go is to buy local postage stamps first. A packet of 500 or 1000 assorted worldwide stamps are usually available at your nearest post office. This goes for at least $3 to $6.

Still isn’t too varied for you, you could try to buy from dealers who sell “kiloware”. Kiloware are stamps on-paper sold by weight (by the pound) for a specific amount. You could also try going to stamp shows where they sell stamps, by the bucket! See http://www.stamps.org for a calendar of the shows.

Now, you can get try getting stamps for free! Here are some quick tips on how to. This will definitely make your stamp hunting more interesting and worthwhile:

- Inform everybody you know that you’re collecting stamps. Chances are they’d pull out all that old letters they kept and start giving them to you. Don’t forget to say thank you.

- Have relatives in foreign countries? Ask them to send you some (or a lot) of postage stamps available in that country. If that doesn’t work, try asking them to send you letters instead. - Know of anyone who’s going on a business trip abroad? A vacation in Asia? Going up north? Ask them to send you post cards form wherever they are. Not only do you get the stamps, you also get to keep track of how they are.

- Get to know your neighbors. Chances are one of them is working in a big company or institution wherein loads of letters pour in everyday. And if you’re really lucky, said neighbor might actually be the one in charge of opening all those letters. You get the drift?

- The next time you visit the post office, keep an open eye for stray envelopes that recent visitors have carelessly tossed aside. Many people read and discard their letters at the post office.

- Make friends with fellow collectors. Trading and swapping not only increases your collection, it also allows you to get acquaintances and friends.

- Get your grandma or grandpa to let you see their old letters. There is a high chance that you’ll get rare and old stamps that you won’t see anywhere ever again.

2. Sort

Have you stamps in one huge box? Now’s the time to sort them all out. Sorting is necessary to facilitate the storing process. Most of the stamps you have are on paper because they are cut out from mailing envelopes. You need to sort them out into:

- stamps with white background paper
- stamps with colored background paper
- stamps with rubber stamp ink (especially those in red and purple)
- stamps without rubber stamp ink

3. Trim

Leave about 1-2 cm safety margin when you trim your stamps. Also, try not to cut the perforations, as it will decrease the value of your stamp.

4. Soak

Never try peeling a stamp off the paper, even if it’s loose. Peeling like this is a surefire way to ruin your stamp. The way to do it is to soak it in water.

First, fill up your vessel to about half. The water temperature should be around 30-35°C. Water that’s too warm or hot will increase the chances of color running. Soak your stamps by batches, around 8 or 10, for around 15 minutes.

Remember: NEVER soak a stamp with white background paper and a stamp with a colored one at the same time. Stamps with a colored background paper and those with rubber stamp inks usually stain the water and might damage your white stamps. This is why you need to sort them all out before starting.

They way to go with these problematic stamps is to soak them individually. Yes, it could be time consuming and tiring but in the end, you’ll get great stamps.

After 15 minutes, pick up a stamp with your fingers and try to peel it off the backing. If there is even the slightest of resistance, drop it back into the water and wait for another 10 minutes or so.

5. Dry

After peeling, lay your stamps face up into a waiting paper towel. Put another sheet on top and gently blot the excess moisture. Be extra careful since wet stamps are very fragile.

Afterwards, line them up in the plastic page of your stamp album. Place the blotter sheet atop them, close the book and press. It’d help if you put heavy books on top of the drying book to ensure nice, flat stamps. They should be sufficiently dry after 4-5 hours.

6. Store

If you want to be able to move them around and shuffle them, you’ be better off with a stock album. A stock album has plastics sleeves wherein you can keep the stamps and their duplicates.

But if you want to store them for good, you can mount them in a stamp album. It’d be a permanent home for your beloved collection.