Royal Mail warning: Five weeks left to use old stamps before they become WORTHLESS

Classic stamps are being replaced by ones with barcodes, with the “grace period” for using older stamps set to end on July 31, 2023 – meaning you don’t have long left to use them up

Royal Mail customers have just one month left to use old-style stamps before they become worthless.

Classic stamps are being replaced by ones with barcodes that can be used to track and trace your post, and also link to video messages when scanned.

Royal Mail originally set a deadline to use up your old stamps by January 31, 2023 but has since introduced a “grace period” of six months.

This means you technically have until July 31, 2023 to use up any old stamps you may still have.

If you try and post something with an old stamp after this date, Royal Mail will treat this as having insufficient postage and you may need to pay a fee.

For example, sending a letter or large letter currently incurs a £2.50 fee where no postage has been paid at all on a regular sized or large letter.

The only stamps you can continue to use after July 31, 2023 are “special stamps” issued to commemorate anniversaries and events, as well as Christmas stamps.

If you’ve got a collection of old stamps and you’re worried you won’t use them all by the deadline, you can exchange them through the Royal Mail “Swap Out” scheme.

To do this, you’ll need to download a “Swap Out” form on the Royal Mail website, call up Royal Mail on 03457 740740, or pick up a form from a local delivery office or Post Office.

If you’re downloading the form online and you don’t have access to a printer, you can instead complete a web form and request for it to be posted to you.

Once you’ve filled it out, post back the stamps you want to swap using the Freepost address.

Your new barcode stamps should then arrive in seven days.

You will need to complete a standard form for stamps worth up to £200, or a Bulk Stamp form for stamps worth more than £200.

There is no limit on the number of forms you can request.

There is also currently no deadline for swapping old stamps, although it’s best to do it sooner rather than later in case an end date does get announced.