Cut the cost of Christmas by stocking up on stamps before price increase

The price of a first-class stamp on Monday 7 October will cost £1.65 following a 30p increase announced by the Royal Mail last month.

Sending a large letter first class will cost £2.10 – a rise of 50p – while second-class letters of both standard and large sizes will remain the same at 85p and £1.55 respectively.

If you have a long list of Christmas cards to send to friends and family, buying in bulk now from your local Post Office could save you more than you might think.

Buying 20 stamps at the current price of £1.35 will cost you £27, but from 7 October, this would set you back an extra £6, or the price of a pint at your staff party.

For first-class stamps on larger letters, 10 would cost £21, which rises to £26 after the increased cost comes into effect next week.

Save on stamp sheets

The Royal Mail has options online for buying in bulk, with stamp sheets available in batches of 50 for first-class and second-class letters of both large and standard sizes.

There is no discount included by opting for this, so stamp sheets range from £67.50 for first-class standard letter stamps to £42.50 for sending a second-class letter.

When the new prices are introduced, 50 first-class stamps will cost a hefty £82.50.

To send your letter securely with the ‘signed for’ option, expect to pay 30p more than before, but the second-class alternative will remain at £2.55.

The cost to send mail first class rose by 10p in April, and again due to wage increases and the cost of running the service for six days per week.

Nick Landon, Royal Mail’s chief commercial officer (CCO), said: “We always consider price changes very carefully, but we face a situation where letter volumes have reduced dramatically over recent years while costs have increased.”

Landon added: “As a result of letter volume decline, our posties now have to walk more than three times as far to deliver the same number of letters as before, increasing the delivery costs per letter.”

Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert.com, said: “For years, every time stamps go up in price I’ve suggested people stock up and bulk-buy in advance, as provided the stamp doesn’t have a price on it and instead just says the postage class, it’s still valid after the hike.

“So you may as well stock up now, even if it’s just for Christmas cards for the next few Christmases.”