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THE cost of first and second class stamps is rising within hours so now might be the best time to snap them up for less.
Royal Mail is hiking the price of the sticky squares from tomorrow meaning households will have to pay 10p more.
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The price of a first class stamp is going up from £1.25 to £1.35 while second class stamps will increase from 75p to 85p.
First class stamps cost 95p at one point in 2023, before being hiked to £1.10 last April before another 15p hike to £1.25 in October.
The new price of first and second class stamps will see British stamps remain well below the European mean average of £1.66 for first class and £1.26 for second class.
The successive increases have come after Royal Mail warned it was facing higher operational and wage costs.
The Universal Service Obligation (USO) also sees the postal service legally obliged to delivery letters to UK addresses six days a week despite the number of letters being sent dwindling.
Nick Landon, chief commercial officer at Royal Mail, 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.
“It is no longer sustainable to maintain a network built for 20billion letters when we are now only delivering seven billion.
“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.”
In January, Ofcom opened a call for inputs to look at options for reform of the USO following the decline in letter volumes.
The regulator admitted the way people use postal services has changed “substantially” since 2011.
It estimated the USO obligation cost the Royal Mail between £325million to £675million in the 2021/22 financial year.
Stamps can be bought individually or as part of a set at the Post Office.
You can find your nearest Post Office branch by using its online branch locator tool.
How are postage prices decided?
The Royal Mail typically increases the price of stamps annually and last year the price rose in April.
Normally, it gives customers advance warning of around a month before pushing up prices.
Royal Mail said it is hiking the price of postage due to the decline in the number of people sending letters.
The number of letters being posted has dropped 60% since 2005 and around 20% since the start of the pandemic.
It also blamed rising inflation for the increase.
Brits are facing a cost of living crisis, with food and energy bill prices also on the rise.
The Royal Mail charges more for first class stamps because they ensure your letter gets to its intended destination quicker.
Generally, a letter with a first class stamp will arrive the next day.
Meanwhile, a second class letter will usually arrive up to three working days after it is sent.
You may have to pay more for a first or second class stamp depending on its size.
It comes after the Royal Mail got rid of old-style stamps and replaced them with barcoded ones last July in a bid to make letters more secure and easier to track.
Anyone who still has these old-style stamps and uses them may have to pay a surcharge.
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