‘I was stunned when my eBay parcel turned up with six rare Royal Family stamps’

A woman has shared her surprise at receiving an eBay parcel that was covered in six rare royal stamps – and it turns out she wasn’t the only one to have a similar experience

An eBay seller has found a unique way to save on postage costs by using vintage royal stamps, much to the surprise of the recipient of their package.

That recipient took to Reddit to share her astonishment, showcasing her post that had been decorated with several Princess Diana stamps from 1998. Each one was valued at 26p at the time – a stark contrast to today’s £1.35 for a first-class stamp.

“My copper wire off eBay arrived with SIX different collectable Princess Diana memorial stamps from 1998,” the buyer said. And interestingly, another Reddit user claimed to have received a parcel from the same seller recently. “Hey you ordered off the same seller as me,” she said. “I also got copper wire and a parcel covered in train stamps from the 70s and 80s.”

Many other users were charmed by the seller’s unusual approach, with one even requesting the stamps. “If you don’t collect stamps is there any chance you can send them to me?” they asked. “My mum collects stamps and I’m sure she’d love them!” The original poster duly obliged.

Another Redditor shed light on why someone may have chosen to part with the stamps. They said: “Stamp collecting is a good example of scarcity without demand,” highlighting that the once-popular hobby is declining as its enthusiasts age or pass away.

“Right now, people are not collecting stamps. The older generation that did are dead or dying off. When you take these fairly rare stamps for resale, there just isn’t anyone buying them, at least not for a price that would be seen as reasonable.”

Today, Royal Mail has mandated the inclusion of barcodes on all stamps as part of their extensive modernisation efforts. However, there are some exceptions to the change, as Royal Mail says: “Special Issue stamps that are produced as one offs to commemorate an event as we are not adding barcodes to these types of stamps so non-barcoded versions remain valid for postage after 31 January 2023.”

It adds: “Christmas Stamps: although we are adding barcodes to Christmas Stamps — non-barcoded Christmas Stamps will remain valid as postage after 31 January 2023 — so there is no need to swap them out.”