Royal Mail issues warning and says ‘time running out’ before stamps rule change

Royal Mail has issued a warning ahead of a new rule change affecting the posting of letters and parcels. Information cards are being sent out to thousands of homes advising people that “time is running out” and providing a form that can be used to swap old unused stamps.

People have until July 31 to use up non-barcoded regular stamps, it said. After that, they won’t be accepted and could incur a surcharge if you put them on a letter, document or greeting card and pop it into the local postbox without checking at a post office.

This means the person or business you sent the letter to will be notified that they have to pay a fee before being allowed to receive it. For letters, this fee is £2.50 and for small parcels it’s £3.50. However, Royal Mail says it is possible to swap old stamps for new barcoded versions.

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Everyday stamps that don’t have a barcode can be easily identified as they have a plain-coloured background with a picture of the Queen. Christmas stamps and special edition stamps are exempt and will remain valid for postage so you don’t need to worry about those.

What to do with your old stamps after July 31

Non-barcoded stamps can be exchanged using the Stamp Swap Out scheme. To do this, pick up or print out a swap-out form, complete it and include your stamps, and then send it free of charge to Freepost SWAP OUT. No other address details or postcode are needed, Royal Mail said.

The forms can be found at local post offices and delivery offices or you can obtain one for swapping up to £200 worth of non-barcoded stamps by printing out and completing this Stamp Swap Out form and then sending it to Freepost SWAP OUT.

For exchanging even larger numbers of stamps, use the Bulk Stamp Swap Out form. This should be sent by secure delivery service to Royal Mail, Swap Out, Tallents House, 21 South Gyle Crescent, Edinburgh, EH12 9PB.

You can also ask for the forms to be sent to you in the post by completing an online request. Shops that sell stamps to the public and still have a stock of the old ones can get them exchanged for the new versions here.

Royal Mail pointed out that post offices cannot do the stamp swapping themselves, they only provide the forms that enable you to do it.