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The rise marks the second time in just over six months, so those who use a lot of stamps are being urged to stock up before the prices rise on Tuesday April 2
Image: Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Royal Mail stamps are set to rise for the fourth time in two years, with the new rates kicking in from next week.
From Tuesday (April 2) the price of a first class stamp will rise by 10p from £1.25 to £1.35, while second class stamps will also go up by 10p, from 75p to 85p. For large letters, the increase on first-class stamps will be 15p, from £1.95 to £2.10. The price of a second class large letter will remain the same at £1.55.
The rise marks the second time in just over six months as prices rose by 15p to to £1.25 in October last year. Prior to this, first class stamps were hiked from 85p to 95p in April 2022, then from 95p to £1.10 in April 2023.
For those who send a lot of letters, they have been advised to stock up before the price rises. On the rise, MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis 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. This has been an effective tactic, as a first-class letter stamp is now £1.25, soon to be rising to £1.35 – in 2012 it was just 60p. So you may as well stock up now.”
At the time of its announcement, Nick Landon, chief commercial officer at Royal Mail said the group “always considered price changes very carefully” but due to the decline in letters being sent prices had to rise. He said: “It is no longer sustainable to maintain a network built for 20 billion 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.”
The number of parcels being sent through Royal Mail has risen to a record number. In 2022/23, a record 3.6 billion were delivered.
How much are stamp prices going up?
- First class – standard: £1.25 – rising to £1.35 (hiked by 10p or 8%)
- First class – large: £1.95 – rising to £2.10 – (hiked by 15p or 8%)
- Second class – standard: 75p – rising to 85p – (hiked by 10p or 13%)
- Second class – large: – £1.55 (No change)
