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Stamps which are potentially in millions of homes across the country will become worthless on August 1, with people being urged to use them over the next few days while they still can. Changes being made by the Royal Mail mean stamps with the Queen’s head on will no longer be accepted from next month.
We’re all familiar with these stamps and many people may have books of them hoarded up in homes. But these non-barcoded stamps are now being ditched.
The Royal Mail is adding barcodes to stamps. It said: “The move is part of the company’s extensive and ongoing modernisation drive and will allow the unique barcodes to facilitate operational efficiencies, enable the introduction of added security features and pave the way for innovative services for customers.
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While most stamps people are familiar with will become useless, not every one will. Dan Whittaker, personal finance expert at CashLady.com explained: ““According to the Royal Mail website, non-barcoded stamps (in other words, stamps containing the Queen’s profile) will no longer be accepted after July 31.
“These stamps will likely be the stamps which you are most familiar with, containing the Queen’s profile on a plain coloured background. There are some stamps which this rule does not apply to: special stamps with pictures on and Christmas stamps, as confirmed on the Royal Mail website.”
He added: ““To avoid losing the value of the stamps, the first option is to use the non-barcoded stamps ahead of the deadline. This is likely a slightly simpler solution, however, with the deadline looming, you may not have the use for them in the next week.”
“Alternatively, you can swap your non-barcoded stamps in for the new, barcoded versions, using Royal Mail’s Stamp Swap Out scheme. To do this, you must first obtain a Stamp Swap Out form. You can print this form out at home, request that one is sent to you or pick one up in person.”
