Today is your LAST chance to use these Royal Mail stamps before they become worthless
- Barcoded stamps are replacing normal stamps from TODAY
- It’s your last chance to use them before you need to swap them out
Today is the last day you can use your old Royal Mail stamps before they become worthless.
This is due to Royal Mail adding barcodes to their regular stamps – those without a barcode will no longer be valid.
It follows the introduction of a 6 month grace period from the initial January 31 deadline.
If you use the stamps after the July 31 deadline, you risk the recipient being given a fee of £1.10 to pay.
The new stamps will still look the same and keep the traditional image of the monarch’s head, they will just have the added barcode.
If you use the stamps after the July 31 deadline, you risk the recipient being given a fee of £1.10 to pay. The stamps that are changing are the regular 1st and 2nd class stamps (pictured)
Which stamps do you need to use or swap?
The stamps that are changing are the regular 1st and 2nd class stamps – if they don’t have a barcode you need to use them today (July 31) or swap them.
They will be on a plain coloured background and feature an image of either the late Queen Elizabeth II or Charles III.
How can you swap them?
If you don’t want to use the stamps today, you can swap them instead using Royal Mail’s Stamp Swap Out scheme.
To swap your stamps for new barcoded ones:
If you have access to a printer, you can swap out non-barcoded stamps by printing out and completing the Stamp Swap Out Form on the Royal Mail Website – this allows you to swap up to £200 worth of stamps.
It’s free of charge and you simply need to write ‘Freepost SWAP OUT’ on the envelope, no other address or name is needed.
If you have more then £200 worth of stamps, you will need to complete the Bulk Stamp Swap Out Form and send it to this address:
Royal Mail
Swap Out
Tallents House
21 South Gyle Crescent
EDINBURGH
EH12 9PB
Royal Mail recommend you use a secure service with suitable cover.
If you don’t have access to a printer, you can request for a form to be posted to you using this link, or you can visit your local post office to grab one.
Royal Mail are adding barcodes to their regular stamps (pictured) – those without a barcode will no longer be valid
Christmas stamps such as the one pictured above, do not need to be swapped out, despite not having a barcode
Which stamps do you not need to swap?
Christmas stamps and special stamps with images on do not need to be swapped and can still be used after July 31.
Stamps that have already been used for postage will also not be accepted for the Swap Out Scheme.
Why are they changing?
The barcode is so that the stamps can be used with the Royal Mail app.
They were also introduced to improve efficiency and security.
The new stamps were first introduced in February last year and the deadline to use old stamps was originally January 2023 – a longer six month grace period was added as users needed more time.
On the Royal Mail website, they say that: ‘The barcodes will enable exciting new services by connecting physical stamps to the digital world through the Royal Mail app.’
The company’s long term plan is for people to be able to scan the barcode with the Royal Mail app, allowing them to send birthday messages to each other and watch videos.
At the moment, using the app you can watch and share exclusive Shaun the Sheep videos – the recipient can watch the selected video just by scanning the stamp barcode using the app.
Videos include a Mother’s Day clip of Timmy the sheep sending a card to his mother.
The website describes it as ‘giving that someone special something extra to smile about.’
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