Stamp swap

[eoff]

Why 8 envelopes? Why pre-paid? It's FREEPOST.

Because the insurance for loss with 1st class is now 20 pounds.
Pre-paid, as in I'm not the one paying so Freepost counts.

 

[jfollows]

Because the insurance for loss with 1st class is now 20 pounds.
Pre-paid, as in I'm not the one paying so Freepost counts.

OK, I understand now, thanks.
Personally, I think this is over-analysing the risk involved with simply just bunging the envelope in the post without insurance, but that's not my decision to make - for myself it worked fine.

My personal approach to insurance may not be one you share, for sure - I don't have contents insurance and I don't take out travel insurance, and I think that's worked in my favour over time, but that's my approach and not yours!

 

[Peter Sarf]

OK, I understand now, thanks.
Personally, I think this is over-analysing the risk involved with simply just bunging the envelope in the post without insurance, but that's not my decision to make - for myself it worked fine.

My personal approach to insurance may not be one you share, for sure - I don't have contents insurance and I don't take out travel insurance, and I think that's worked in my favour over time, but that's my approach and not yours!

Really insurance is only necessary for something that you could never afford to cover/pay-for yourself.

So for example a car accident resulting in a huge claim for a car you cannot afford to replace OR more likely a personal injury claim from a third party which could otherwise clean you out.

Holiday Insurance - well most claims are so low its probably not worth even claiming and giving yourself a record. BUT if you are taken seriously ill abroad and need bringing back to the UK you can sell your house to cover the special ambulance flight. I know of someone who lost their house to pay for the motorbike accident they had in Thailand.

For £150 of stamps. Most people could grin and bear that. And if the risk is so great then the insurance company would only cover it at a huge premium or not cover it at all.

 

[jfollows]

Holiday Insurance - well most claims are so low its probably not worth even claiming and giving yourself a record. BUT if you are taken seriously ill abroad and need bringing back to the UK you can sell your house to cover the special ambulance flight. I know of someone who lost their house to pay for the motorbike accident they had in Thailand.

For £150 of stamps. Most people could grin and bear that. And if the risk is so great then the insurance company would only cover it at a huge premium or not cover it at all.

Yes, I agree with you, I'm going to Japan and the USA in a few months and I will be buying insurance for that trip. I also insure my house building, just not its contents. And I didn't insure £150 of stamps.

 

[eoff]

Let's take a step back.

I purchased stamps from Royal Mail with the full expectation that I could use them for postal services, this has been the case for 50 years.

Royal Mail has unilaterally decided not to accept those stamps in the future and proposed a scheme to swap the stamps.
I do not expect to enter into any expense or accept any risk to participate in that scheme which only (mostly) restores the position I was in to start with.

 

[Mag_seven]

Has anybody sent away their old stamps to be exchanged under the Royal Mail Stamp Swap Out scheme? I, perhaps stupidly, sent away approximately £60 worth of stamps about a month ago and have received or heard nothing since. Many belonged to my father in law who used to buy far more than he would ever use in the belief he was saving money when the next price increase came into effect.
On reflection, not able to get any official proof of the value enclosed before posting them, does lend itself open to fraud and loss.
Your experiences and advice welcome. Thanks.

Thread reopened for @WesternLancer

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi all - I wondered if anyone has any experience of sending stamps for Swap Out recently.

I thought I'd done a diligent trawl of these but recently found a book of 100 blue 2nd class non barcoded stamps in bedroom drawer (!) - bought about 12 years ago.

I sent them off to the Swap Out scheme using the form downloaded and printed from Royal Mail website on 1 March 2025, and I actually took this to a Post Office to obtain a certificate of posting since sending the stamps is essentially sending a chunk of cash in the post as it were. but the sub postmaster said he could not issue a certificate as there was no post code on the address on the envelope - is this true? (as per the swap out form the totality of the address is: 'Freepost, Swap Out' - so I thus have no proof of posting)

I had taken a picture of the form and the stamps I was sending, but have no proof of posting as a result of this, despite my efforts to get one.

Fast forward 3 weeks and I've not had anything back from Royal Mail

Has anyone done any swap outs recently and how long did they take?

I sent plenty of stamps for swap out when the scheme was in full swing, in several batches as they came to light, and I recall them being returned very quickly - so I am a bit concerned. The scheme seems fully operation according to the information on the Royal Mail website, but I suspect inevitably it now needs fewer staff allocated to run it as I suspect the stamps still coming in are much fewer from people like me, finding stamps unexpectedly.

all thoughts and advice welcome.

 

[styles]

I sent them off to the Swap Out scheme using the form downloaded and printed from Royal Mail website on 1 March 2025, and I actually took this to a Post Office to obtain a certificate of posting since sending the stamps is essentially sending a chunk of cash in the post as it were. but the sub postmaster said he could not issue a certificate as there was no post code on the address on the envelope - is this true? (as per the swap out form the totality of the address is: 'Freepost, Swap Out' - so I thus have no proof of posting)

I can't comment on the most important question you have about this being the case, but I imagine this quoted bit is a, "Computer says no.", situation. Chances are the proof of postage screen in Horizon will ask for a postcode and it'll be a mandatory field. There may be some override, or the may not, but I'm betting the subpostmaster at least couldn't work out how to make the machine play ball. You can actually do proof of postage from 'home' using a normal postbox, but I'm betting that too would require a postcode; it requires downloading the RM app and uses geofencing: https://help.royalmail.com/personal/s/article/Help-with-proof-of-posting-and-delivery

 

[WesternLancer]

I can't comment on the most important question you have about this being the case, but I imagine this quoted bit is a, "Computer says no.", situation. Chances are the proof of postage screen in Horizon will ask for a postcode and it'll be a mandatory field. There may be some override, or the may not, but I'm betting the subpostmaster at least couldn't work out how to make the machine play ball. You can actually do proof of postage from 'home' using a normal postbox, but I'm betting that too would require a postcode; it requires downloading the RM app and uses geofencing: https://help.royalmail.com/personal/s/article/Help-with-proof-of-posting-and-delivery

Thanks - useful to know about that link.

I suspect you are correct about the proof of posting issue - at the end of the day you would think there was a workaround or even paper back up to be able to prove you handed an item in - maybe I should have taken a photo of the sub postmaster placing it in his collection sack

I am fortunate to still have about 4 post offices in reasonable distance of me but I selected this one because the sub post master always seems particularly thorough to me so I suspect he'd considered the system in the past.

Freepost addresses without post codes are not especially unusual so I would think than on occasion people do require proofs.

I now see on the Royal Mail website a geographic postal address at Talents House in Edinburgh is listed - but not marked as Freepost - so I suppose had I used that and also paid for a stamp I would have been able to get a proof of posting, at a cost of c85p

 

[greatkingrat]

I'm not sure what proof of posting is supposed to prove though. It just shows you sent an envelope. There is no way to prove whether that envelope contained 1 stamp, 100 stamps, or was just an empty envelope.

 

[WesternLancer]

I'm not sure what proof of posting is supposed to prove though. It just shows you sent an envelope. There is no way to prove whether that envelope contained 1 stamp, 100 stamps, or was just an empty envelope.

I suppose that is a fair point. I was thinking that it may at least be helpful in the event of me having to request compensation for the items should they get lost. I had another item to post of no value but which I needed to demonstrate it was posted so in the case of that other item, was asking for this anyway.

I presume I could have opted for another service. I made it clear to the sub postmaster what I was sending and he didn't suggest another service, and I didn't think to specifically ask how I could ensure the value of the contents was fully covered in the event of me seeking compensation.

Of course my main question is how quickly they might be turning these around assuming it got there. On the FAQs on the swap out web page I now see a messages advising not to contact their customer services until 45 days has gone by, so this may be based on their estimated turn round time perhaps...

 

[Hadlow Road]

Hi all - I wondered if anyone has any experience of sending stamps for Swap Out recently.

I thought I'd done a diligent trawl of these but recently found a book of 100 blue 2nd class non barcoded stamps in bedroom drawer (!) - bought about 12 years ago.

I sent them off to the Swap Out scheme using the form downloaded and printed from Royal Mail website on 1 March 2025, and I actually took this to a Post Office to obtain a certificate of posting since sending the stamps is essentially sending a chunk of cash in the post as it were. but the sub postmaster said he could not issue a certificate as there was no post code on the address on the envelope - is this true? (as per the swap out form the totality of the address is: 'Freepost, Swap Out' - so I thus have no proof of posting)

I had taken a picture of the form and the stamps I was sending, but have no proof of posting as a result of this, despite my efforts to get one.

Fast forward 3 weeks and I've not had anything back from Royal Mail

Has anyone done any swap outs recently and how long did they take?

I sent plenty of stamps for swap out when the scheme was in full swing, in several batches as they came to light, and I recall them being returned very quickly - so I am a bit concerned. The scheme seems fully operation according to the information on the Royal Mail website, but I suspect inevitably it now needs fewer staff allocated to run it as I suspect the stamps still coming in are much fewer from people like me, finding stamps unexpectedly.

all thoughts and advice welcome.

More than three weeks, such that I feared loss. But I received a cheery letter and replacement stamps after a few more weeks.

 

[WesternLancer]

More than three weeks, such that I feared loso. But I received a cheery letter and replacement stamps after a few more weeks.

Thanks! Sounds like I need to hold on for a bit longer to allow things to progress.

 

[eoff]

From what I remember.

• The freepost envelopes had a full address with post code.
• If you swapped more than £200 then they refunded the cost of postage if you used a more secure service with relevant insurance.

 

[WesternLancer]

From what I remember.

• The freepost envelopes had a full address with post code.
• If you swapped more than £200 then they refunded the cost of postage if you used a more secure service with relevant insurance.

Problem is the post offices don’t have the papers and envelopes any more but the form you print off has an address as above. No postcode.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Understand the postcode needed is EH12 9GT which is that which the Royal Mail uses at its Tallents House premises at 21 South Gyle Crescent in Edinburgh.

 

[WesternLancer]

Understand the postcode needed is EH12 9GT which is that which the Royal Mail uses at its Tallents House premises at 21 South Gyle Crescent in Edinburgh.

Thanks. Useful information to have.

 

[zero]

RM has reduced the number of staff working on this so it will take longer than it has in the past.

Yes, several post offices have refused to provide proof of posting for the stamp swap scheme - even though those post offices were previously happy to provide proof of posting for other FREEPOST addresses without postcodes.

Anecdotally, for amounts under £200 which get lost (stolen?) in the post, RM will just take your word for how many stamps were in the package, but it's probably wise to only let this happen once.

 

[Old Yard Dog]

I've sent three large sets back at various times, including a couple of water damaged books, and got replacements back quite quickly.

With both local post offices at my end of Ellesmere Port having closed recently, I've now had to resort to buying shed loads of 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p and 20p stamps and airmail stickers via the internet, so I'll never have the hassle of queueing up at a PO counter again to send cards and letters overseas.

I'm just hoping that Mr Křetínský, or the wokerati who insisted on adding "English" or "Mens" to the names of our sporting competitions, don't decide on reformatting the bar coded stamps, & invalidated the current ones, if he/they ever take control of Royal Mail.

 

[WesternLancer]

RM has reduced the number of staff working on this so it will take longer than it has in the past.

Yes, several post offices have refused to provide proof of posting for the stamp swap scheme - even though those post offices were previously happy to provide proof of posting for other FREEPOST addresses without postcodes.

Anecdotally, for amounts under £200 which get lost (stolen?) in the post, RM will just take your word for how many stamps were in the package, but it's probably wise to only let this happen once.

Thanks for this helpful info. It sounds like I need to be patient. I do at least have a photo of the form I completed and the stamps before I put them in the post to Royal Mail, so if I had to claim I'd at least have something to support the claim.

 

[Hadlow Road]

Might be worth (and I apologise for veering slightly off-topic) bearing in mind the postal rate increase with effect from 7 April.

E.g. 2nd class up 2p to 87p.

 

[mailbyrail]

From all I'm seeing, it had become up to two months for stamps to be replaced but it seems to be more consistently 1 month from the various comments I'm seeing on philatelic discussion boards with nobody reporting problems over wrong amounts, items being lost etc. It seems a many of the exchanges now being made are coming from businesses who are tidying up their offices and stamp dealers who have sold all they think they can find collectors ready to add items to their collections so disposing of the surplus to obtain current stamps

 

[WesternLancer]

From all I'm seeing, it had become up to two months for stamps to be replaced but it seems to be more consistently 1 month from the various comments I'm seeing on philatelic discussion boards with nobody reporting problems over wrong amounts, items being lost etc. It seems a many of the exchanges now being made are coming from businesses who are tidying up their offices and stamp dealers who have sold all they think they can find collectors ready to add items to their collections so disposing of the surplus to obtain current stamps

Thanks for these insights. Helpful to read.

Given what you say no doubt stamps will come to light for years to come that need swapping out.

 

[WesternLancer]

Still not had anything back from them. Think I sent stamps in about 3rd March.

UPDATE: Today I received my replacement stamps so all good.

I see that I posted them on 1 March and received the replacements on 10 April so 40 days overall (including non working days) for my request to swap out to be processed including sending to and from.

Thanks to all who shared useful info.