It would seem that someone at Royal Mail has been listening to reaction from collectors to the ever-increasing cost of their products. Either that or rapidly declining numbers of traditional collectors has suddenly awoken them.
News release
Important Change to Special Stamp Issuing Policy
We are making a change to our Special Stamp Programme that we’d like to share with you.
From March 2025, all Special Stamps will feature 1st and/or 2nd Class values only. This means we will no longer include stamps with International values or alternative monetary values such as £1.00 or £2.00.
One important exception to this rule will be the annual Christmas issue which will continue to feature International rate stamps along with the Large Letter stamps.
This change is part of our efforts to provide an accessible and affordable stamp programme, designed to better meet the needs of our customers.
We will continue to listen to Customer feedback and explore further improvements. Feedback from our customers helps us shape the future of our Stamp Programme, and we encourage you to share your ideas with us. Thank you for your continued support.
Unfortunately the tariff change in April will probably see 1st class letters rise to £1.75 and 2nd to 90p - dropping the £1 values and replacing them with 1st class offers no benefit to collectors so it is good to see that there will be more 2nd class.
(My thanks to the readers who alerted me to the email sent from Customer Services which confirms what the trade was told under embargo last week.)
UPDATE 28 February - new tariff. Although not yet officially announced it would seem that from 31 March the new rates for 1st and 2nd class mail will be in the range £1.75 to £1.85 and £0.87 - 0.90. These are the basic new rates for business users before discounts (which can see those rates drop as low as £1.37 and 63.5p for high volumes). (See Business Rates 2025.)
In other news Royal Mail will be at EuroPhilEx 7-11 May 2025
EuroPhilEx Birmingham 2025 will be the United Kingdom’s mid-decade international stamp exhibition and for the first time ever the organising committee has decided to move its international exhibition out of London. Birmingham is the country’s second city, located in the centre of England and surrounded by a massive population and several other large cities.
Royal Mail is pleased to have a stand at the exhibition and will also be issuing two EuroPhilEx products on the VE Day theme to complement the latest new issue and in recognition of the national commemorations that will take place on the 8th May 2025, day 2 of the stamp exhibition.
Special EuroPhilEx Postmarks will be available for each day of the show.
A team from Tallents House, and the call centre in Doxford, plus some of the London leadership team will be on our stand offering current stamp issues and products including the range of Barcoded Definitive Stamps.
LondonRobert - the comment about the SwapOut does not belong here, please recomment on a relevant post.
A shame about the lack of international values.
ReplyDeleteMoving to NVI-only special stamp issues would have seemed a perfect opportunity to introduce a first-tier airmail NVI.
DeleteAgree. Cut the Presentation Packs down to be 2x1st, 2x2nd, 1x AirMail. Sell them in CounterSheets at all Post Offices and promote them. Bring back the mixed Retail Booklet with 4 standard and 2 Special.
DeleteAgreed, I do enjoy them for postcrossing.
DeleteThis is indeed good news! Common sense at Royal Mail has been in the runes in the last year or so: the lessening of the different prices for simple letters to foreigners by airmail has made life less complicated and may have increased the number of stamps used to send airmail letters in particular. Now the lovely commemoratives will be simple to use too. No longer shall we have to use a smørgåsbord of stamps to add to uselessly priced pretty stamps to get them used postally. Even better is that every issue will have 2nd class stamps - the most used ones in real life - so we re more likely to see them on post. All we need now are make--up values to make 2nd into first class and to-abroad stamps. And we may see that when the prices go up again in April.
ReplyDelete"1st and/or 2nd Class values" - so no certainty as to the number of issues featuring both values (2nd class alone would be a novelty!).
DeleteYes welcome news indeed. I would welcome a single stamp for the difference between a 1st+2nd and the international rate (at the moment that would be 30p). This would make for being able to use interesting commemoratives on Postcrossing going forward. I don't even mind if the stamp is one of the ghastly barcode definitives!
ReplyDeleteIn a first approach I should welcome this as good news, but I am still curious about the number of stamps by issue. I hope that RM will not issue 10 stamps or more for celebrating each event.
ReplyDeleteI rather fear that is exactly what will happen - at least for the rest of this year, in order to justify the fees already paid by those opting for annual subscriptions. And, by the end of the year, that will be deemed the new 'normal' for a special stamp issue as plans are drawn up for 2026.
Delete"We will ... explore further improvements" sounds ominous.
ReplyDeleteThrilled for our collecting community (all those who still partake!) but did I seriously just read the price of stamps is set to increase again!? They seem to rise in price every 6 months - dear me! What is the point of posting 1st class nowadays, I ask you...
ReplyDeleteGood news for collectors, perhaps, but not for those of us who actually use these stamps on letters and will no longer have international value stamps available.
ReplyDeleteI am assuming none of this applies to the definitives in the PSBs. I can never quite understand how some of these values are determined. For me as an avid collector of these, I would much prefer five different denominations each time, and different from previous PSBs. One lives in hope!
ReplyDeleteAdvice note from RM received for Myths & Legends on 27/03/25. Set of 8 Stamps £13.20. Well that certainly doesn't contain just 2nd / 1st class stamps
ReplyDelete8 x 1st class = £13.20.
DeleteIt is a good job Ian is good at Maths...So presumably the Garden Wildlife set is all 2nd class NVIs. But to me it is just seven of one and half a dozen of the other...
DeleteI don't think you can assume anything has changed since these would have been printed well before the latest good news story.
DeleteSomething of a surprise to have the Myths & Legends issue brought forward from its original date of 15 April - it may have been announced some time ago, but I was still working from the original version of the half-calendar - especially since this means stamps at pre-tariff increase prices.
ReplyDeleteSo no new Special Stamp issues in April? Or just something yet to be announced, for which space is being created in a congested 2025 calendar?
I updated the January 'Programme' post as soon as the details were announced in the first week of January, and will add the second half when we are told. Hopefully they might tell us before the EuroPhilex event in May.
DeleteBut if the tariff changes come at the start of April you may see a new Airmail definitive to fill the gap; otherwise nothing in April at present.
I am a standing order customer, on 26/02/2025 I was billed by RM for 2 orders, which do not relate to any Commemorative issue that I am aware of, so I can only presume they are for the possible tariff change. When I queried the transactions, I was told they had been done in error and the money has been returned to my account. No further details were given. Very strange...
DeleteGarden Wildlife 5x1st and 5x2nd = £12.50 (as per Advice Note).
ReplyDeleteLike the River Wildlife set in 2023 which was 5 x 1st & 5 x 2nd at £12.50
DeleteThe 2023 set was £9.25 - 2nd @75p, 1st à £1.10.
Delete... but now that would cost £12.50.
Delete