Posting from England to Ireland

I take my letters and cards to be posted to the Irish Republic to the post office; the staff there put a franked stamp on. I would hesitate to attach regular stamps, in case the recipient has to pay extra, or god forbid, it ends up in customs and the recipient has to pay even more.

I know this because I post to my family regularly. On a recent trip to visit family, I took all my Christmas cards with me to be posted there!

First-class stamp inland is £1.70. Posted a card FIVE days before a birthday. Got there seven days later. Could have walked it there quicker.

Yes, it is mad. I posted 5 cards abroad, all at £3,40, which comes to £17. I shall have to think about this next year.

The postage to Ireland and Europe is the same as Worldwide
It’s all £3.30 all the pleasure has gone
Seapebble I don’t think they will accept a few stamps to add up they expect to see the correct one on there It will get sent back or destroyed
Also although you say ‘ it’s only a price of a coffee’ if you ve got three close relatives overseas it’s the price of a present !!!

Well they ve shot themselves in the foot as I think by next year there will be hardly any cards sent

Heavens...I live in Southern Ireland, I had no clue it was that amount, thankfully most now send WhatsApp messages, I moved here 22 years ago from England and have relatives and friends still in the UK,

Shocking.

I received a Royal Mail post card recently to inform me there was an item at the sorting office with insufficient postage. It was a birthday card from my friend and it cost me £3.50 to retrieve it. It had a first class stamp but not the current ones with the attached bar code. Presumably she must have had an old stamp and used it.

Whoops!

Good job you started this thread and I am now officially embarrassed - as I was going to stick 2 stamps on card to a longstanding friend there and it wouldnt have been enough!

Oh boy....bet I've been doing that all these years and she might have been getting charged excess postage unbeknown to me. Oh heck....

Well I know now - so I'll stick two extra stamps on there...

Susieq62

It is £3.40 to anywhere in Europe plus Australia and New Zealand

Yes. I found that little nugget of information out yesterday. 2 cards to friends in Europe and 1 to a GD in Australia. £10.20 thanks very much!

Barbadosbelle

A second class stamp is actually 87p.

Reported

Grannynannywanny

I made the mistake a couple of years ago of adding a few spare first class stamps of slightly more than the value of a European stamp to post a card to Ireland. I began to doubt myself and checked in the post office and was told it would be rejected and left undelivered as it has to be the correct European stamp.

That's not right - or at least not what the Post Office says. As long as the postage paid equals the amount due (2×first class stamps = £3.40 currently) it will be accepted. If you're not sure of the weight - maybe you enclosed a letter as well as a card - take it to the post office. You can attach an Air Mail sticker or just write that on the envelope.

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

I don't agree that £3.40 (and yes it's correct I sent a card today) is ridiculous. It's the price of a coffee where I live. Ireland is another country - just like Spain or Norway. What IS ridiculous is the price of a UK first class stamp. £1.70 if it's two miles or two hundred and it doesn't even get there the next day. It's second class for me now - just have to plan ahead for birthdays etc. To send a card to another country by air - £3.40 doesn't seem a lot to me.

£3.40 seems the standard charge for a light card going anywhere outside UK. I paid £3.40 for a small card to Newfoundland. PO assistant didn't check what cost would be, just said in an instant, £3.40 please.

Just to clarify, if you are posting to NORTHERN Ireland you pay the same postage as of you were posting to anywhere else in the UK, as NI is in the UK, - unlike the Republic of Ireland.

England to Ireland is £3.40 cheapest then upwards by size and weightb

Scotland to Ireland

Yes, Grandma70s, last week I paid £3.40 to send one ordinary sized Christmas card to my friend in Eire. Much more than the cost of the card!

Barbadosbelle
Does any of you ever pay £1:70 for just one 1st Class stamp now?

From my experiences several times this year I’ve now given up on first class. In Sept I posted my son’s birthday card 5 days ahead of his birthday with a 1st class stamp. He received it 3 days after his birthday. A few weeks ago thinking better early than late I posted my Dil’s birthday card first class 8 days ahead of her birthday. She received it 3 days late 😡

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I didn't realise until earlier in the week that a First Class stamp is now £1.70 and a Second Class 79p. Pretty shocked.

I usually send (c) 60+ cards - generally a box of very good Nativity themed ones from Costco.

But that immediately changed with the thought of nearly a £ extra for a stamp!

So today I've posted just 14 cards, but that's still an extra £11+ for the 2nd Class stamps on them.

Anyone else that I can't hand their card to personally will get an email card via my JacquieLawson cards membership.

No wonder the Post Office is in trouble!!

Does any of you ever pay £1:70 for just one 1st Class stamp now?
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I made the mistake a couple of years ago of adding a few spare first class stamps of slightly more than the value of a European stamp to post a card to Ireland. I began to doubt myself and checked in the post office and was told it would be rejected and left undelivered as it has to be the correct European stamp.

Yes sadly Ireland is now 'rest of the world' so international stamp needed. There used to a special arrangement I think between the two countries or was it the EU rate? Posting parcels is an even bigger nightmare and reason why lot of commerce ceased between countries post Brexit.

It is £3.40 to anywhere in Europe plus Australia and New Zealand

I have a relative in the Republic of Ireland and always take cards etc to the post office. My recent Christmas card was £3.40. I always write Ireland after the post code, not Eire.
£3.40 is a ridiculous amount, but this is a very special relative who is definitely worth it.