Stamp prices rise (again)! October 2nd.

Again! Good grief! Didn't they only increase recently?

Thank Heaven, most of my correspondence is on-line.

Just as well it’s against my religion to use first class!!

Wouldn’t be so bad if it actually made a difference. I posted something urgent first class and it took a week to get there

Shooting themselves in the foot! People are finding much cheaper ways of posting/keeping in touch.

Privatisation really helped didn't it!

They are pricing themselves out of business.

When I first moved here in mid- noughties, the cost of a 1st class stamp was a third of today's price (never mind the new hike), I could walk to the sorting office or a town centre post box early evening. Now the last post is much earlier, the majority of boxes are only emptied before noon weekdays, our big post office has gone (a whole line of villages/small towns have lost their post offices round here) and my biggest gripe, the only weekend collection is 7am Saturday morning.
For readers under 50, gone are the days of 4 collections at every post box and one on Sunday afternoon, and 2 deliveries Mon-Sat to every house.
However, though 35ish, our postman is old school, a smile, a wave, a chat with the old 'uns, bless him.

I think they’re working on the basis that the few people who use first class will be happy to pay the price increase

I was reading that they want to cut deliveries to three times a week so it will be no point sending anything first class anyway.

We recently had another rise in price for our postage. First class letter/card is now .66 (cents). Not sure how that translates or compares to your increase.

I do online payments for everything I’m able to do but there are birthday and thank you cards… and I love to send Christmas🎄cards. That’s a big ouch!! People really cutting back on those, including me.
USA Gundy

I heard somewhere a postman saying never to use 1st Class just use 2nd Class.

As it says in the link, you can still use 1st or 2nd Class bought now after October, so it might be worth stocking up this month on 2nd Class if you send Christmas cards.

I remember one time, a family birthday, all the cards arrived on time that were sent second class; and just my DD's card was several days late (sent first class)! Have been advised since that posting delivery times are the same, so not worth bothering with first class.

Postal charges are bound to rise due to rising fuel and energy prices and also due to the basic fact that all businesses base their prices partly on supply and demand.

Relatively few people write letters or cards any more. They take too long to reach the addressee and postage is dear. E-mails, fax and text messages have greatly reduced any postal service's customers.

Here it is cheaper to send a letter in a small padded envelope by one or other of the private parcels' services than send it by post. And far quicker.

The post office as we have known it will probably disappear from the face of the earth fairly soon.

I sent five birthday cards and one Christmas card to Australia recently, all in one envelope, about £7.50 I think.

More than the cards cost almost.

I remember when it cost 3d to post a letter, there wee two deliveries a day Mon-Fri, one on Saturday and even one on Christmas Day.

I needed 1st class stamps a few weeks ago, so decided to look on Ebay. I found books of 8 stamps for £5 each. They are genuine usable ones, not like some which stated they were for stamp collectors only. Glad I stocked up.

This is due to Cameron’s Tory Government privatising Royal Mail. They actually sold it off for millions of pounds less than it was worth despite it being public money. I wonder why. Another ‘nice little deal’ for their mates? Anyway, we’ve had a poorer service (e.g. dramatically reduces collections and deliveries) and huge price rises ever since 😡

It was a wonderful service at one time. I recall posting a friend's card for her birthday the following day; we had arranged to meet for lunch and I arrived at her house to see the card propped on the sideboard - it had taken less time to arrive than I had on the bus. I can recall two deliveries a day, and such reliability. Now, I much prefer email.

Its not as if the service is good! I had a small package delivered today (Thursday) , that according to the tracking should have been delivered last Saturday. I'm sure the post man only calls here once a week now, as we always receive a big pile of mail in one go. And we live in town, not out in the sticks

We are currently getting no more than two deliveries a week.
Often one, our local Facebook page has complaints all the time.
Apparently our regular lady postie is off ill and doesn’t seem to have been replaced on a daily basis.
Lots of complaints but still nothing is happening.
The parcel post, delivered by van seems to be ok.
Not conducive to accepting price rises.

The fewer items get posted the fewer deliveries there will be. It won't be worth paying a postman to walk the route with just a few letters in his bag.

Stella14

This is due to Cameron’s Tory Government privatising Royal Mail. They actually sold it off for millions of pounds less than it was worth despite it being public money. I wonder why. Another ‘nice little deal’ for their mates? Anyway, we’ve had a poorer service (e.g. dramatically reduces collections and deliveries) and huge price rises ever since 😡

It was the coalition government and Vince Cable dealt with it. It was floated on the stock market so no ‘mates’ involved.

Talking of stamps ...

Dame Shirley Bassey, 86, becomes the first female performer to get her own set of stamps with Royal Mail issuing a commemorative set celebrating the Welsh singer famous for her James Bond theme songs.