Thank you for this info Mark @Maddymail . As I’m a total novice to this whole process but very interested, and the RM bulletin sort of assumes some prior knowledge can you just confirm that this is how it works:
There are three groups of special stamps:
Sponsored, as for example on p5, on(from?) the date shown for each stamp (Just on the day? Longer?)
FDC on the day
General ones always available
For a maxicard with special handstamp: I send them the franked card before the official day of issue, stating the stamp I want. So for the wild coasts in July I have missed the boat? Or only if I was aiming for day of issue?
And I include the stamp information on the envelope? A separate piece of paper? I do understand about separate envelopes for different stamps.
If I leave the card/envelope unaddressed and include a return envelope they send them back. Presumably if I properly address them they send them on?
So if I have other items (or missed the deadline) I can send any time, presumably using any stamp (obvs using sufficient postage) and they forward or send back as requested? But only with the general stamps listed at the end of the bulletin? I will definitely be using this for special personal mail.
Sorry for many questions! As you can see I’m keen but wary of getting it wrong…
A postage question. I have been sending all my postcards that go outside the U.K. with £1.70 stamps. Is that the current cheapest rate? It looks like the original post at the very top of this thread May be from last year, so I’m not sure.
If I can send them cheaper I will, as I have been doing tonnes of forum swaps and tags and I am scared to total up what I’ve spent on stamps the past month!
@Maddymail Thanks for this info, it’s really helpful!
If I wanted to send a maxicard abroad but it only had a first class stamp on it, would I have to send it in an envelope with the full £1.45/£1.70 postage? It mentions that you can’t affix stamps to both the front and back side of the card so I assume I can’t put another stamp on the back to make it up to the full amount?
I can add my experience of posting maxicards: I got into sending ‘vintage’ maxicards by accident, the first ones I got were in a mixed pile of 'unwritten ’ cards I bought, so treated them like normal postcards and they arrived. In some cases they had a philatelic cancellation stamp already on the written side so I added a new full postage next to it and these arrived too. So far I have not yet created my own maxicards by sending them to the postmarking service, but would certainly follow @Maddymail’s description and have them sent back to me first. And I buy older designs ready-made off ebay for example.
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Edited to show two examples. Photos taken just before posting)
Thank you for explaining it so clearly, it makes a lot more sense now!
I have found such a lack of information about maxicards online. Most info says what to do e.g. ‘send to a special handstamp centre’ but not exactly how to do it and I always came away with more questions than answers.
It seems there are lots of little caveats to the process (you need it to have an address on, you don’t need to stamp the envelope etc) that I would have never otherwise known.
I think I’ll send them in an envelope to be safe. I really don’t want them getting lost in the post, especially since I never put a return address on my postcards.
I’ve ordered a few sets of old PHQ maxicards from eBay in the meantime whilst I wait for the upcoming stamp issues, so I will see how it goes with those.
At the time of writing, I’m getting “404 not found” when clicking on some of the pages, which I’m sure the Royal Mail team looking after the shop will fix next week.
I’ve been postcrossing since April and have so far either used a £1.70 stamp or 2x 1st class. However I’m always thrilled when I get cards with multiple stamps on them and would like to start doing this for people I send to. I’ve seen various websites that sell mixed picture stamps of various denominations but before I start spending more money, what mix of stamps do you all use?
Yes I love to do that too, but the mix really depends on availability. Right now I’m working through a collection of 64p+63p+(43p or 44p), as seen here:
But those are all quite big stamps so you end up covering a lot of the cards space. To take a break from that I have just ordered a mixed set of (E) stamps to make life easier, but generally I’ll aim for a combination two stamps, and not necessarily first class ones.
@AnjuschkaC your cards look brilliant. Where do you buy your stamps from? Our picture stamps are so big here they do take up a lot of room. I’ve had some gigantic stamps from Russia which I love even though there’s not much room for writing.
I’ve bought a few mixed bundles of super low value vintage stamps (most less than 10p value) from the 1970s-80s on Etsy and eBay, and they are great to use with a more recent £1.63 stamp. I like the country definitives you can get on the Royal Mail website - tartan for Scotland, porcelain for Northern Ireland, I think there’s a daffodil design for Wales etc. The low value stamps add the colour and can be matched to the recipients interests, but the £1.63 does most of the heavy lifting, postage costs-wise!
You will have seen many references above. They were having supply issues during lockdown but normal service seems to have been restored now.
Another one I have used is
And while they had the denominations I was looking for, I thought the stamps were a bit ‘worn’ round the edges, definitely not used but not exactly ‘mint’ either. Fine for postage, but as a collector I would have been disappointed.
There are other suppliers, aiming at collectors though (ie not discounted) and you could also buy via ebay etc but I have no experience there.
Here are some of the ones from Philatelink that came today
I was hoping the 17th Sept issue may have been the Covid Stamp Competition that was run back in January/February, that will probably be released early next year now.
Thought you may like to see the new UK stamp issue being released at a Post Office near you on the 17th September, or pre-order from Royal Mail online. The DC Collection, this time it’s Batman, 12 X 1st class stamps plus Justice League Minisheet plus all the usual paraphernalia, Prestige stamp book, booket, etc etc. Certainly colourful, a collectors issue, am sure that many Postcrossers will love these.
Best Wishes, D
OK, 28 days… I can still make the wild coasts deadlines!
