Little reminder that price increase is tomorrow! Make sure to stock up on some 1st class stamps today! 1st - 76p to 85p. Int postcard £1.45 to £1.70.
1 Like
Do you have any experience with sending cards via international economy? Do the travelling times differ greatly from sending via airmail?
I haven’t noticed any significant difference in practice.
Happy new year.
1 Like
Please tell me I’m not the only one irrationally annoyed that 1st + 2nd =/= International standard. 19p is a bloomin awkward make-up value
International Standard, at £1.70, is exactly two first class stamps. You can do a 1st plus a 2nd plus 19p if you want, but two 1st is easier.
International Economy is £1.45 and the best way to make it up as far as I can tell is two second class stamps plus 13p.
I went ahead and bought a sheet of 10p, a sheet of 5p and a sheet of 1p stamps for this very reason.
6 Likes
I am once again reminded of how bad I am at maths 
1 Like
I literally had to check my maths three times before posting!
I think that is the only good thing about the 1st class stamp price rise, £1.70 is simple! Well, maybe another good thing - the choice of 1st class marked stamps available…
2 Likes
Yes, I’m looking forward to putting two of the National Parks stamps together on a postcard - they should look really fresh and interesting. 
Hello! Just found this today:
Our stamp calendar for 2021
-
14 Jan - National Parks Opens in a new window
-
26 Jan - United Kingdom: A Celebration
-
16 Feb - Only Fools and Horses
-
16 Mar - The Legend of King Arthur
-
15 Apr - Classic Science Fiction
-
4 May - The Wars of the Roses
-
28 May - Paul McCartney
-
1 July - Dennis and Gnasher
-
22 July - Wild Coasts
-
12 Aug - Industrial Revolutions
-
2 Sept - British Army Vehicles
-
17 Sept - To be announced
-
19 Oct - Rugby Union
-
2 Nov - Christmas 2021
From https://www.royalmail.com/sending/stamps
I LOVE the sound of Dennis the Menace stamps in July!! 
3 Likes
Very useful thread, thank you everyone. I have been sending £1.45 postcards for the past year and the rise to £1.70 is unfortunately something that will probably stop me from having +30 travelling each month. I keep seeing people who mention that they get their stamps cheaper from philatelists and these come slightly cheaper as they are not top notch class - has anyone tried that? Every now and again I also used to buy 1st and 2nd class stamps on Etsy as I could find a decent variety (cats & dogs in black and white 1st class was a fav of mine) but they always sell them at higher value. I think that’ll stop too. Not the best news for the new year.
If you are willing to wait a little longer, you can still send cards at £1.45 which is now the International Economy rate for Worldwide post (cannot be used for Europe), travel times can vary, I experimented with the rate last year in the summer,
I sent two postcards to Hong Kong on the same date, International Standard was 32 days and International Economy was 99 days.
I did the same for Japan and both cards arrived within a few days of each other.
Yes I was using Philatelink in the Scottish Borders, they where excellent in discounted stamps, all of which I have used for Postcrossing and normal mail without any problems,
I would have ordered from them more, but they are out-of-stock of lots of stamps, they primarily purchase stamps from Exhibitions and from dealers at meets and shows, but haven’t been able source any due to the Pandemic.
I occasionally use Ebay, and have purchased good quality stamps, I usually purchase presentation packs, as I know these will usually be Mint stamps, again all postcards sent with Ebay stamps have had no problems.
“There is seller called ‘sudan-stamps,’ they sell RM retail books from the last 20 years (still valid) for reasonal prices”
1 Like
I hope the Wild Coasts stamps will be beautiful. 
I think the 26th January issue must be the much-hinted-at ‘Brexit’ stamps, but I’m glad to see they’re not named as such! The last thing we need is overly political stamps. 
Thanks for putting these up @katiemmj !
I too have used Philatelink. Very happy.
I got this batch (pictured) of First Class stamps from Philatelink last week and am pretty happy with the range. I will definitely be picking up some of the special collections from Royal Mail this year though as so many of them sound brilliant.
It’s also the only reason I’m happy that £1.70 is two First Class stamps because it’s easier and we can find and use some pretty stamps.
7 Likes
Nice selection! I looked on Philatelink a few weeks ago and saw most stuff had sold out. I must have missed this. I’m actually fairly well kept in stamps at the moment (but mainly definitives) so it would be an indulgence to go out and buy a bunch more.
Here is the issue in question:
I don’t think they would be that suitable to use on a postcard because of the design - it would just be two small pictures divided by a diagonal line.
For Postcrossers who say on their profile that they like national flags, I sometimes use the Post & Go stamps with the UK flag on it, although it does take up more space on a postcard. 
1 Like
I doubt that RM actually really want these stamps to be used, so perhaps they didn’t ask for them to be “sensibly” designed. These stamps are not United, individually. Looks even more bizarre in the set of postcards…
If I feel the need to order some stamps again from Royal Mail and need to make it up to £50 (?) for the free delivery, I might consider buying a sheet to use, but it’ll look odd for postage.
I love this new batch of stamps I just received from Philatelink. Can’t wait to use them! I haven’t seen any of the designs before. I hope the recipients enjoy them too.
13 Likes
They’re very cool - can I engineer it so you send me a card with the London UG map?
repeats to myself must not buy more stamps, must not buy more stamps, must not buy more stamps. 
2 Likes