This is a specific business service they offer, for items requiring export paperwork. The BBC, as far as i can tell are misrepresenting the situation, and I am not worried about posting normal mail that doesn’t even require a customs declaration.
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Has anyone experienced this?
I haven’t sent any to swap out yet and now I’m concerned!
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I’ve done about 10 swap outs now and all of them have come back with the correct amount of stamps or bonus stamps. The longest swap out took 5 weeks, though.
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Looks like we should hold international mail for a while… ransomeware attack, BBC, and Guardian are reporting…
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Not looking like a swift resolution
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Still no news on progress… if it goes on much much longer, may need to jump on a ferry and post my letters in Dublin! If I was still living where I was brought up, I’d go to France instead!
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Latest update yesterday doesn’t indicate how long it might last…
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A question about postmarks… So this month they uploaded the postmark bulletin to the RM website after the start of the month but some of the postmarks within the bulletin had the date 1st Jan. I was under the impression you had to send a card to be postmarked on or before the date the postmark is released to be able to get it? Am I wrong? I’m looking to get some special postmarks and wondering whether I HAVE to send the card on the day the postmark is released (or before), or whether I can actually send it any time within the month of the bulletin? 
@geo_ Any time within the month, including post that arrives after the month is up but has a date stamp within the month (e.g. date on the envelope says 31.1.23, envelope arrives 2.2.23, still okay).
Post that arrives on or before the date the postmark is released will get a ‘first day’ cancel, as opposed to the date.
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Oh I frequently send mail upto TWO weeks after the postmark date, I find the handstamp teams quite flexible.
I’ve just sent off for some of the 1st Jan postmarks as this month’s bulletin was published late.
They prefer if your items of mail are promptly posted within a few days on the date, but are flexible with a week or so.
With the permanent postmarks, you can also request it to be back dated with up to a month.
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Also when sending off for First Day of Issue Postmarks, I’ve never had the stamps and PHQ cards delivered on the day of issue, so I’m always sending my maxicards in a few days to a week after the postmark date.
Not had a problem so far.
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Thanks both! This is really useful to know.
@Maddymail If you send them after the FDI, do you specify you’d like the First Day cancel as opposed to the date?
So most of the postmarks have the date as part of the design, this cannot be changed, for example with the latest Iron Maiden Issue, regardless of when I post the cards & stamps to the Handstamp Centre’s and the stamps will be cancelled with a 12th Jan 23 postmark (FDI or sponsored).
The only exceptions are sponsored postmarks that are avaliable for periods of time, such as this postmark, where it is recommended to request a date, for example when the Queen died, I was away at the time, so at the end of the September, I sent off for postmark to be back dated with a postmark with a changeable date.
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Ahh okay, that makes sense! Thanks so much for explaining. I didn’t realise there were any available for longer than a month (other than the permanent ones at the end of the bulletin)!
I’ve sent off for the Permanent Handstamps before, just on the back of written & stamped postcards, but never any of the special ones. But I am considering trying to create some maxicards this year for the first time and want to make sure I get it right 
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Resumption of International Mail from 19:00hrs today
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Something I posted on the 12th of January (private swap) to Germany arrived today 
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Well that’s encouraging.
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I just got an email saying all my stamps were invalid . . .luckily I didn’t send 100s of pounds worth but still, I could’ve used them up to Summer now!