Martin Lewis warns Brits to ‘stock up NOW’ on £1.25 household staple before price hike next month
MONEY man Martin Lewis has warned Brits to stock up on a household staple before the price rises.
The budgeting journalist offered the advice as the price of first class stamps is set to jump eight per cent for standard letters from April 2.
That means a first-class standard letter stamp, which now costs £1.25, will cost £1.35 next month.
A first-class large stamp will increase from £1.95 to £2.10.
A second class standard stamp will also increase in price, from 75p to 85p – a larger figure of 13 per cent.
Martin Lewis suggests that people grab as many stamps as they can now as you can still use them even if you buy them at a cheaper price.
He said: “For years, every time stamps go up in price I’ve suggested people stock up and bulk-buy in advance, as provided the stamp doesn’t have a price on it and instead just says the postage class, it’s still valid after the hike.
“This has been an effective tactic, as a first-class letter stamp is now £1.25, soon to be rising to £1.35 – in 2012 it was just 60p. So you may as well stock up now.”
MoneySavingExpert.com reported that the price of a standard letter first class stamp has increased three times in the past year.
In March 2023, those stamps costed only 95p, but in April they rose to $1.10. In October, the price rose again to £1.25.
They report that the Royal Mail blame the price hikes on increasing cost pressures, such as wages, and the six day a week service.
Last year, industry regulator Ofcom said increases to the price of second-class stamps would be capped at the rate of inflation until 2029 in an effort to keep the sending of letters affordable.
Nick Landon, chief commercial officer at Royal Mail, told The Mirror: “We always consider price changes very carefully but we face a situation where letter volumes have reduced dramatically over recent years while costs have increased.
“It is no longer sustainable to maintain a network built for 20 billion letters when we are now only delivering seven billion.
“As a result of letter volume decline, our posties now have to walk more than three times as far to deliver the same number of letters as before, increasing the delivery costs per letter.”
A standard size letter must be no larger than 24cm x 16.5cm x 5mm.
Large letters can be no bigger than 35.3cm x 25cm x 2.5cm.
The Royal Mail charges more for first class stamps as they ensure your letter gets to its destination faster.
Generally, a letter with a first class stamp on it will arrive at the intended address the next working day.
Meanwhile, it takes up to three working days for second class items to arrive.
Depending on the size of your letter, you may have to pay more for a first or second class stamp.
It comes after the Royal Mail ousted old-style stamps and replaced them with barcoded ones in July.
How are postage prices decided?
The Royal Mail typically increases the price of stamps annually and last year the price rose in April.
Normally, it gives customers advance warning of around a month before pushing up prices.
This year the hike was announced in March.
Royal Mail said it is hiking the price of postage due to the decline in the number of people sending letters.
The number of letters being posted has dropped 60% since 2005 and around 20% since the start of the pandemic.
It also blamed rising inflation for the increase.
Brits are facing a cost of living crisis, with food and energy bill prices also on the rise.