I had to go look up barcoded stamps - we don’t have them in Canada! Very interesting. I don’t mail letters nearly enough anymore; I used to write letters to my cousins pre-getting internet at home, and I would take my 46 cents to the post office across the way and get a new stamp for my latest letter. That feels like ages ago - and stamps are now $1.07 each (or 92 cents each if you buy a book of them. I nearly passed out on my last purchase of a book of 10).
Thanks, Alison! Stamps are so expensive, aren’t they? I remember posting Christmas thank-you letters when I was very small and the stamps being 8p each!
Barcoded stamps have only been around since the end of last year. I think this adoption of new tech is going to make processing of post easier, but the new stamps themselves are implausibly large in order to accommodate it. 🤣
I honestly don’t get the barcode thing - I nearly left it on the backing paper and used the stamp without it!
Am I being silly here? Why’s it necessary? - also not ready to accept a king on a stamp so I’m not sure what it all means but could be a whole session with a therapist I think lol!
Change is uncomfortable sometimes and I guess in ALL the changes we’ve faced growing up in life stamps have always just been the same - a consistent in life’s unpredictable and fast paced way of being, a nice ritual and connect at Christmas and odd other times we decide we must buy a book and send smiles through the post... Cx
Thanks, Claire! I know - it's crazy, isn't it? The stamps are soooooo huge!
It's funny - you've actually hit the nail on the head - I have an aversion to change! Bring back the 8p second-class stamps (12 and a half pence for first - I can't believe that I'm admitting to having been alive when 'half a p' was still a coin denomination in its own right)!
'Send smiles through the post' - that's so lovely, and you're absolutely right! 😊
Big isn't the word. I'll need to buy bigger envelopes to accomodate them. Will get charged more for that. So I've come to the conclusion that the new stamps are intended to get more money out of us (Note to non-UK readers: the British postal service charges rates according to both weight and size)
I still can’t get my head around large letter stamps! What was wrong with just pricing letters by weight? Often I find that large letter stamps are the only ones I’ve got when I just want to send a standard DL envelope! It’s something like 50p more expensive!
The barcodes sound interesting, but I'm not sure how I would feel about the massive stamps either... I guess anything that makes things easier is a plus. I was very excited when they introduced "forever" stamps here in the US which meant that even if postage rates change, the stamps are still considered full postage. Nothing was worse than getting a bill returned due to insufficient postage and then resending it late :-(
I guess they're rolling out new sorting systems or something, Jacquie. I love the term 'forever stamps' - a few years back over here they stopped printing the denomination on ours, changing to just printing '1st' and '2nd' - and even when they put the price up every year it was still fine, because they didn't go out of date!
This is rather different, though, because any stamps that don't have the new barcode will cease to be valid in July. Use 'em or lose 'em! Or, indeed, exchange them....
Great post, Rebecca. I'll say more in my missive to you, but I thought we'd get loadsa money back, but instead we got a load of stamps. When we're ever going to use them , heaven knows.
Mum said that they'd got stamps back, but only first class ones. Still, they were worth the same total value of assorted first- and second-class ones that she'd sent them, so all was well!
ditto, but I haven't written a letter for ages. When am I gonna use all these stamps? I'd have preferred a system whereby we could print our own stamps and use credits to do so. You know: send in old stamps --> receive credits for them --> one credit = second class, two credits = first class. Why didn't they think of that? I know my rights.
Ah yes, real life letters. Whatever happened to those? It's been a long time since I've received one.
I'm not surprised you sent a snail mail. It was only a moment of time until you did. Seeing as how you both live in the UK, it was inevitable. I bet it was a delight for Terry to receive such a thing.
I haven't used a stamp myself in awhile. I just looked it up and a book of 20 will cost me $12.60. Yikes!
Surprisingly, I looked up how much it would cost to send a letter internationally and it said as long as it is under 1 oz (4 pieces of computer paper), it would only cost $1.45. I thought it would be much higher.
Matt, I'd been going to send Terry a Christmas card in order to test the density of the strike-induced backlog in mid-December, and didn't! So I was really pleased to have that 'bonus stamp' at my disposal at about the time I wanted to write about letters and stamps!
When I worked for an international firm in London we would label most of the post we sent abroad - mostly pages and pages of reports - with the legend 'printed papers' because that attracted a more favourable rate than standard heavy stuff! Only thing was, you weren't allowed to include any kind of letter in the envelope. Of course we're talking years ago, when we still did hard-copy-almost-everything.....
Cool, Rebecca. We don't have bar code stamps in the US, but for my ebay business, I run postage labels on line via ebay to tape on my packages and those have bar codes and QR codes. SO maybe stamps will too soon. BTW, I have subscribed to T. Freedman's newsletter based on your correspondence with him. I look forward to perusing his archive.
Thanks, Sharron! Good move to purchase postage online - that's a really good idea. I do that sometimes when I've got internet purchases to send back (ones where return postage is chargeable). When I still had my small business and was posting regular parcels I generally preferred to walk across the road from my workshop to the Post Office, so I'd always just pay over the counter.
I'm sure you'll enjoy Terry's writing - 'Eclecticism' is a great name for his newletter. You'll see what I mean!
Great post Rebecca! Stamps are so expensive but I love writing letters. One of my goals this year is to write one friend or family member each week. I've really been enjoying it. Thanks again for sharing
I'm a bit baffled by the point of the barcode, but I think here in the US they print on barcodes to envelopes so maybe this skips that step? It will make a letter look that much less charming I think?
I'm not entirely sure of the point of it myself, Sarah! I mean, the post already gets printed with a postmark at the sorting office, so I'm sure that does the same job! 🤔
LOL - thanks, Melanie! Means a lot to me! 😊
I had to go look up barcoded stamps - we don’t have them in Canada! Very interesting. I don’t mail letters nearly enough anymore; I used to write letters to my cousins pre-getting internet at home, and I would take my 46 cents to the post office across the way and get a new stamp for my latest letter. That feels like ages ago - and stamps are now $1.07 each (or 92 cents each if you buy a book of them. I nearly passed out on my last purchase of a book of 10).
Thanks, Alison! Stamps are so expensive, aren’t they? I remember posting Christmas thank-you letters when I was very small and the stamps being 8p each!
Barcoded stamps have only been around since the end of last year. I think this adoption of new tech is going to make processing of post easier, but the new stamps themselves are implausibly large in order to accommodate it. 🤣
Lovely share as always Rebecca!
Lucky Terry getting some snail mail.
I honestly don’t get the barcode thing - I nearly left it on the backing paper and used the stamp without it!
Am I being silly here? Why’s it necessary? - also not ready to accept a king on a stamp so I’m not sure what it all means but could be a whole session with a therapist I think lol!
Change is uncomfortable sometimes and I guess in ALL the changes we’ve faced growing up in life stamps have always just been the same - a consistent in life’s unpredictable and fast paced way of being, a nice ritual and connect at Christmas and odd other times we decide we must buy a book and send smiles through the post... Cx
To be honest, Claire, it made a pleasant change from bills!
Terry, you should have said! I'd've stuck a bill in there with it, if that would have made you feel any better.....! 😉
😂
OOh, so kind of you, Rebecca. <Strikes Rebecca off Christmas card list>
Hadn’t noticed I was on it! 😉🎄🤣
It's the post, Rebecca. You can't get the staff
Oh yeah, I’d forgotten about the strikes around Christmas! #convenientexcuse
Thanks, Claire! I know - it's crazy, isn't it? The stamps are soooooo huge!
It's funny - you've actually hit the nail on the head - I have an aversion to change! Bring back the 8p second-class stamps (12 and a half pence for first - I can't believe that I'm admitting to having been alive when 'half a p' was still a coin denomination in its own right)!
'Send smiles through the post' - that's so lovely, and you're absolutely right! 😊
Big isn't the word. I'll need to buy bigger envelopes to accomodate them. Will get charged more for that. So I've come to the conclusion that the new stamps are intended to get more money out of us (Note to non-UK readers: the British postal service charges rates according to both weight and size)
I still can’t get my head around large letter stamps! What was wrong with just pricing letters by weight? Often I find that large letter stamps are the only ones I’ve got when I just want to send a standard DL envelope! It’s something like 50p more expensive!
The barcodes sound interesting, but I'm not sure how I would feel about the massive stamps either... I guess anything that makes things easier is a plus. I was very excited when they introduced "forever" stamps here in the US which meant that even if postage rates change, the stamps are still considered full postage. Nothing was worse than getting a bill returned due to insufficient postage and then resending it late :-(
same here!
I guess they're rolling out new sorting systems or something, Jacquie. I love the term 'forever stamps' - a few years back over here they stopped printing the denomination on ours, changing to just printing '1st' and '2nd' - and even when they put the price up every year it was still fine, because they didn't go out of date!
This is rather different, though, because any stamps that don't have the new barcode will cease to be valid in July. Use 'em or lose 'em! Or, indeed, exchange them....
Great post, Rebecca. I'll say more in my missive to you, but I thought we'd get loadsa money back, but instead we got a load of stamps. When we're ever going to use them , heaven knows.
Thanks, Terry! Glad you enjoyed it!
Mum said that they'd got stamps back, but only first class ones. Still, they were worth the same total value of assorted first- and second-class ones that she'd sent them, so all was well!
ditto, but I haven't written a letter for ages. When am I gonna use all these stamps? I'd have preferred a system whereby we could print our own stamps and use credits to do so. You know: send in old stamps --> receive credits for them --> one credit = second class, two credits = first class. Why didn't they think of that? I know my rights.
That would work a treat, wouldn’t it? In fact I do sometimes buy postage online - thanks for reminding me that it’s a thing!
Ah yes, real life letters. Whatever happened to those? It's been a long time since I've received one.
I'm not surprised you sent a snail mail. It was only a moment of time until you did. Seeing as how you both live in the UK, it was inevitable. I bet it was a delight for Terry to receive such a thing.
I haven't used a stamp myself in awhile. I just looked it up and a book of 20 will cost me $12.60. Yikes!
Surprisingly, I looked up how much it would cost to send a letter internationally and it said as long as it is under 1 oz (4 pieces of computer paper), it would only cost $1.45. I thought it would be much higher.
Matt, I'd been going to send Terry a Christmas card in order to test the density of the strike-induced backlog in mid-December, and didn't! So I was really pleased to have that 'bonus stamp' at my disposal at about the time I wanted to write about letters and stamps!
When I worked for an international firm in London we would label most of the post we sent abroad - mostly pages and pages of reports - with the legend 'printed papers' because that attracted a more favourable rate than standard heavy stuff! Only thing was, you weren't allowed to include any kind of letter in the envelope. Of course we're talking years ago, when we still did hard-copy-almost-everything.....
Cool, Rebecca. We don't have bar code stamps in the US, but for my ebay business, I run postage labels on line via ebay to tape on my packages and those have bar codes and QR codes. SO maybe stamps will too soon. BTW, I have subscribed to T. Freedman's newsletter based on your correspondence with him. I look forward to perusing his archive.
Thanks, Sharron! Good move to purchase postage online - that's a really good idea. I do that sometimes when I've got internet purchases to send back (ones where return postage is chargeable). When I still had my small business and was posting regular parcels I generally preferred to walk across the road from my workshop to the Post Office, so I'd always just pay over the counter.
I'm sure you'll enjoy Terry's writing - 'Eclecticism' is a great name for his newletter. You'll see what I mean!
Great post and, as a fellow Leftie, I have to say that you have great handwriting!
Aww, thanks, Mark! Kind of you to say! 😊
Great post Rebecca! Stamps are so expensive but I love writing letters. One of my goals this year is to write one friend or family member each week. I've really been enjoying it. Thanks again for sharing
What a wonderful intention, Julie - I love that! 😊
Thank you Rebecca, It's been fun using notecards that have been just sitting in my desk drawer.
I'm a bit baffled by the point of the barcode, but I think here in the US they print on barcodes to envelopes so maybe this skips that step? It will make a letter look that much less charming I think?
I'm not entirely sure of the point of it myself, Sarah! I mean, the post already gets printed with a postmark at the sorting office, so I'm sure that does the same job! 🤔