Combining Stamps

[vixann]

Good afternoon all,
I need to post a large letter so I was going to put 2 1st class stamps on it (just some paperwork so under 100g) but the woman who does post at work said I can't as a 1st class large letter is £1.01 and 2 1st class would be £1.34. She said it has to be the exact amount.
I didn't think it would matter if I overpaid.
Could anybody please confirm?

Many Thanks

Vicki

[swindonandy]

Good afternoon all,
I need to post a large letter so I was going to put 2 1st class stamps on it (just some paperwork so under 100g) but the woman who does post at work said I can't as a 1st class large letter is £1.01 and 2 1st class would be £1.34. She said it has to be the exact amount.
I didn't think it would matter if I overpaid.
Could anybody please confirm?

Many Thanks

Vicki

Stamped mail you can put any value equal to or above the price bracket. The woman is wrong.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

As long as you don't underpay you can combine stamps.

Even old 1st class stamps as long as they don't have a value printed on them can be used, they will be treated as paying this year's 1st class price.

https://www.royalmail.com/personal/uk-delivery/stamps/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Do stamps have an expiry date?
Stamps without a specified monetary value are described as Non Value Indicator (NVI) and are typically First and Second Class stamps. These do not have an expiry date, therefore can be used regardless of the length of time you've had them. Stamps with a monetary value also do not have an expiry date and can be combined to make up the value of postage required.

[supertouring]

I do this all the time without problems, I use a combination of 2nd Large, 2nd and the odd 10p to make up the correct amount (or just over) as most of my items go out as Large Letter size but various weight bands.

[JimJimini]

Sorry to bump an old thread, but I've just found out something relevant to combining stamps that others may not be aware of.

RM treat the intended postage as that indicated by the stamp (i.e. 1st or 2nd class) NOT the total value of the stamps applied.

A real world example of this: if you post a large letter up to 100g (second class rate = £1.15 at todays rates) using a 1st class stamp (value = £1.10 at todays rates) and a 5p stamp such that the total postage paid is £1.15, you might expect it to be sent 2nd class. Unfortunately not - RM will treat the intended postage as 1st class (which would cost £1.60 at todays rates) and therefore consider the postage applied as underpaid and charge a fee.

RM customer services advise "When using 1st Class stamps this indicates the 1st Class pricing and service, I appreciate the £1.15 would cover 2nd Class however the service is not downgraded to the value of the stamps."

I personally couldn't find this explained on the RM website anywhere, so thought it worth adding to this forum for information.

[simmo11]

Where were you told this?

Royal Mail staff on here can confirm but this is quite simply incorrect and needs challenging.

[simmo11]

Stamps are basically Royal Mail money and have an inherent value.

If what you have been told was true then the many people - myself included - who use multiple first class stamps to send items abroad (2 X First at current rates = 2 X 1.10 = 2.20 = 100g letter worldwide rate) would encounter issues with this service. I send multiple items to multiple countries worldwide each month without any problems.

[Belgium]

Absolute rubbish, you can use any combination of stamps of any value, as long as the postage paid is equivalent to the service required ( overpayment is certainly ok) revenue protection would never surcharge a correctly or overpaid item regardless of class

[JimJimini]

@simmo11
I was told this in answer to a query I sent RM regarding the real world example I described in my earlier post (for which I received a "fee to pay" card before RM would deliver it to me as the recipient). The quote is exactly what RM told me. Enquiry reference #230704-007995

@Belgium
Why do you say "absolute rubbish" (assuming your reply was to my post) - please point me to something on the RM website (or elsewhere) that contradicts what I've been told? I've been charged a fee and have the explanation in writing from RM customer services so would love to find something in their T&C's or policies to counter their reasoning.

I have of course gone back to them to ask where on their website it explains this little 'rule', will post back if I get a response.

EDITED with update:
Just received a response to a new enquiry reference #230708-004268 where I specifically asked the following:
"To send a Large letter, less than 100g, as Second Class costs £1.15. Is it acceptable to combine an ordinary first class stamp (worth £1.10) with a 5p stamp (total postage paid is therefore £1.10 + £0.05 = £1.15) to send it?
If the above is not acceptable, please can you point me to where on the RM website it explicitly states customers cannot combine postage stamps in this manner?"

RM say:
""Make up" value stamps are an acceptable form of postage. However, if the postage applied is a Royal Mail 1st Class stamp plus a 5p make up stamp the service requested will be 1st Class, not 2nd Class."
They didn't answer the bit about where it says this in their terms, which I still can't find anywhere - all I got was the link to their stamp prices.

So what RM are saying is, if you use a first class stamp as part of the postage value you need to make it up to the appropriate first class service you want - you cannot use it to pay for a second class service.

[Frank Toobie]

Glad I found this thread, was wondering how I could mix`n`match some old stamps I have kicking around, before end of this month. Ta muchly folks

[sholland]

Was about to ask a question about the new increased rates of stamps and buying some before the increase, but to use after 2 October.
In view of this thread information, I can buy before then a quantity of second class large letter 100g at current £1.15, they will be worth £1.55 each (35% more!) if used towards the cost of a £3.49 small parcel 2kg, meaning I just add 39p additional stamps. This referring to my posting after 2 October.
This being in addition to saving me money if used for just a 100g large letter after that date.
I probably send more small parcels second class than I do large letters.

BTW, when using up a load of old non barcode stamps before end of July, I had no problems using maybe 50 or so first class letter stamps towards second class parcels.
Rob

[drspa44]

Apologies for resurrecting this thread again, but the situation has become more complex following the Oct 7th 2024 price rise announcement. Now a 1st class stamp is £1.65, whilst 2nd class large letter remains £1.55.

Question: If I slap a standard 1st class stamp on a 100g large letter, will it A) get delivered at the speed of 2nd class or will it B) get surcharged with an 'Item underpaid' sticker despite having sufficient postage for 2nd class.

@JimJimini's RM interaction concerns me as it seems to never have been clarified officially. However, I send inexpensive ebay items all around the UK. 100s of parcels over many years, all sent with a 1st class stamp plus a combination of commemorative stamps from Philatelink, e.g. £1.55 = £1.35 (1st) + 9p + 11p. This is sufficient postage for a 2nd class large letter. I usually write something like '£1.55 2nd LL' underneath. I have never received a complaint from a customer about a surcharge. In fact, items with combinations of stamps appear to be treated as 1st class regardless. This holds true if I only use make-up values, like 40p + 20p + 12.5p + 12.5p = 85p for a letter.

[UKCC]

I too like @drspa44 have been using 1st class stamps plus definitive value stamps to make up the postage for sending 2nd class large letter and 2nd class small parcels (2 x 1st, 1 x 2nd + 14p) Ive even used NVI E stamps which were for sending letters up to 20g to Europe and worth £2.50 as make up values and the items got there without issue.
I started using stamps for postage around 4 years ago and send around 2500 items a year. So thats equates to approximately 10000 items ive sent so far using this method, and never had a single recipient report a surcharge in all that time.
So I really don't think its Royal Mail policy to only accept 1st class stamps on 1st class mail, unless ive been extremely lucky with the last 10000 items ive sent in not a single one getting flagged up by RM revenue protection.

As of the 7th Oct i do plan on just putting a single 1st class on my 2nd large letter <100g mail and will see whether any surcharges come about from it. but from the the last 4 years of sending i dont see it being an issue.

[carley106]

I am in this boat. Have been making up a 2nd Class LL with 1 1st Class Stamp plus the 20P.

So with the 1st Class Stamp going up to £1.65 and the 2nd LL being £1.55. I took a few of my Ebay LL to the Post Office today with just 1 1st Class stamp. The Post lady was like "oh this is a tricky one". So I put another 1st Class on just to save any hassle with today's despatch. Last thing I need is surcharges to customers. I think I am going to post a few to myself over the week and to a friend and see what happens.

Any one else's experience would be great to know. I shall come back to the board and let people know.

I had written 2nd Class LL on the envelopes but now they have two on, so £3.30 is now on those LL.

[LoopyB]

I've recently sent a large letter 2nd class using a first class normal stamp, with no problems. I wrote 2nd Class clearly on it. Hope that helps.
I've always underststamps to he a form of currency.