Stamps rationed as sales soar ahead of price rises

by Simon Ward on 13 April 2012  |  8 comments
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People have been buying postage stamps in bulk, leading to rationing and shortages, ahead of big price rises at the end of April.

There have been reports of postage stamp rationing and shortages at some post offices and shops as people stock up ahead of big price rises at the end of April.

Superdrug, which had been selling first class stamps with a 5% discount (as we have highlighted in our Frugal Friday and Midweek Moneysavers articles), had limited the number that can be purchased to 72 per customer. It’s been reported that one person tried to buy 5,000 stamps from a Superdrug shop in Camden, London.

Both generic first- and second-class stamps can be used in perpetuity as they don’t have a price on them.

The price of a first-class stamp is to rise from 46p to 60p from 30th April, while a second-class stamp will go up by 14p from 36p to 50p.

However, Royal Mail has admitted that it is limiting retailers’ supplies as it attempts to “protect Royal Mail’s revenues”. A spokesperson said: “Our priority is to ensure that the proceeds from this much needed price rise go to sustain the six-day-a-week service which has been loss making for some time.”

But the company said that there is “more than adequate stock in place to meet customer demand”.

If you’re a member of wholesaler Costco, you can currently get 6.9% off first-class and 2.9% off second-class stamps, according to a post on deals site HotUKDeals.

Stamps are sold from around 45,000 outlets across the UK.

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