You may remember in the past year Royal Mail increased the price of first-class stamps TWICE! The cost of a first class stamp for standard letters went up by 14% in October 2023 (from £1.10 to £1.25) and then rose by a further 8% in April 2024 (to the current £1.35).
Well, from today Monday 7th October 2024, it’s gone up a by a further 22% to an eye watering £1.65 !! Thats a 50% increase in one year. Second class stamps remain at 85p.
Royal Mail blames the latest hikes on increasing cost pressures and its requirement under the ‘universal service obligation’ to deliver letters to all UK addresses six days a week. It adds that the number of addresses it delivers to rose by four million between 2004/05 and 2023/24.
The cost of many of Royal Mail’s ‘Signed For’, ‘Special Delivery Guaranteed’ and ‘Tracked’ services will also increase from Monday 7 October, as will the cost of sending parcels by first and second class.
Wow! That equates to around US$2.03!
We are NOT HAPPY at $.73 (around £0.58) for a first class letter or oversized postcard here in USA with some activist calling for privatisation to reduce costs.
Standard postcard is US$0.56.
There are certainly differences. We do not have letterboxes in our doors with walking
“Posties”. We have mailboxes at bottom of driveway or communal boxes at apartments as seen on many movies. Our “posies” drive (right hand drive postie trucks).
HOWEVER, a 50% increase in such a short period seems outrageous.
It seems to me that every SMP and MP need to be called upon to investigate the potential “fat” at the PO. Something “seems” to be wrong somewhere.
On the other hand, do they really care about you or their well paid positions? We have that HUGE problem in USA! I call it “corruption”….and we talk about other countries!
Please send your Christmas cards to us by E MAIL!
We will know your great intentions!