Royal Mail Swap Out Stamps

Posted 4th Oct 2022

As you probably know stamps are changing. From January they will have barcodes. If you have any 'old' stamps you have to either use them before they expire in January or send them back to Royal Mail with a completed Swap Out form to get new stamps in exchange.

I sent £75 worth a month ago and have not received replacements yet. The website says it should take around a week. I sent the stamps in 2 batches so to minimise the risk of them all being lost. I also asked for proof of posting but was told that wasn't possible because the Swap Out address is Freepost. I've tried phoning the helpline but they don't seem able to help and just advised me to wait and see if my replacements turn up.

This service doesn't fill me with confidence. So a few questions..

Has anyone else used this service to swap their stamps and how long did the stamps take to arrive?
Is there anything I can try to get my money back if they don't turn up?
Is there anything else that I should have done (and therefore others can do) to stop their stamps going missing?

Thanks

Ask

New Comment

Groups

Parcel and Delivery Services

Services & Contracts

16 Comments

sorted by

4th Oct
I did the swap out service and had just over £80 worth of stamps
if I remember rightly it took about 3 weeks for me to receive the new barcoded stamps
4th Oct
I swapped about just under £100 in stamps and it took about 2 weeks for the replacements to arrive.
6th Oct
The postcode for the freepost address is EH12 9PB , but whether the PO staff can enter it against a Freepost address on their tills is a mystery to me.
4th Oct
Wish I could swap out my useless postman!
5th Oct
Are you considered useful in your job?
4th Oct
I asked a similar question a while back and I still haven’t got round to filling in the form and posting them out.

The lack of guarantee on their website or mention of compensation also didn’t fill me with confidence and I’ve no idea why they opted to do this via post rather than just being able to hand them in at your local PO and then if need be picking them up at a later date?
5th Oct
Agreed. Due to the postal strikes, they really should be looking to extend the swap out period by 3 - 6 months.
6th Oct
[deleted]
17th Oct
Would RM still "swap out" if you sent £100 worth, say, of stamps via the 'over £200' form and used the recorded delivery option? Or would they fully compensate if you used the 'under £200' form and it got lost in the post? It's very worrying that any number of stamps might go missing (not to mention ironic) en route to the swap out free post address?
4th Oct
Not done it so of no help there but sure helpful folk will answer your questions. I believe that only definitive stamps will be no good and xmas design stamps come January. Any other stamps should be fine with special designs like from presentation packs if I have heard right. I have some star wars 1st class packs so hoping those still valid.
4th Oct
Kicking myself for not doing this earlier in the year as there are now RM strikes between now and the end of the year.

Fortunately, I don't have many that need exchanging.
4th Oct
I've swapped out about three hundred pounds worth using post office provided envelopes. It took a week on each occasion. It's a good idea to take a picture of the whole lot including completed form before posting.
28th Oct
I actually sent mine off around a week ago now, just under £200 worth and I got a COP at my local PO.
3 h, 59 m ago
@Murdock did you get your stamps in the end?
Author
1 h, 13 m ago
Yes I got them but it took way longer than I thought it would. About 6 to 7 weeks in the end. Best of luck.
4 m ago
I have raised a complaint after about 3 weeks of sending some stamps to replace and, magically, two days after the complaint they were delivered to me. Coincidence? I doubt. (edited)