Stamp Prices To Rise By 1P From End Of March

[mikey4444]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-35612268

Not as bad as I first thought after all.

[magicmick]

Not sure if this question has been on AB before, what is the difference between our stamps and any other stamps in the world?

[Mamyalynne]

I don't complain as I think it's a good service, keep saying I should curb my hobby as it is costing more and more but I don't.


Am a Postie's daughter too - keep the faith ;-)

[Mamyalynne]

Ours do not show the country of origin.

[magicmick]

Well done Mamyalynne I thought you would get it, when I started at Deansgate in 1964 1st class was 3d, how times change.

[Mamyalynne]

Oh they have Mick, last time I went into Deansgate PO I was lost.

[Buenchico]

For MagicMick:
There are different ways of comparing postal rates. Obviously one could choose to simply use the current exchange rates but some might suggest that it would be better to look at the price of a stamp as a percentage of the daily average wage in a particular country.

This US source use the simple exchange rate system:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304432704577348081675144936
(Click the right-hand column header to rank prices in ascending order).

This 2012 BBC article uses 'relative purchasing power', pointing out that to post a letter within in Peru costs over half a day's pay for one-third of the population:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17614367

[Jackdaw33]

There was no such thing as first class in 1964. Sealed and unsealed.

[Buenchico]

^^^ Strictly speaking, JD33, the lower postal rates only applied to greetings cards with no more than five (or was it six or seven?) words of greeting.

You had to send birthday cards (etc) unsealed, so that Royal Mail could (theoretically) check that you'd only written (say) "Happy Birthday, David, from Grannie", rather than enclosing a full letter.

Similarly, postcards were only meant to be charged at the lower rate when one wrote "Wish you were here", rather than details of how the holiday was going.

In practice though, the rule was universally interpreted as 'postcards and unsealed letters get the lower rate, whereas sealed letters pay the higher rate'.

[Jackdaw33]

...and the difference was a whopping ½d!

[Buenchico]

Er, are we giving our ages away here, do you think?

;-)

[Jackdaw33]

Never understood the 5 word limit. I thought that birthday cards were unsealed so that the postie could help himself to any money enclosed.