As many people know, currently, the price of a 2^nd class stamp is 58p and the price of a 1^st class stamp is 67p.

Except, this is only the price if you buy stamps from the Post Office. If you buy stamps from other shops, they can charge whatever they like – provided that they bought them from another shop and not directly from the Post Office themselves.

Over the Christmas period, many people were caught out by this, including one of my constituents.

In my constituents’ case, the shop was charging 1p extra per stamp, but in other cases, shops have been found to be selling 2^nd class stamps at 75p each and 1^st class stamps at 90p each. This is a sizeable mark-up, especially if you are buying a book or two of stamps.

Therefore, when you are next looking to buy stamps, check the price with the shop before you part with your money or just stick to buying them from the Post Office.

The price of stamps will go up from 25 March 2019, to 61p for a second class stamp and 70p for a first class stamp.  You can see full details of postage prices here: https://www.royalmail.com/sites/default/files/royal-mail-our-prices-25-march-2019.pdf