ON Monday, October 7, Royal Mail is increasing the price of standard first class stamps from £1.35 to £1.65 and the advice is to stock up now if you want to beat the price rise.

The 22 per cent rise applies to first class only, second class is not increasing.

However, the cost of many of Royal Mail's “Signed For”, “Special Delivery Guaranteed” and “Tracked” services will also increase from Monday, October 7.

The cost of sending parcels by first and second class post will also rise. See afull list of prices(link downloads a PDF).

The advice is to be careful to avoid fakes, buy from reputable outlets and, where possible, keep your receipt.

The price of first class stamps for standard letters went up by 14 per cent in October 2023 (from £1.10 to £1.25) and then rose by a further eight per cent in April 2024 to the current £1.35.

Royal Mail says the latest hikes are due to 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.

Royal Mail adds that it considers price increases very carefully.

For those who still have non-barcoded stamps, these can still be exchanged using Royal Mail’s “Swap Out” scheme.

Forms can be obtained from a local Post Office or online.

For further details visit: https://www.royalmail.com/sending/barcoded-stamps .

Remember that the Post Office is a different organisation from Royal Mail.