Royal Mail

You've got just days left to stock up on stamps before prices rise by up to 21% on Monday 7 April. If you buy some now, you'll still be able to use them after prices go up.

You've got just days left to stock up on standard first-class stamps before prices rise by an inflation-busting 22% from Monday 7 October. If you buy some now, you'll still be able to use them after prices go up.

Royal Mail has introduced a 'fake stamp scanner' that enables you to check whether a stamp is legitimate or not. It will also continue to waive its £5 penalty fee charged to anyone who receives a letter with a fake stamp on it for the time being.

Royal Mail is temporarily waiving its £5 penalty fee for anyone who receives a letter with a fake stamp on it while it takes fresh action against counterfeits. It's also developing a new tool that will help people to check whether a stamp they've bought is legitimate before using it. Here's what you need to know. 

You've got less than a week left to stock up on Royal Mail postage stamps before prices rise by up to 13% on Tuesday 2 April. Below we explain the key changes and how to beat the hikes.

You've got just days left to stock up on first-class stamps before prices rise by 14%. From Monday 2 October, the cost of a first-class stamp will be hiked to £1.25 (up 15p from £1.10) – but if you buy stamps at their current price this week, you'll still be able to use them after the price goes up.

Today (31 July) is the last day you can use any non-barcoded everyday stamps – those with the Queen's profile on – before they become worthless. Alternatively, you can swap them for barcoded versions for free through the Royal Mail scheme.

Standard stamp prices are to rise by up to 16%, Royal Mail has confirmed. From Monday 3 April, the cost of first-class stamps will be hiked to £1.10 (up 15p from 95p), while second-class stamps will increase to 75p (up 7p from 68p).

You will still be able to use non-barcoded 'everyday stamps' after 31 January for another six months, MoneySavingExpert.com can confirm. The deadline to use these stamps is 31 July. This is despite a series of misleading adverts from Royal Mail saying otherwise.