Eye-watering cost of stamps is relegating Christmas cards to a thing of the past

They’re arsenic overmuch a portion of the festive play arsenic fairy lights, roast turkey and crackers. But determination are fears the eye-watering outgo of postage spells doom for the accepted Christmas paper aft 180 years. Above-inflation increases successful the terms of stamps implicit the past fewer years saw the terms of first-class postage soar from £1.35 to a frankly staggering £1.65 successful October, making them a luxury point for many.

Commercially-produced cards archetypal appeared backmost successful 1843 and sending them to friends and household successful precocious November and aboriginal December has been astir compulsory for generations. But it’s improbable to past fixed that stamps person gone from eminently affordable (first people stamps outgo conscionable 3p successful 1971) to frighteningly costly ones. Frankly, it’s astonishing determination hasn’t been a greater backlash.

For overmuch of the postwar epoch terms rises were manageable for message users. Between 1991 and 2004, the terms of a archetypal people stamp roseate by conscionable 4p, from 24p to 28p and that of a 2nd people 1 by conscionable 3p, from 18p to 21p. In percent terms, that amounted to a 16.67% increase, each precise tenable implicit a 13-year period.

Now see what's happened successful the 13 years since 2011, the twelvemonth selected terms controls were lifted anterior to the privatisation of the Royal Mail. 

In 2011, archetypal people stamps outgo 46p and 2nd people stamps 36p. Today, they outgo £1.65 and 85p respectively. This amounts to an unthinkable 259% terms summation for archetypal people and a 136% summation for 2nd class. The terms increases person been peculiarly steep implicit the past 3 years with the outgo of a archetypal people stamp astir doubling since 2021. At this rate, we'll beryllium looking astatine these stamps costing much than £3 by 2027.

Indeed, investigation this week suggested it would beryllium cheaper to fly to immoderate European countries and station your cards determination than bargain 100 archetypal people stamps.

When it announced the latest terms increases, the Royal Mail blamed declining missive volumes and rising concern costs. But arsenic anyone sensible tin see, immense terms hikes arsenic a effect to losses volition lone deter much radical from utilizing the post.

The postal work seems to beryllium caught successful a vicious rhythm of decline. Stamp prices are raised importantly supra ostentation to effort and trim losses, but this lone means much losses arsenic little radical usage the post. Unsurprisingly, the fig of letters delivered has fallen from 20 cardinal a twelvemonth successful 2004/5 to conscionable 6.7 cardinal successful 2023/4.

The Royal Mail appears to beryllium prioritising much profitable parcel deliveries but by making the sending of mean letters – and Christmas cards – truthful costly it is doing our nine a disservice. Older people, who trust connected the postal work the most, are peculiarly hard hit. It's the aged who are the slightest apt to person astute phones oregon computers and who already consciousness near down successful the unreserved towards digitalisation. They astir apt person the top affectional attachment to accepted insubstantial cards, too.

Which makes October's hike successful the terms of stamps yet different stroke to Britain's pensioners, coming not agelong after Sir Keir Starmer’s authorities announced the scrapping of the cosmopolitan Winter Fuel Payment. 

A simplification successful the fig of Christmas cards sent would besides beryllium a large stroke for charities, who traditionally marque a tidy sum each twelvemonth from the merchantability of festive cards – an estimated £50million each year. Inevitably, the little cards sent, the little wealth these causes volition receive.

Yet, fixed today's precocious outgo of stamps, who tin blasted radical from cutting backmost connected sending cards (which person besides seen inflation-busting terms rises successful galore cases), oregon not sending them altogether.

My aged parents utilized to person a agelong Christmas paper database which included not lone household and friends but besides radical they met connected assorted holidays going backmost to the 1960s. But implicit the past decade, it was pruned down arsenic stamp prices kept going up. My ain database has been the same, and astir apt yours excessively arsenic the cost-of-living situation and precocious ostentation bites astatine our disposable income.

A canvass past twelvemonth showed that astir a 3rd of america intended to nonstop less cards due to the fact that of the cost. Which is each alternatively bittersweet due to the fact that Christmas without sending and receiving cards wouldn't truly beryllium Christmas, would it?

It's clip much unit – some governmental and nationalist – is brought to carnivore connected the Royal Mail to alteration people and halt these large hikes successful stamp prices. To support the postal work going we request much radical utilizing it, not little but making stamps truthful costly lone does the opposite.