The cost of a basic 2nd class stamp increases to 61p and a basic 1st class stamp increases to 70p, with matching rises for large letters and items over 100 grams. The rise in the second class stamp price is in breach of Ofcom’s guidelines this side of April 1st, which only allows 60p, so the Post Office will give its expected superprofits to charity. The average rise is by 4.8% measured over one 2nd and one 1st class stamp taken together.

We keep about six months’ supply of basic NVI stamps plus a few stamps in the range between 1p and 20p, so we are a little inflation-proofed until September at least. Higher value stampings are made up of a mixture of lower values. NVI means “non value indicator” and NVI stamps are worth their current price when used in combinations, so their apparent value rises automatically today. As an example, the new cost of a large second class letter weighing 200 grams has risen from 1.26 to 1.32, for which we use exactly the same combination of stamps, namely one 1p stamp, one 2nd class and one 1st class.