Martin Lewis has urged viewers to stock up before they’re hit by the eighth rise since 2020
Martin Lewis has advised his viewers to bulk buy a common household item before another price hike on April 7. The personal finance guru pointed out that stamp prices are set to rise again – marking the eighth increase since 2020.
Earlier this week, the Martin Lewis Money Show Live account flagged up the impending increase. During the show, one viewer disclosed they’d saved thousands of pounds.
Martin Lewis stated: “Stamps. Prices are rising up to 6 per cent. 10p on a first class letter sized stamp. You can stomp down on this – all you have to do is go buy your stamps now as long as it says first or second on them they are valid in perpetuity. You may as well buy them when they’re cheaper.
“You’re going to be sending Christmas cards this Christmas – buy your stamps now .” One viewer, James, shared: “Following Martin’s comments on stamps going up, we bought £10,000 worth of first-class stamps for our business in 2022. We have used 80% of them and only have 1,900 left. However, their value now is still over £5,300 – with all the price rises – our most profitable investment in the last four years. Many thanks.”
Martin continued: “Yes i’ve been saying this a long time – I say this every time the prices go up.” Royal Mail will hike the price of 1st class stamps to £1.80 and 2nd class stamps to 91p, from April 6. The cost of a 1st class stamp in 2020 was 76p. From April 7th 2026, consumers will have to pay £1.80 (up 10p), which represents a 137% rise compared to six years ago. Since 2020, the cost of a 1st class stamp has jumped eight times, Citizens Advice has said.
The cost of many of Royal Mail’s ‘Signed For’, ‘Special Delivery Guaranteed’ and ‘Tracked’ services will also rise from Tuesday 7 April, as will the cost of posting parcels by first and second class. See a full list of prices.
Mr Lewis previously advised people should purchase stamps now to stockpile them before the hike, as they will remain valid to use. He said: “For years, every time stamps go up in price I’ve suggested people stock up and bulk-buy in advance, as provided the stamp doesn’t have a price on it and instead just says the postage class, it’s still valid after the rise.
“This has been an effective strategy, as a first-class letter stamp is now £1.70, soon climbing to £1.80 – in 2012 it was just 60p. So you may as well stock up now if you’re going to need stamps.”
The last time Royal Mail achieved an annual delivery target was in the financial year 2019-2020. Royal Mail was recently branded by MPs as “lying” about its performance and “pretending” not to prioritise parcels over letters. This comes amidst worries that Royal Mail is failing to meet Ofcom’s delivery timeliness targets, potentially resulting in millions of letters being delayed.
Labour MP Dave Robertson expressed that his constituents are “sick of being lied to by Royal Mail”. The Lichfield MP stated: “I met Royal Mail just before Christmas to complain about the complete absence of a postal service that we have in Lichfield. We were probably the worst area in the country at that point.
“I was told when I had that meeting that all of the first-class mail went out that week. That is a lie, it is an absolute lie, because my constituents told me. Royal Mail clearly don’t have a grip on this – they are either not monitoring their performance or they are concealing their performance.”
Anne Pardoe, Head of Policy at Citizens Advice, said: “The price of 1st and 2nd class stamps can’t be treated as a dial that is turned up without a clear justification for consumers, forcing people to dig deeper into their pockets for a failing service.
“More than half a decade has passed since the company met its delivery targets and people still face a gamble, with many uncertain if their important documents or letters like medical appointments will arrive on time.
“Things only risk getting worse when cuts to delivery days and reduced performance targets come into full effect. Against this backdrop, Ofcom simply cannot wave through these increases any longer. Higher prices must come with higher standards – increases should be tied to Royal Mail’s performance on the doorstep.”
Richard Travers, managing director of letters at Royal Mail said: “We always consider price changes very carefully, balancing affordability with the rising cost of delivering mail. On average, UK adults now spend just £6.50 each year on stamps and there are 70% fewer letters sent than 20 years ago. In the meantime, the number of addresses we deliver to has increased by four million to 32 million addresses across the UK.”