There has been a big change in postage stamps in the UK which means that the old non-barcoded stamps which have been issued prior to 2022 are no longer going to be valid after 31st January 2023. For those people who have stamps around the house after this date that do not have the bar codes on, you may be wondering ‘what can I do with my old stamps?’

Even though you can no longer use them for posting items (and if you do use them your item will be classed as not having sufficient postage), don’t worry, you can still effectively get your money’s worth for them by swapping them out.

Royal Mail have introduced a swapping out system, whereby you can swap your old non barcoded stamps for new ones that are valid. All you need to do is to complete a form and send in the old stamps. Unfortunately you can’t just exchange them at the post office, you do need to send them away.

The stamps that you can exchange are the ones with the late Queen’s head on and they can be of a fixed amount or they may say 1st or 2nd class on them. In either case they will be replaced with the equivalent bar-coded stamp/s.

You do not need to swap out picture stamps – Christmas stamps and other commemorative stamps (this is a bit of a u-turn by the Royal Mail so you may have read previously that these need to be exchanged as well). Picture stamps will remain valid indefinitely.

At the moment the option to swap out stamps will remain open – there has been no end date set at present – so if you find any old stamps in draws and purses then you can still swap them out after 2023.

You can get a copy of the swap out form here. You can also find out more information about swapping out your stamps here.