stamp prices

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mercalia
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stamp prices

Post by mercalia »

so they have gone up again

seems like -

"If the price of a first-class stamp had risen in line with inflation since 1989, it would now cost 41p
If the price of a second-class stamp had risen in line with inflation since 1989, it would now cost 31p."

but they are now 67p and 58p so much for privatisation ?


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43540974
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Mick F
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Re: stamp prices

Post by Mick F »

We have a nephew and family living in Orkney.
It's a bargain for 60odd pence to send a letter from Cornwall to Orkney ..................... but an email is free.
Mick F. Cornwall
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Paulatic
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Re: stamp prices

Post by Paulatic »

Look at it this way.
If you buy stamps which purely say 1st or 2nd, rather than a value, they have been an above inflation investment.
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Mick F
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Re: stamp prices

Post by Mick F »

A friend of ours is a serial investor.
Some years ago, before a big price-hike of 1st class stamps, he bought £500 of them.

I doubt I've spent £500 in stamps in my whole life, and I'm unlikely to do in the future.
Mick F. Cornwall
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fausto copy
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Re: stamp prices

Post by fausto copy »

Mrs. Copy posted a letter this morning with the last of her Christmas themed stamps.
It makes a change seeing Christmas stuff at Easter, rather than Easter Eggs in the supermarkets at Christmas. :lol:
Stevek76
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Re: stamp prices

Post by Stevek76 »

mercalia wrote:but they are now 67p and 58p so much for privatisation ?


Doubt that will have made much difference really.

Above increase inflation would seem inevitable given steadily fewer letters have been posted since the mid noughties, something that seems unsurprising with the widespread adoption of far easier ways to communicate. It's basic economies of scale.

And more recently there are above average inflation increases in fuel etc.
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Mick F
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Re: stamp prices

Post by Mick F »

We're using that word again ............ inflation.

There's a few definitions of it, but what they all do is look at a "shopping basket" and fuel and bills etc. They don't ever specify a specific group of products/services or for how long they've looked at them.
Bread for instance, or shoes, bicycles, butter, or indeed postage stamps.

All they do is compare them to an index over a short period. Never decades, and never as compared to average weekly wages.

How much did a penny black cost in today's money compared to the average weekly wage back then?
I don't know, but I'm willing to bet it wasn't cheap.

Many luxury items we buy now are dirt cheap.
Mick F. Cornwall
Flinders
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Re: stamp prices

Post by Flinders »

Some inflation indicators don't include housing costs, which for a lot of people in the UK are now 30-40% of their income, up from far less a few decades ago. That's what's really stiffing young people.

If you go back a long way, then structural changes in the economy make a nonsense of it- cost of servants, anyone? The middle class used to have them. Now only the very very rich can afford them.
I wanted to make a comparison from the 1800s in a book I was writing. In the end, I used a comparison between the cost at the time of the object in question compared to an agricultural labourer's wages at the same time. That showed that at the time the object was worth an enormous amount, far more than it would be now compared to the minimum wage.
Flinders
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Re: stamp prices

Post by Flinders »

Mick F wrote:We're using that word again ............ inflation.

There's a few definitions of it, but what they all do is look at a "shopping basket" and fuel and bills etc. They don't ever specify a specific group of products/services or for how long they've looked at them.
Bread for instance, or shoes, bicycles, butter, or indeed postage stamps.

All they do is compare them to an index over a short period. Never decades, and never as compared to average weekly wages.

How much did a penny black cost in today's money compared to the average weekly wage back then?
I don't know, but I'm willing to bet it wasn't cheap.

Many luxury items we buy now are dirt cheap.

IIRC, when the first universal postage service came in, it was actually far cheaper than the previous costs of sending letters. Previous to that, letters were either franked, or paid for by the recipient, and were very expensive.
PDQ Mobile
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Re: stamp prices

Post by PDQ Mobile »

An under 20 gram card or letter to Europe now costs about £1:17p.

Given that I can fly out to many destinations with a good sized, unweighed rucksac as hand baggage, for between £15 and £20 quid, I have wondered a few times about starting a small sideline business!!
Stevek76
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Re: stamp prices

Post by Stevek76 »

Mick F wrote:There's a few definitions of it, but what they all do is look at a "shopping basket" and fuel and bills etc. They don't ever specify a specific group of products/services or for how long they've looked at them.
Bread for instance, or shoes, bicycles, butter, or indeed postage stamps.


Well they do actually, just no one bothers to read the published methodology because it's rather lengthy and dry. And as and when items are changed in the 'basket' they do a fair bit to normalise the prices so the index does actually track across decades.
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