Pictorial Faststamps: Sheep – 24 February 2012

We all know that the next set of Post and Go Pictorial Stamps will be “British Farm Animals” featuring sheep from around the UK  and will be the first in a series of three issues that will explore some of the many traditional breeds of sheep, cattle and pigs to be found on farms in the UK.

But, as a dramatic departure from the previous ‘Birds’ sets , where these items sold directly from Talents House would have been press-printed in Gravure (and a have very distinct print appearance) Royal Mail have confirmed that, for this issue at least, the ‘set’ stamps and those used on Royal Mail produced FDCs will be printed by Hytech.

The ‘set’ pack containing six 1st class stamps has been redesigned (rotated through 90 degrees) to take the new, but now familiar Hytech  ‘strip of six’ as seen at the last two Stampex shows.

And the good news is that there is no premium for this pack and so it can be pre-ordered at the face value of £2.76 (6 x 1st Class) – a sure sell-out item?

As the Post and Go V2 upgrade is now almost complete, those very few branches that still were using Birds 3 reels have produced a six completely new stamps- previously unissued Worldwide 40g versions of Birds 3.

Branches that have been confirmed as producing this value from last Friday are Grimsby, Dartford, Hyde and Ludgate Circus.

This value is likely to be the RAREST of all Post and Go stamps and the KEY value of this set.

Available on Ebay here:- http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170744034218

Ive seen the future and the future is self service   – Wincor-Nixdorf style times ten!

A new style ‘futuristic’ Post Office branch, which has been recently refitted with ten Wincor-Nixdorf Post and Go machines has opened for business in Birmingham town centre.

The Pinfold Street, Birmingham Post Office Branch is the first of a brand new type of Branch (Known as a ‘Premier’) which promotes a whole new concept of self-service to customers.

Photo Gordon Griffiths

The ten Post & Go machines are spead around the brnach in clusters of 2 or 3 – and the branch staff mingle with the customers to assist customers with posting items and any other transactions.

The ten post and go machines have all been upgraded to V2 and offer Special Delivery , Recorded Delivery and International services- except one (Kiosk No. 10) which minus the postal weigh scales is reserved for the sale of stamps and payment for retail items.

No.10 Kiosk results in a Kiosk ID of Zero on the stamps and labels.

As well as being the first Premier Branch, The first branch to have ten post and go machines it is also the first branch to use a new, foldable, ‘mini’ date stamp, currently reserved for ‘customer side’ use on Post and Go receipts.

The latest update to the Wincor Post & Go software has been activated at a single branch (Broadway, London SW1) on Thursday 13th October 2011.

This upgrade allows customers to post Recorded Signed For, Special Delivery, Airsure and International Signed For  Royal Mail products as well as Parcelforce Express items within the UK and to the EU.

For Post & Go stamp collectors a new value of 40g Worldwide becomes available from the ‘Buy Stamps’ menu as well as a facility to purchase the whole six values, dispensed in two strips of three.

Available to buy here :- http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170712531665

On Monday 29th September 2011,  two new ‘accounting codes’ were added to the existing printed overprint applied at the time of posting to the Horizon label.

There are 33 different “Royal Mail” codes and 4 different ‘Parcelforce’ codes- the table below shows the different codes that apply to each Label Identifier.

The ‘RM/PF ‘ Code maps to the Indicia- The ‘PPUK ‘Code maps to the VAT Rate.

How do I work out what VAT is applicable to my item?

The applicable VAT rate for a particular postal item is determined by its destination.

For items being sent inland or within the EU then most items are ‘Exempt’ –

However, some Premium services are Standard Rate -e.g.-Special Delivery Next Day where

any ‘Add-ons’ are applied (Such as Saturday Guarantee) plus Airsure and Parcelforce “Express” services.

Outside of the EU then items are ‘Zero’ rated (including the Channel Islands).

Example codes:-

Special Delivery’ – Next Day would be ‘y4’,

Next Day with Sat G’tee is ‘y6’ and

SD to Channel Islands is ‘y5’

Please do not copy this information without attributing the source – Copyright Postagelabelsuk.com 2011

A change to the Horizon postage labels has taken place today, which has resulted in some additional codes being added to the overprint, to be used for Post Office internal accounting purposes for example it will be possible to identify which product a ‘SD’ label refers to – SD by 9, SD next day, SD to Channels Islands etc, as each different type will have a specific code added.

The two additional characters have been added at the end of the ‘Postage PaidUK’ and ‘Royal Mail’ or ‘Parcelforce’ lines.  An image will added as soon as possible.

For three days only we have the Hytech Stampex-Only Machin Overprints available in our ebay shop on a ‘Buy it now’ basis:-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170696884525

[singlepic id=212 w=640 h=480 mode=watermark float=left]   Royal Mail have today indicated that following on from their trials of Hytech Postalvision equipment at Spring Stampex 2011, they will issue a tribute to ‘Arnold Machin’ in the form of an overprinted  set of  Post & Go stamps at next weeks Autumn Stampex.

This overprint will be only available at Stampex, and will be applied on the existing ‘Machin’ Post & Go stock on one of two new Hytech Self-service Stamp Machines.

These new self-service machines will be situated on Royal Mails stand and will exclusively  vend the new stamps, either singly or  in the now familiar ‘strip of six’ format. Payment will only be possible via Credit or Debit card -the machines will not accept cash.

The machine numbers will be 91 and 92 (The ‘9’ indicating September- self service  machines No.1 and 2).

Further details and further information will appear here as soon as known.

For three days only we have the Hytech Stampex-Only Machin Overprints available in our ebay shop on a ‘Buy it now’ basis:-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170696884525

.

Once ‘V2’ has been activated then the Post and Go machines will offer new products and services, including the facility to process Special Delivery, Recorded Signed For and Parcelforce Worldwide products both inland and overseas. They will also offer a ‘Retail Checkout’ function allowing for  the payment of packaging items such as Jiffy bags and packaging Tape etc via the Post & Go machine.

The new functionality will provide collectors with opportunities to add to their collections in the form of a new stamp , new labels and associated  receipts.

The only visible sign of this upgrade currently is the presence of a newly- fitted barcode scanner just above the Pin Pad in all machines in the network, (except those at Tudor Street as, being sited in an unmanned environment, they will not be offering a ‘Retail checkout’  facility).

Post and Go V2 is due to commence roll-out at the beginning of September to reach at least the ‘Birds’ network by the First Day of Issue of Birds 4 on 16th September.

Full information on the upgrades the  new labels and stamps will appear here as soon as known.

On the Post Office stand the various exhibits, including Identity and Information equipment were  pride of place, including a Post and Go machine with a previously unseen office code of ‘699010’, believed to be that of an internal ‘test’ machine. There were various teething problems with the kiosk on the first day (May 11th) and it was late on on the 2nd day (May 12th) before some stamps were forthcoming. A very limited number of covers dated 12th May 2011 (London EC3 Postmark) were serviced as shown.