Part 1: Interpretation

1.1 In this Agreement, unless the context requires otherwise:

Agreement means these Terms and Conditions for the Royal Mail Shop;

Business Product means a Product advertised for sale in a part of the Royal Mail Shop other than Stamps & Collecting;

Individual Product means a Product advertised for sale in the Stamps & Collecting part of the Royal Mail Shop;

Product means a good or service advertised for sale in the Royal Mail Shop; and

Us means Royal Mail Group Ltd, a company incorporated in England and Wales (number 4138203) with its registered address at 100 Victoria Embankment, London, EC4Y 0HQ, and we and our have corresponding meanings.

1.2 In this Agreement, unless the context requires otherwise:

(a) the singular includes the plural and vice versa;
(b) references to clauses and Parts are to clauses and Parts of this Agreement; and
(c) all times are in British Standard Time and references to working days are to working days in the UK (Monday to Friday excluding UK statutory holidays).

1.3 Parts 1 and 3 apply to all orders and Products. Part 2 only applies to the Products specified in Part 2 and orders for them. If there is any inconsistency between Parts 2 and 3, Part 2 is to prevail.

1.4 Part 4 sets out the terms and conditions for some of our current promotions

Part 2: Specific terms and conditions for:

Magazine Subscriptions

2.1 The first issue of your magazine subscription will be despatched within one month of us receiving and accepting your order where the subscription is for a weekly magazine, and within two months where the subscription is for a monthly or less frequent magazine.

2.2 If you wish to cancel your magazine subscription you must contact the publisher of the magazine directly. All other complaints or questions you have about your magazine subscription must also be directed to the publisher. Contact details for the publisher will be provided in your confirmation of order.

Products Delivered Electronically

2.3 We will email a Product to you on the same day if we receive and accept your order before 6 p.m. on a working day. Otherwise we will email the Product to you on the next working day.

2.4 We and/or our licensors own all intellectual property rights in all Products. All rights are reserved. You must not copy a Product or supply it to a third party without our permission.

2.5 You are responsible for ensuring you have the necessary hardware and software to allow you to open, operate and interpret a Product, and we are not obliged to provide you with any assistance to do so. You are also responsible for ensuring that the email address to which a Product is sent is valid, active and accessible by you. We are not responsible for any failure or delay in delivering a Product, or any damage to a Product, caused in transmission or by your hardware or software.

2.6 To the fullest extent permitted by law, we exclude all liability to you for any adverse effect a Product may have on your hardware or software, whether as a result of a virus or otherwise. The types of liability excluded include all of those listed in clause 3.4. To the extent this exclusion is ineffective or invalid, our liability to you is limited to the price you paid for the relevant Product.

Smilers® (Personalised Stamps)

2.7 You must ensure that (and represent to Royal Mail that you have the right to copy the image contained in the material you submit; and you have obtained the permission of any person (or their parent or legal guardian) who appears in the material, for their image to be reproduced.

Royal Mail may require you to provide satisfactory evidence of you having the necessary rights and/or permissions referred to in paragraph 1.

2.8 Royal Mail may refuse to reproduce submitted material if (or if Royal Mail believes that):

  • you do not or may not have the rights and/ or permissions referred to in paragraph 2.7;
  • it is or may be defamatory;
  • it depicts partial or full nudity;
  • it is offensive, obscene or indecent;
  • it promotes any particular religious beliefs or may offend against any person’s religious beliefs;
  • it may be offensive to any social, ethnic or other group;
  • it is political in nature or may be identified with a political cause or campaign;
  • it is intended for use in a commercial or business context;
  • it is not in keeping with Royal Mail’s brand integrity and/or may otherwise bring Royal Mail into disrepute;
  • it consists of or includes stamp imagery; or
  • it is in any other way inappropriate to appear on a Smilers® stamp.
  • Rejected orders will be refunded and the submitted material returned to you (except for defamatory, offensive, obscene or indecent materials which may be destroyed or forwarded to the Police).

You will pay Royal Mail for any costs or damages which Royal Mail incurs as a result of the reproduction of any material submitted by you which is defamatory or which breaches any other person’s copyright, privacy or other rights in any way.

Copyright in the Smilers® stamp will belong to Royal Mail and you will not have the right to reproduce it.

Royal Mail will try to return submitted material to you in good condition, however the handling and copying process may result in damage to submitted material and Royal Mail does not accept liability for such damage.

If you have agreed that Royal Mail may keep digital copies of submitted material, copies will generally be kept for six months from the order (or re-order) date but may be destroyed at any time.

Reproduction is limited by the quality of the submitted material and the printing process so may not be exact or flawless.

2.9 Smilers® stamps used for postage may be obscured by a post mark.

2.10 Personalised Smilers® 1st class and 2nd class stamps are not suitable for large letter mail.

Stamp designs are subject to change.

2.11 Royal Mail will try to dispatch orders within 5 working days of receipt, however, you should allow plenty of time when ordering Smilers® stamps.

Royal Mail may withdraw Smilers® stamps at any time and will refund payments made for unprocessed orders.

All Other Products

2.12 Subject to volume and availability:

(a) we will despatch Business Products by Special Delivery for expected next day delivery in the UK by 1 p.m. the next working day if we receive and accept your order during working hours (8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday). Remote parts of Scotland, some offshore islands and destinations outside the UK have longer expected delivery times. Some Royal Mail pre-paid stationery Products may take up to five working days to deliver; and
(b) we will dispatch Individual Products within ten working days after receipt and acceptance of your order, or, where products have a first day of issue date and you have placed an order in advance which we have accepted, on the day of issue, whichever is later.

2.13 Subject to clauses 2.14 and 2.15, you may cancel your purchase or have the Products exchanged by notifying us in writing:

(a) for Business Products, within 14 days of their delivery to you (in the case of goods) or our acceptance of your order (in the case of services); and
(b) for Individual Products, within 30 days of their delivery to you (in the case of goods) or our acceptance of your order (in the case of services).
You may also cancel your purchase by notifying us in writing if you have not received the Products you ordered within 30 days of us accepting your order.

2.14 You cannot cancel a purchase of services or have them exchanged if we have already started providing the services to you.

2.15 If you cancel your purchase you will receive a full refund of the purchase price. If you cancel a purchase of goods or ask to have them exchanged and you have already received the goods, you must return them to us at your own risk and expense, intact and in good condition. The addresses for returns are:

(a) for Business Products, Returns Stock Manager, Royal Mail, Freepost SC05731, 21 South Gyle Crescent, Edinburgh EH12 9PG; and
(b) for Individual Products, Returns Stock Manager, Royal Mail, Freepost SC06210, 21 South Gyle Crescent, Edinburgh EH12 9PJ.

If you are cancelling a purchase of Business Products we must receive them back, or be shown proof of posting, before we will give you a refund. If you are exchanging Products we must receive them back, or be shown proof of posting, before we will send you replacements.

2.16 Clauses 2.13, 2.14 and 2.15 apply to all replacement Products as if they were the Products originally purchased.

Part 3: General terms and conditions

3.1 You must be 18 years or over to order and purchase Products. The contract between you as purchaser of a Product and Royal Mail as seller will not be formed until such time as Royal Mail confirms by email that your order has been accepted. Royal Mail reserves the right to refuse orders.

3.2 All Products must be paid for in advance at the prices quoted on this website at the time of order. We will tell you at the time of order if there is a delivery charge, which must also be paid in advance. The prices and delivery charges quoted include applicable VAT and other taxes in the country you are ordering from.

3.3 If you order more than one Product we may despatch your Products in separate consignments.

3.4 All stamps except Smilers™ are sold at face value. All stamps are produced principally for postal purposes. We do not promise to provide stamps to any specific standard or from any specific cylinder printings or position. Orders for first day covers will not be accepted unless they are received on or before the relevant issue date. All intellectual property rights in stamps (including the postally valid part of Smilers™ but excluding the personalised labels) belong to us. You must not reproduce any of our stamp imagery without our prior written consent.

3.5 Property in Products (excluding intellectual property rights) will pass to you when they have been delivered to you. After delivery the Products will be at your own risk and we will not be liable for their loss or destruction.

3.6 Part 2 contains your exclusive remedies if there is a problem fulfilling your order or you are dissatisfied with a Product. To the fullest extent permitted by law, and except as expressly set out in this Agreement, we:

(a) exclude all representations and warranties relating to Products and their delivery; and
(b) exclude all liability to you arising out of or in connection with the delivery of, and your use or purchase of, Products. This includes, without limitation, liability for any loss of business, goodwill, data, opportunity or profits (whether or not the loss of such profits was foreseeable, arose in the normal course of things or we were advised of the possibility of such loss) and any consequential, indirect or incidental damages.

To the extent the exclusion in clause 3.6(b) is ineffective or invalid, our liability to you is limited to the price you paid for the relevant Product.

3.7 We have no liability to you for any failure or delay in complying with any of our obligations under this Agreement that is caused by any industrial action or event or circumstance outside our reasonable control.

3.8 Nothing in this Agreement excludes or limits our liability to you for any death or personal injury resulting from our negligence, or otherwise affects any of your statutory rights that cannot be excluded or limited.

3.9 Any variation to this Agreement will be ineffective unless it is in writing and signed by you and us.

3.10 This Agreement is governed by, and will be construed in accordance with, English law. You and we submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts for all disputes arising out of the order, sale or purchase of Products. If any provision of this Agreement is deemed invalid or unenforceable for any reason, that provision will be severed from this Agreement and the remaining provisions will continue to apply.

3.11 This Agreement is the entire agreement between you and us for the order, sale and purchase of Products.

Notices and complaints in writing can be addressed to Royal Mail, Tallents House, 21 South Gyle Crescent, Edinburgh EH12 9PB.

Royal Mail Group VAT registration number: GB243170002