Royal Mail Online Postage
Encyclopedia
Royal Mail Online Postage (OLP), introduced in early 2006 (but not promoted heavily until September 2006) is an online service provided by Royal Mail
in conjunction with Lockheed Martin
, where customers can print out their postage stamp
(known as an "Indicium", or "Indicia" as the plural) online onto a label or envelope without having to buy it in a Post Office
.
If the indicium is over £3.50, the user can pay by credit OR debit card. If the amount is below £3.50 the user cannot pay by debit card. More recently, Royal Mail have introduced an "Online Prepay Account" that can be used to pay for OLP Indicia. The methods of payment for depositing money into the prepay account are as above. Once the user has set up a prepay account, this becomes another payment option when purchasing an OLP indicium.
A name and address must be printed on to the envelope, and these can be imported from other applications in .CSV
format. Addresses can be saved in an online address book.
(though if the user requires a Certificate Of Posting they should post the item via a Post Office
), but this must happen no later than 11:59 PM on the following working day, otherwise the Indicium will expire, though the user can seek a refund for unused indicia online by logging into the Royal Mail
website and following the "My Profile" link followed by "Your Order History" and finally "Your Online Postage Order History". A refund must be requested within 7 working days of the indicium being printed. A refund cannot be requested if the item of mail has already been processed by the mail centre.
Royal Mail
Royal Mail is the government-owned postal service in the United Kingdom. Royal Mail Holdings plc owns Royal Mail Group Limited, which in turn operates the brands Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide...
in conjunction with Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin is an American global aerospace, defense, security, and advanced technology company with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, in the Washington Metropolitan Area....
, where customers can print out their postage stamp
Postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
(known as an "Indicium", or "Indicia" as the plural) online onto a label or envelope without having to buy it in a Post Office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
.
Purchasing
The user can print indicia for various Royal Mail services, though these must be printed individually, one at a time.If the indicium is over £3.50, the user can pay by credit OR debit card. If the amount is below £3.50 the user cannot pay by debit card. More recently, Royal Mail have introduced an "Online Prepay Account" that can be used to pay for OLP Indicia. The methods of payment for depositing money into the prepay account are as above. Once the user has set up a prepay account, this becomes another payment option when purchasing an OLP indicium.
A name and address must be printed on to the envelope, and these can be imported from other applications in .CSV
Comma-separated values
A comma-separated values file stores tabular data in plain-text form. As a result, such a file is easily human-readable ....
format. Addresses can be saved in an online address book.
Posting
Mail that bears an OLP Indicium can be posted in an ordinary post boxPost box
A post box is a physical box into which members of the public can deposit outgoing mail intended for collection by the agents of a country's postal service...
(though if the user requires a Certificate Of Posting they should post the item via a Post Office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
), but this must happen no later than 11:59 PM on the following working day, otherwise the Indicium will expire, though the user can seek a refund for unused indicia online by logging into the Royal Mail
Royal Mail
Royal Mail is the government-owned postal service in the United Kingdom. Royal Mail Holdings plc owns Royal Mail Group Limited, which in turn operates the brands Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide...
website and following the "My Profile" link followed by "Your Order History" and finally "Your Online Postage Order History". A refund must be requested within 7 working days of the indicium being printed. A refund cannot be requested if the item of mail has already been processed by the mail centre.