Royal Mail Online Postage (OLP), introduced in early 2006 but not promoted heavily until September 2006, is an online service provided by

Royal Mail , kw, Postya Riel, ga, An Post Ríoga , logo = Royal Mail.svg , logo_size = 250px , type = Public limited company , traded_as = , foundation = , founder = Henry VIII , location = London, England, UK , key_people = * Keith Williams ...

in conjunction with

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...

, where customers can print out an

indicium In philately, indicia are markings on a mail piece (as opposed to an adhesive stamp) showing that postage has been prepaid by the sender. ''Indicia'' is the plural of the Latin word ''indicium'', meaning distinguishing marks, signs or identifyi ...

(indicia in plural), the equivalent of a

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...

, online onto a label or envelope of certain specified types, or plain paper, without having to buy a normal stamp.Royal Mail Online Postage Royal Mail:Help with online postage
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Purchasing

The user can print indicia, one at a time, for various Royal Mail services. For payment there is a Royal Mail "Online Prepay Account", in which funds can be deposited with a payment card
(credit or debit card). If the indicium is over £2.99, a payment card can be used without an account. Labels are in PDF format. A name and address must be printed, with support for import in Comma-separated values, .CSV format. Addresses can be saved in an online address book. To check that an address will be printed properly (e.g., paper right way round in the printer), there is a "Try a Test Print" button on the "Print Postage" page.

Validity

An indicium is valid if an item is posted by midnight of the working day following the day it was emitted. Refunds are available for unused indicia online within 14 calendar days of purchase, so long as the mail item has not been processed by the

mail centre , kw, Postya Riel, ga, An Post Ríoga , logo = Royal Mail.svg , logo_size = 250px , type = Public limited company , traded_as = , foundation = , founder = Henry VIII , location = London, England, UK , key_people = * Keith Williams ...

. If an indicium fails to print properly, e.g. due to an error or printer problem, a refund must be applied for.

Posting

Mail that bears an OLP indicium can be posted in a

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

, or a

post box A post box (British English; also written postbox; also known as pillar box), also known as a collection box, mailbox, letter box or drop box (American English) is a physical box into which members of the public can deposit outgoing mail intend ...

if a Certificate of Posting is not required. The service is available for international and parcel posting. Customs forms, required for international parcels, are on the Online Postage confirmation page.

References

Postal system of the United Kingdom Royal Mail {{postal-stub