anywebsite Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 That's the major problem. Other companies can undercut the Royal Mail on high-volume routes, and decline to take, or charge enormous amounts, for the expensive low-volume journeys such as an occasional postcard from the Isly of Skye going to Colchester. The Royal Mail is obliged to take all mail - which, in practice, means it only gets the non-high-volume, unprofitable routes, because it's been undercut on all the other ones. Royal Mail still have a monopoly on letter delivery in the UK, the private companies don't want to employ postmen to visit every house in the country, it costs a lot of money. Private mail companies just collect business mail & might do a bit of sorting, then pass it on to Royal Mail who deliver it at a loss. Royal Mail are subsidising their private competitors. That's why Royal Mail prices are going up, because Royal Mail aren't charging these private business mail companies enough for delivering their mail for them. I think the amount is fixed by government. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinyl Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 A first-class stamp will rise in price from 46p to 60p from 30 April after the regulator lifted some price controls on Royal Mail. The 30% price rise in first-class stamps, and 39% rise for second-class, mark record annual increases. Ten years ago, a first-class stamp cost 27p, and a second-class cost 19p. Better start bulk buying before the costs soar even more. They should have privatised it 20 years ago when it was a business. With mail volumes dropping because of email and online banking, and parcels being taken by DHL etc the business will soon be worthless, just delivering junk mail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sophiec1979 Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 But that's besides the point, how often do you buy and use stamps? If it's any more than...5 times in a year, you need to discover e-mail. im very au fait with email....the problem is my business relies on me being able to post my products to my customers! i can be at the post office up to 4 times a week posting out packages during my silly seasons...and this is the only option available to me. due to the weight of my parcels, its not worth going with a courier service, aside from the fact that i still work full time and couldnt be around for the necessary pick-ups. i am heavily reliant on royal mail and to ensure insurance and buyer/seller protection, i have no option but to stand in the ever increasing queues to make sure i can get a trackable service, especially for overseas orders. im disappointed by the price increases as i will have to pass that onto my customers. x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karis Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 im disappointed by the price increases as i will have to pass that onto my customers. x have you seen the price increase? There's no smaller weight category for small packets under 750g! Ouch!!! This is crippling for me; customers cancel orders now because they think the postage is too high! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riannon Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 im very au fait with email....the problem is my business relies on me being able to post my products to my customers! i can be at the post office up to 4 times a week posting out packages during my silly seasons...and this is the only option available to me. due to the weight of my parcels, its not worth going with a courier service, aside from the fact that i still work full time and couldnt be around for the necessary pick-ups. i am heavily reliant on royal mail and to ensure insurance and buyer/seller protection, i have no option but to stand in the ever increasing queues to make sure i can get a trackable service, especially for overseas orders. im disappointed by the price increases as i will have to pass that onto my customers. x You should look at these guys. http://www.collectplus.co.uk/ Drop off at local shop with full tracking at not a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redyam Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 Second class stamps are still price controlled. Just use second class, it's just as fast as first class anyway! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sophiec1979 Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 have you seen the price increase? There's no smaller weight category for small packets under 750g! Ouch!!! if im honest...i havent dared yet! i will be doing my research at the weekend when i have some proper time to devote to it....and then reprice umpteen million items across my online shops! You should look at these guys. http://www.collectplus.co.uk/ the only local places i can find for me and my journey to and from work are the GT news on arundel gate and high street. their prices start at £3.99 for a jiffy bag option, but i suspect my parcels, as they are boxed, would fall into the standard parcel size which is £4.99, which depending how much it will be to send my parcels via Royal Mail may or may not be worth it. its good to know though, thank you Second class stamps are still price controlled. Just use second class, it's just as fast as first class anyway! im afraid thats simply not true. in the majority of cases first class has resulted in next day deliveries for me and the same cant be said for the items ive received 2nd class. there is also something psychological about being offered a 1st class delivery (and i mean that in terms of the price of the postage rather than an actual service!). customers want to feel that that they are important to you, i know mine are to me- if i didnt have them, i simply wouldnt have a business! part of making them feel important is by not only giving them excellent customer service and great products but also by subliminally saying "i have your hard earned cash...now i want you to have your order asap so you can enjoy it" the other part is the price of my raw materials will go up, another factor which i will have to pass onto my customers. some of my suppliers already charge ridiculous set postage rates so i try to order in bulk and avoid bitty purchases as far as possible. i try to order in person as much as possible, but i do have to justify the train fare to london and luton to do so and can only do that a couple of times a year. oh well, theres nothing for it but to suck it up....were all in this together right x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghozer Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 Also, the savings by use of franked post will become greatly enhanced. Current: the 46p/36p rates fall to 39p/28p [saving 7p/8p]. From 30 April: the 60p/50p rates fall to 44p/31p [saving 16p/19p]! Reason: competitors such as 'Business Post' and 'UK Mail', seeking to capture business mailings. So don't post stamped envelopes into pillar box. Instead, go to local business and ask it to frank your post (on being reimbursed the much lower franked rates plus a bit extra for the favour) Which most businesses won't do as it's actually illegal (as far as i'm aware) and against the terms of the contract the business holds with royal mail.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mecky Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 More for less. Profit and greed is king. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinyl Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 More for less. Profit and greed is king. That's nationalised industry for you, but I'm a little confused by the profit bit. Royal Mail made a £120 million loss last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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