Massive UK postal increase

[Ludwig]

I don't know if any of you have been to post an parcel in the post office recently.
I went to the post office and posted something in a cardboard tube that was about 9cm in diameter x abou t20cm long that used to cost about £2.20 but has now risen to a massive £5.20.
I was totally gobsmacked at this increase. Its as if the Royal Mail are in self destruct mode. One answer would be to to put a lot of the delivery of junk and non valuable stuff out the the voluntry sector and at the
and at the same time people would get fit, meet their neighbours and loose weight.
Lots of online businesses are fuming about this increase and it bound to affect some online cycle businesses. It is reported that the Royal Mail is loosing £40 million a year and surely this massive price hike will drive more customers away and we will be left with expensive and unrelaible couriers.
The upside is that more people will go to their local bike shop rather than pay the massive postal charges.

 

[Linford]

I don't know if any of you have been to post an parcel in the post office recently.
I went to the post office and posted something in a cardboard tube that was about 9cm in diameter x abou t20cm long that used to cost about £2.20 but has now risen to a massive £5.20.
I was totally gobsmacked at this increase. Its as if the Royal Mail are in self destruct mode. One answer would be to to put a lot of the delivery of junk and non valuable stuff out the the voluntry sector and at the
and at the same time people would get fit, meet their neighbours and loose weight.
Lots of online businesses are fuming about this increase and it bound to affect some online cycle businesses. It is reported that the Royal Mail is loosing £40 million a year and surely this massive price hike will drive more customers away and we will be left with expensive and unrelaible couriers.
The upside is that more people will go to their local bike shop rather than pay the massive postal charges.

I run a net based business, and anything heavy, I put through a next day co ...APC overnight now. I'm out of season now, so little going through, but am watching the costs very carefully.
When you go to the post office now, ask for the cheapest option as they have 3 different services at the till

Royal Mail, Parcel force and another option I was told about but slips my mind Anyhow, you need to ask the question. RM is losing money because of the very generous conditions they were strong armed into by the unions years ago. Chickens and roost spring to mind. They need to change their business model as the competition will soon be blasting past them.

 

[accountantpete]

They have introduced Medium and Small packets - anything deeper than 8cms gets the medium parcel price treatment!

They have also added a few more categories for compensation - which is added to the bill.

I am using other services to deliver to business addressed mail and only sending sub 8cm deep post via Royal Mail wherever possible. Pretty soon I'll have to start dismantling Hollowtech chainsets inorder to get round this!

(and a warning about compensation - they ask you what its worth at the counter and charge you based on that amount but if it is lost Royal Mail will only compensate you for what the item cost)

 

[smokeysmoo]

Yup, I got slapped this week on a couple of parcels via ebay

I usually do the postage online but I went to the local post office to make sure I was reading it right, and the lass who works there said she'd had nothing but complaints about it.

Parcel2Go will be getting a lot more work off me from now on.

 

[400bhp]

DB pension deficit.

 

[phil_hg_uk]

Dont forget they had a large increase in prices last year as well, I am running the stock down on my online shop and closing it once I have sold all the stock as it is no longer worth running it thanks to the postal prices.

There are plenty of alternatives for parcels, I have been using APC for years, but for small items it is not worth using a courier unless you are sending lots of stuff out everyday which I dont so I cant compete with people who are.

 

[MarkF]

A fiver to send a 20cm x 9cm tube, from say, Leeds to Torquay? Sounds good to me. What other cheaper options did you have?

I send stuff out, heavy stuff, £15 per shipment for 15kg, 50p per extra kilo. Next day guaranteed UK wide delivery, sometimes I just stand in the warehouse gazing at the pallet, wondering at the magic of it all.

 

[Linford]

I've been subsidising the postal cost in with the cost of the item. If I didn't charge a decent sum for what I do and offset it with that, I'd struggle with the increases TBH.

 

[bikepete]

They have introduced Medium and Small packets - anything deeper than 8cms gets the medium parcel price treatment!)

Not always true.

From http://www.royalmail.com/parcels-made-easy

Exceptions apply:
The following items are also priced as small parcels
1. Parcels that measure up to and including
Length 16cm and width 16cm and depth 16cm

2.Roll or cylinder shaped parcels that measure up to and including :
Length 45cm and diameter 8cm

 

[Get In The Van]

I run a net based business, and anything heavy, I put through a next day co ...APC overnight now. I'm out of season now, so little going through, but am watching the costs very carefully.
When you go to the post office now, ask for the cheapest option as they have 3 different services at the till

Royal Mail, Parcel force and another option I was told about but slips my mind Anyhow, you need to ask the question. RM is losing money because of the very generous conditions they were strong armed into by the unions years ago. Chickens and roost spring to mind. They need to change their business model as the competition will soon be blasting past them.

Are you sure about this? RM is losing money because of many things, unfair competition that allows TNT, etc etc to cherry pick what they want to deliver, a universal delivery service that only RM have to do, try posting your parcel to the highlands and islands with APC, TNT and see how much it costs?
Like every other business RM costs have increased, fuel costs for one of the largest fleets in the UK. You'll also be amazed how many 'other' delivery companies rely on RM to post mail/parcels they have picked up because they do not have the ability to deliver it themselves.
What are these conditions the union strong armed into RM you talk about, i'm keen to hear.

 

[SS Retro]

Just had a clear out of canoeing and camping bits via another forum, I had to put up an apology for RM prices at the start of the thread and sold some stuff at less than market value just to make it attractive because of RM pricing. They have a small cardboard box in our post office if it fits in its a small packet the cardboard box is an official RM measuring device sent out to all post offices, FFS the end is neigh.

 

[Wobblers]

Are you sure about this? RM is losing money because of many things, unfair competition that allows TNT, etc etc to cherry pick what they want to deliver, a universal delivery service that only RM have to do, try posting your parcel to the highlands and islands with APC, TNT and see how much it costs?
Like every other business RM costs have increased, fuel costs for one of the largest fleets in the UK. You'll also be amazed how many 'other' delivery companies rely on RM to post mail/parcels they have picked up because they do not have the ability to deliver it themselves.
What are these conditions the union strong armed into RM you talk about, i'm keen to hear.

This. The introduction of "competition" into the mail delivery was supposed to improve services and prices. What actually happened was that only the Royal Mail was required to have a universal service guarantee. The RM's competitors don't - and oddly enough, none of them bother delivering to expensive locations such as the Highlands and Islands - or if they do, it's at a ruinous price. What is more, the RM is required to actually deliver their competitors mail to the doorstep - which oddly enough is the most expensive part. The RM cannot actually charge them what it actually costs, so in effect the price of your stamp is going to subsidise the competition. Happily, all the spam merchants use the private services, as for some reason they are rather cheaper (yay to cherry picking all the profitable business!), so you can rest assured that your spam will arrive, and you're paying handsomely for it. Hooray for competition...

 

[MrJamie]

I don't post things very often, usually only returns and I can never remember which type to ask for because its so far between. I recently had to send back a hard disk and some memory, to different places, recorded delivery, took them to a post office at about 4pm, both were received before lunch the next day, with tracking and proof of delivery, leading to a quick turnaround and I think it cost about £8 total. As a one off I was pretty happy with that. Maybe they need a small business account if they don't offer such a thing already?

 

[Archie_tect]

This. The introduction of "competition" into the mail delivery was supposed to improve services and prices. What actually happened was that only the Royal Mail was required to have a universal service guarantee. The RM's competitors don't - and oddly enough, none of them bother delivering to expensive locations such as the Highlands and Islands - or if they do, it's at a ruinous price. What is more, the RM is required to actually deliver their competitors mail to the doorstep - which oddly enough is the most expensive part. The RM cannot actually charge them what it actually costs, so in effect the price of your stamp is going to subsidise the competition. Happily, all the spam merchants use the private services, as for some reason they are rather cheaper (yay to cherry picking all the profitable business!), so you can rest assured that your spam will arrive, and you're paying handsomely for it. Hooray for competition...

McWobble... we must be genetically bonded... another freedom of competition disaster loaded in favour of selected private companies which we have to bear.