Royal Mail price increases

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Royal Mail have just increased prices as of today (and decreased their standard parcel sizes as well).

Anyone selling might want to check the .pdf as a smallish parcel can be cheaper to send by Special Delivery than RM 1st Class Recorded.

The big stocking point is a small parcel (for Recorded), can't be more than 8cm tall (max dimensions 45cm x 35cm x 8cm), and medium parcels have had a big price jump.

For example, a smallish parcel that is more than 8cm tall could cost £6.22 for RMSD, but £6.75 for RM Recorded as a medium parcel.

New costs .pdf can be downloaded at http://www.royalmail.com/sites/default/files/RoyalMail_OurPrices_April2013.pdf
 
Thanks, that's a better .PDF than the one I got from RM, much easier to read.
 
Apology called for Dave - I hadn't noticed you had already put your own link there. Wasn't tryiing to outdo you.

Al
 
Al1944 said:
Apology called for Dave - I hadn't noticed you had already put your own link there. Wasn't tryiing to outdo you.

Al
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No need Al, your link is much better. I've downloaded yours and saved for future reference :thumbs:.
 
Good PDF that! Saved and printed for reference.

For smaller,more expensive items (over £200) Royal Mail are still pretty hard to beat! We recently received a letter to say the local sorting office were re-tweaking the business in line with increased parcels in the system.

Rob
 
Buried in the small print but you can send 16cmx16cmx16cm (or less) as a small parcel too!
 
If you ask me (you did, didn't you.....?) royal mail are cutting their own throats with this unnecessary complexity, which is almost certainly designed to disguise price increases.

Anyone needing to send a low value parcel of any size or weight should check out

http://www.interparcel.co.uk

I hate to take trade away from the Post Office but Royal Mail are asking for it.
 
Looks like somebody got a memo on their desk with the last 6 months parcel profits drop on it :lol:

There's a new small parcel size 35x25x16cm as well as the 45x35x8cm up to a kg £2.60

Still not good enough, I sent a model kit that weighed 1050g but outside the 45cm dimension, 2nd class was £8

I sent it Hermes for £4.20

My guess is somebody has realised their Christmas profits will be down 90% and the new shareholders will be looking for heads to roll
 
I was talking to our post office girl last week who told me about the new sizes and prices which are about to come in. She said they had lost a lot of business since the last price restructure and these new changes were an attempt by RM to regain some of it.

I've also been using Hermes where necessary, I like the fact they collect from you too if you need it.

The new small parcel size seems quite generous for £2.60. She had a demo box out to show customers. Plenty big enough for most of what I send but obviously it won't suit everyone.
 
At least the penny is dropping with RM that people just won't pay stupid postage charges and will take their business elsewhere.

With so many couriers offering collection and drop off points at corner shops RM are going to have to step up their game substantially. Post offices have much more restricted opening hours too so for anyone that works full time they're still not much use.
 
wack61 said:
There's a new small parcel size 35x25x16cm as well as the 45x35x8cm up to a kg £2.60
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Thanks for pointing out the new small parcel size - I hadn't noticed that. The 8cm depth is far too restricting, the new 16cm is a bit more usable.

srichards said:
Post offices have much more restricted opening hours too so for anyone that works full time they're still not much use.
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The post office closest to me has extended its hours from 8-6 Monday to Saturday and is open on a Sunday too which helps a bit.
 
I've lost count of the times I've stood outside the post office ripping bits of cardboard off to get it under 2kg

They bought some super accurate scales recently , she put them on and I kid you not it weighed 2.0004 , 0.4 of a gramme over

When she said £20 odd quid I asked for it back, ripped off the sheet of paper I'd written the address on and got her to weigh it again and it was under so I bought a marker pen and wrote the address on the box
 
wack61 said:
I've lost count of the times I've stood outside the post office ripping bits of cardboard off to get it under 2kg

They bought some super accurate scales recently , she put them on and I kid you not it weighed 2.0004 , 0.4 of a gramme over

When she said £20 odd quid I asked for it back, ripped off the sheet of paper I'd written the address on and got her to weigh it again and it was under so I bought a marker pen and wrote the address on the box
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That'll show 'em! Nice one.

I checked at my local PO and the new prices came in yesterday. Still hellish complicated, though. At least we still have a local PO.......
 
I try never to use Royal Mail/Parcel Force now, their prices are just ridiculous. Not sure if its going to change much now they a have been floated.

So many parcel services out there.
 
Saviola said:
I try never to use Royal Mail/Parcel Force now, their prices are just ridiculous. Not sure if its going to change much now they a have been floated.

So many parcel services out there.
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But of course, in reality, very few can actually match the service offered by RMSD to the occasional user.
 
I find RM costs can be a bit OTT on some things, especially if your package does not fit their cube or slot that they use to measure things, even if the overall volume of the package is less....

My main bug bare is the staffing. Lots of counters open, except over lunch time when most people go. What's wrong with staging start, finish and break times to try and meet peak demand?
 
I've given up with Royal Mail. Yesterday I priced up a camera (with the online RM calculator) to return and it came to £8.25. My wife took it to the Post Office and they said it would cost £11. I wonder whether the pricing is now so complex that the staff struggle to understand it.
 
chipbutty said:
I've given up with Royal Mail. Yesterday I priced up a camera (with the online RM calculator) to return and it came to £8.25. My wife took it to the Post Office and they said it would cost £11. I wonder whether the pricing is now so complex that the staff struggle to understand it.
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More like a discrepancy in the weight of your parcel, £8.25 is up to 1kg, £11 is 1kg to 2kg.

What did your parcel weigh?

947b9a0b7b213cd0b7009520fe0fafdc_zps36bbea7b.jpg
 
641g. I think they either got it completely wrong or they quoted Parcel Force rather than Royal Mail.

Dave1 said:
More like a discrepancy in the weight of your parcel, £8.25 is up to 1kg, £11 is 1kg to 2kg.

What did your parcel weigh?
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chipbutty said:
641g. I think they either got it completely wrong or they quoted Parcel Force rather than Royal Mail.
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If you sent it RMSD it's more likely to have been human error and he/she has misread the pricing band. I can't think of a ParcelForce method for exactly £11.00, while the over 1KG rate for RMSD is £11.00.

I would back down to the post office in the morning wanting a refund of the difference (the weight is on the tracking receipt, so easy to prove).
 
Oh I didn't pay Dave. Took it home and sending it by courier!

Dave1 said:
If you sent it RMSD it's more likely to have been human error and he/she has misread the pricing band. I can't think of a ParcelForce method for exactly £11.00, while the over 1KG rate for RMSD is £11.00.

I would back down to the post office in the morning wanting a refund of the difference (the weight is on the tracking receipt, so easy to prove).
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