UK Postal Charges set to change .... yet again !!

[surfury]

Just checked website of Royal Mail and see that yet again postal charges from Royal Mail are set to change, this time with effect from 2nd April 2013. If anyone wants a pdf then they can go here and follow the link at the bottom for a downloadable version.

I have used the word change rather than rise like I did last year as they are "simplifying" the weight bands for International Post which will now go up in 250gm increments rather than 100gm. What does this all mean ? Well checking some of the rates, currently to send a single Steelbook with a single disc in a padded Play box (weighing about 240gm) it is £4.98, under the new tariff same Steel will cost £4.50 as it's under 250g. A heavier Steel with 2 discs or more will be in the next band so would cost £7.20, which will be the same for sending 2 Steels (if they're single discers), and cost £7.98 at the moment. Swings and roundabouts I suppose.

For those of us in the UK sending internally sadly there is no good news, it's just going to get more expensive which ever way you cut it.

 

[lgans316]

It is a 35~40p increase for inland parcels. This is quite steep.

Also value of stamps remains unchanged which means it will be pointless to stockpile them prior to price increase.

Already I am paying 30% of my income towards rent. In few years time this country will be only for the riches.

 

[jammyone]

They really are taking the mickey, after the last increases they were supposed to freeze prices, now they are effectively raising them by a so called 'simplification' of the system.

Complete ripoff merchants

 

[lgans316]

Exactly. Royal Mail said they won't increase the price but they are doing it. Prices keep going up but wages have remained stagnant for years. Looks like I will have to wind up and return back to my home country as it is becoming extremely difficult to survive in London.

 

[spurs4eva]

its beyond a joke with royal mail price hikes

 

[Wootball]

It's currently £3.65 to send a steelbook in a Play.com box via 1st Recorded, not £4.98. The price of a small package is jumping up massively.

 

[surfury]

It's currently £3.65 to send a steelbook in a Play.com box via 1st Recorded, not £4.98. The price of a small package is jumping up massively.

I was only referring to International Post as I mentioned at the beginning of the paragraph as that is where most of the/my parcels go. I didn't go into specifics regarding UK post fees as I didn't want to extend the OP. We in the UK can get that info ourselves but it isn't rosy that's for sure.

 

[CaptainCoffee]

What an absolute disgrace....honestly, that is disgusting.

 

[cityguyste]

Why can't you increase prices on eBay??

I don't want the hassle of sending an invoice and requesting extra postage costs if I sell in the future

 

[snooloui]

Soon it will be cheaper to drive the package to it's destination yourself than send it via Royal Mail

 

[CaptainCoffee]

Maybe we should open a new thread to get all of the eBay users on here to contact eBay and ask them to review it, to accommodate the increasing costs of postage.

 

[lgans316]

Agreed. I am going to contact eBay customer service over phone next week about this.

 

[surfury]

Agreed. I am going to contact eBay customer service over phone next week about this.

It's 3 weeks away, last year change was at end of April. If eBay haven't allowed for increase this year or last isn't that a restriction of trade. Could you use the Courier option ? Sorry I don't sell through eBay only buy.

 

[lgans316]

I am going to give it a shot next week.

It's going to be expensive to ship 2 Steelbooks or a single heavy Steelbook (up to 500 grams). Really eye watering to see such a steep increase.

 

[surfury]

I am going to give it a shot next week.

It's going to be expensive to ship 2 Steelbooks or a single heavy Steelbook (up to 500 grams). Really eye watering to see such a steep increase.

Think they were trialling what they intend to roll out Internationally on us last year Domestically. Next year parcels will probably have 500gm increments. God forbid that happens.

 

[SaberTooth]

Just remember this the next time the BBC parrot Conservative-sanctioned, misrepresented garbage about "low inflation"

 

[Steakman]

Ridiculous, courier will probably work out cheaper soon for any weight amount let alone bigger parcels.
I guess it's only going to get more and more expensive with fuel costs rising constantly.

 

[lgans316]

Guys,

There is another shocker for us. There is now a limit on dimension for Small Packet. The height is just 2x of Play.com box but weight limit of 2 Kg remains the same. Even Royal Mail's own boxes can't fit the new dimension. This means you can't reuse bigger packages even if it weighs under 2 Kg.

 

[Nyvo]

These changes just mean that I'll start using Hermes... within the UK anyway, it's just as easy for me to get to a Hermes ParcelShop as it is the Post Office, and it's £2.50 (+85p to require a signature) to send up to 1KG.

 

[Naughtius Maximus]

Looking into this its going to cost:

Royal mail: 1-2 x steelbooks in a 20x15x6cm box is classed as a SMALL PARCEL and will cost: £4.10 1st class signed for (up to 1 kg)

Hermes: Same as above will cost roughly £3.30 signed for (up to 1kg) (based on Buckinghamshire to Essex)

Royal mail: up to 4 x steelbooks in a 25.5x15x10cm box is classed as a MEDIUM PARCEL and will cost: £6.75 1st class signed for (up to 1 kg)

Hermes: Same as above will cost roughly £3.30 signed for (up to 1kg) (based on Buckinghamshire to Essex)


As RM state:

Small parcels can measure up to:
Length: 45cm Width: 35cm Depth: 8cm Weight limit: 2kg

Medium parcels can measure up to:
Length: 61cm Width: 46cm Depth: 46cm Weight limit: 20kg

Large parcels can measure up to:
1.5m length and 3m length and girth combined Weight limit: 30kg Only available on Parcelforce Worldwide services

Overall it isn't THAT bad. The thing that will kill us collectors will be the DEPTH of the parcels - those of us that use these kind of boxes below may have to find/use Wider boxes rather than deeper boxes

p.s. I haven't got any Zavvi/play boxes to compare :/