Does Anybody Know About Royal Mail Stuff?

[wolf63]

I am currently wrapping Christmas presents that have to be sent away by post.

Generally is it cheaper to send them all in one bag/box or will it be about the same if I send them in a few batches? I find Royal Mail pricing to be far too complicated these days.

[Buenchico]

As you indicate, it's not simple! That's because (by splitting a consignment into several packages) you could not only be reducing weights but also sizes. I'll try to summarise it for you. (Where I've given two prices they're for 1st Class and 2nd Class respectively)

A parcel is 'small' if the dimensions are no bigger than 45cm x 35cm x 8cm OR 35cm x 25cm x 16cm. If it weighs less than 1kg it costs £4.10/£3.70. If it weighs more, but under the maximum weight of 2kg, you pay £7.95/£6.70.

A parcel is 'medium' if it's bigger than above but less than 61cm x 46cm x 46cm. Up to 1kg costs £5.65/£5.20. Up to 2kg, £8.90/£8.00. Up to 5kg £15.10/£13.35 (or £12.92 by ParcelForce's 48-hour service). Up to 10kg, £21.25/£19.65 (or £15.92 by Parcelforce). Up to 20kg, £32.40/£27.70 (or £27.68 by Parcelforce).

Larger parcels have to go by ParcelForce (at the rates in brackets above).

So, for example, you might have a 'medium' parcel that weighs just under 2kg, which will cost you £8 to send Second Class. If you split it into 2 parcels, each weighing just under 1kg, it will cost you MORE (£10.40) if they're still 'medium' but LESS (£7.40) if they're both now 'small. However you might spend more than 60p extra in packaging anyway, so you'd not actually save anything.

http://www.royalmail.com/sites/default/files/RM_Our_Prices_OCt2013.pdf

[Psybbo]

I had an offer in today from Royal Mail
royalmail.com/parcels

[sunny-dave]

You could send the whole lot in one box (collected from you) by Hermes for about £5 for up to 5kg. Much cheaper than ParcelFarce.

https://www.myhermes.co.uk/send-a-parcel.html

[wolf63]

Thanks to both of you - Chris made it seem even more complicated than I thought.

Last year I sent them down by courier - it was simple!

I have given up trying to wrap the presents as my little girl keeps trying to 'help' me.

Anybody want to buy one of these? http://tinyurl.com/q7vv3wz

[wolf63]

thanks Dave - I admit that using a courier was a good idea. I might try it again.

I posted little brother's birthday present on Friday (his birthday is on Monday) and I weighed it, went to the Royal Mail site, made a guesstimate of the cost and stuck stamps on => then stuck it in the post box. I hope it gets there.

[Psybbo]

Wolf she is gorgeous I quite fancy her

[wolf63]

Psybbo, I took her to the vet as I thought she was blind. After checking her out she said that she (Merlin) was a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic. The vet then decided to weigh Merlin. Have you ever seen a vet and vet nurse try to muzzle a cat? She was lashing out all over and growling and hissing.

So Merlin Warrior Princess (sister of Frankie Dr Tom Cat - my avatar) is pretty, stupid and vicious - and she is sitting glaring at me.

My babies.

[mrs.chappie]

The price Chris has shown for small parcel is "Signed for".

You can send a small parcel without signature on delivery for £2.60, second class, up to 1 kilo.

http://www.royalmail.com/newsmallparcel

(Hope that works^^^)

[nungate]

Did you receive a thingy in the post today from Royal Mail Wolf? I got one, and it says that we can send bigger parcels from £2.60. They claim it is easier as they include a wide and deep option. So it can be up to 45cm long 35cm wide with a depth of 8cm or up to 35cm long 25cm wide and 16cm deep - starting price being £2.60
You can get more info on royalmail.com/parcels

[boxtops]

Last time I went to the PO they had introduced a new size - a cardboard box into which if you can fit the parcel, it still goes as "small parcel"

It does seem unnecessarily complicated these days!

[mrs.chappie]

I sent a parcel by Collect Plus yesterday, economy service (I selected this in error, mean to select 'standard' but c0cked the booking up)...it arrived at its destination (200+ miles away) this afternoon.

It weighed 5 kilos and cost £5.29 to send. A bargain, I think.