Stamps to go up by 3p

Strapped

"New plans to help rescue the Royal Mail's finances could see the price of a first-class stamp rising by 3p next year.
Bosses are also planning to increase the cost of a second-class stamp by 2p, under the measures to raise around £100 million of extra revenue.
The inflation-busting proposals have been sanctioned by industry regulator Postcomm in order to help safeguard Royal Mail's universal service - delivery to every property in the country for the price of a stamp. First-class and second-class stamps currently cost 39p and 30p respectively.
In its proposal document, Postcomm said a potential 10 per cent fall in mail volumes would still see Royal Mail lose cash next year despite the proposed price hikes, which are planned to take affect from April.
Customer body Consumer Focus described the price hikes as a "low blow".
Royal Mail reported an operating profit of £321 million at the end of the last financial year, up from £162 million the year before."


How annoying.

Hintza

OK royal mail does have some antiquated practices but the blame for this mess really has to be down to our government cowtowing to EU demands to open up the mail to the companies that then cherry pick the most profitable elements.

This will only get worse and will be awful for those out in the sticks.

rsykes2000

Agreed with Hintza above. However I do still feel that to get a letter across the country the next day, 42p is still good value IMO.

negg

Unfortunately if the parcel is 'huge' (i.e. over one inch in height) you cannot send it for 42p. It currently costs £1.62 for most small items that would sell on eBay. Last time this went up by 17p, so expect that rate to be around £1.79.

So £1.79 for a packet that just a few years ago was 46p. How on earth are they still losing money?

custardy

negg wrote: »

Unfortunately if the parcel is 'huge' (i.e. over one inch in height) you cannot send it for 42p. It currently costs £1.62 for most small items that would sell on eBay. Last time this went up by 17p, so expect that rate to be around £1.79.

So £1.79 for a packet that just a few years ago was 46p. How on earth are they still losing money?

have a look at your mail
how many have other companies posting marks? TNT etc?

RFW

I've never quite understood why they don't just do away with second class and then they could in theory 'reduce' prices across the board. So they could do a standard letter for say 36p which would at a stroke increase revenue substantially.

I'd have thought that actually sorting first and second class mail apart would cost more to do, or am I wide of the mark?

custardy

RFW wrote: »

I've never quite understood why they don't just do away with second class and then they could in theory 'reduce' prices across the board. So they could do a standard letter for say 36p which would at a stroke increase revenue substantially.

I'd have thought that actually sorting first and second class mail apart would cost more to do, or am I wide of the mark?

im not really up on mail centre practices(in delivery there is no difference in 1st/2nd) but i believe the 2nd class can be left for the next day if needed to process other mail that needs done that day.
if you did away with 2nd class you would be increasing many peoples posting costs overnight by a large amount even if you dropped 1st class costs.
though lets be honest whats the chances

RFW

custardy wrote: »

im not really up on mail centre practices(in delivery there is no difference in 1st/2nd) but i believe the 2nd class can be left for the next day if needed to process other mail that needs done that day.
if you did away with 2nd class you would be increasing many peoples posting costs overnight by a large amount even if you dropped 1st class costs.
though lets be honest whats the chances

So there is some separating process which by definition is extra work and cost. Given all the attempts to restructure and cut costs I'm sure they must have looked into it. First and second class do seem like an archaic relic, its not as though either offer any guarantee.
I'm sure the domestic users would wear a price increase if second was done away with and the business users could be relatively easily accommodated. In fact changing the services to domestic and business may be a way forward.
I'm not particularly championing the idea, just wondered why it has never been suggested as a proposal.

custardy

RFW wrote: »

So there is some separating process which by definition is extra work and cost. Given all the attempts to restructure and cut costs I'm sure they must have looked into it. First and second class do seem like an archaic relic, its not as though either offer any guarantee.
I'm sure the domestic users would wear a price increase if second was done away with and the business users could be relatively easily accommodated. In fact changing the services to domestic and business may be a way forward.
I'm not particularly championing the idea, just wondered why it has never been suggested as a proposal.

bear in mind there are other postal methods for businesses
so its a bigger picture
the sorting should be done mainly be machine so its a case of leaving trays of mail.
not hand sorting.
you then have mailsort to key in (this has a delivery due period eg 1st to the 5th) which is RM's cheapest service.look for this logo on your mail


then you have the whole aspect of downstream access to consider.if RM phased out 2nd class then the whole pricing structure for DSA would need changed.
bear in mind its really businesses that use 2nd class and thats where the real money is for postal operators

as ive said once mail hits a delivery office then it doesnt matter if its 1st/2nd it goes that day,well thats the plan anyway..............

negg

how many have other companies posting marks? TNT etc?

bear in mind there are other postal methods for businesses

Actually there isn't other postal methods for businesses. TNT/DHL etc, use the Royal Mail so when they go on strike, their post stops too. When RM put the prices up, that means TNT/DHL prices go up too.

You also cannot use TNT/DHL unless you bulk send, so for small businesses this isn't an option.

custardy

negg wrote: »

Actually there isn't other postal methods for businesses. TNT/DHL etc, use the Royal Mail so when they go on strike, their post stops too. When RM put the prices up, that means TNT/DHL prices go up too.

You also cannot use TNT/DHL unless you bulk send, so for small businesses this isn't an option.

the regulator controls the prices for DSA mail.
just bacuase stamps rise in price it doesnt mean the DSA prices are raised