Royal Mail are taking my profits - advice please

fedupwiththeworry

twotimes wrote: »

...and they will be gaining £39 of your income.;)

I agree, it's ridiculous the way they operate their claims process. You should never post anything that you received as a gift, because as you received it free, in their eyes you won't have lost anything.

Say you bought something back in 1950 for a very low amount, now due to inflation and the item becoming a lot rarer, the value has risen significantly, is it fair that Royal Mail just give you back the original cost price?[/QUOTE]

Exactly, I'm currently selling off a load of my old toys from the 50's & 60's they may not have cost much then and you can't just go out and replace them now so how how much would you claim for ? I certainly haven't got any invoices as they were Xmas/Birthday presents.

vangirl_2

I agree that its a bit unfair especially when your a small trader but I do see Royal Mails point.

There are not many situations in business where you can claim for loss of income and as all your expenses are taken from your profit in the long run you are not going to be out of pocket.

As for the old toy example surly this would be classed as a personal sale and not business and therefore you would get back the full amount you sold it for anyway. If you post something you received as a gift its fairly easy to prove its worth and they probably would pay out.

I think due to Royal Mails current financial situation its probably best for all of us that they cut costs were possible.

fedupwiththeworry

vangirl wrote: »

I agree that its a bit unfair especially when your a small trader but I do see Royal Mails point.

There are not many situations in business where you can claim for loss of income and as all your expenses are taken from your profit in the long run you are not going to be out of pocket.

As for the old toy example surly this would be classed as a personal sale and not business and therefore you would get back the full amount you sold it for anyway. If you post something you received as a gift its fairly easy to prove its worth and they probably would pay out.

I think due to Royal Mails current financial situation its probably best for all of us that they cut costs were possible.

Oh I see, yes I'm not a business, do Royal Mail treat personal sellers differently then ?

I always make sure that the item is insured up to the correct selling price even if I have to pay extra.

twotimes

fedupwiththeworry wrote: »

Oh I see, yes I'm not a business, do Royal Mail treat personal sellers differently then ?

No, don't think so.

soolin

fedupwiththeworry wrote: »

Oh I see, yes I'm not a business, do Royal Mail treat personal sellers differently then ?

I always make sure that the item is insured up to the correct selling price even if I have to pay extra.

All standard mail is covered up to £39 the only exceptions being things like tickets and vouchers. Above £39 a seller must use a tracked service like special with the additional insurance paid if appropriate. This is just for insurance against loss in the post.

Overseas it is the same, standard airmail is covered up to £39 but neyond that an enhanced service plus additional insurance must be used.

Always_Harassed

A Jacket that I sold on ebay for £9.00 went missing. It had cost me about £39.00 and they said that I could only claim for the sales cost. Seems they want it both ways that is whatever is better for them.

mandycr

my mum works for royal mail she has been there for 12 years now i used work there 11 years ago, was a big sorting office never did we have the trouble then as they do now, your post person at the p.o is only too happy to take your cash and send your item off only to be left yorkie in a warehouse for months on end until all the important post such as government mail and large companies whom royal mail rely on for the business is posted as someone pointed out that they are now using couriers as is smaller companies, i can almost guarantee that your missing mail will be sat in a corner somewhere and will be either delivered to its rightfull owner or back to yourself in the future who knows when though,

whenever i send mail now i always send it signed for its guaranteed to get to its destination and only costs a few pennies more, u could always do the same thing in future and tell your buyers why u choose to send it this way if they query it.

RFW

mandycr wrote: »

whenever i send mail now i always send it signed for its guaranteed to get to its destination and only costs a few pennies more, u could always do the same thing in future and tell your buyers why u choose to send it this way if they query it.

Sounds like you are referring to recorded delivery which is NOT a guaranteed service but a signed for one, Special delivery is guaranteed but more expensive. It is not always prudent for sellers to use recorded services.

Back to the original poster, unfortunately you have to find a way to cover yourself in the case of any problems, either by using an enhanced service or using a courier or even adding a small amount to your prices that would cover a 1-2% loss throughout the year.

soolin

mandycr wrote: »

my mum works for royal mail she has been there for 12 years now i used work there 11 years ago, was a big sorting office never did we have the trouble then as they do now, your post person at the p.o is only too happy to take your cash and send your item off only to be left yorkie in a warehouse for months on end until all the important post such as government mail and large companies whom royal mail rely on for the business is posted as someone pointed out that they are now using couriers as is smaller companies, i can almost guarantee that your missing mail will be sat in a corner somewhere and will be either delivered to its rightfull owner or back to yourself in the future who knows when though,

whenever i send mail now i always send it signed for its guaranteed to get to its destination and only costs a few pennies more, u could always do the same thing in future and tell your buyers why u choose to send it this way if they query it.

As RFW points out you appear to be making a basic mistake when referring to guaranteed delivery. If I sell a book that weighs 600g it would cost me £2.24 second class, if I wnated a guaranteed delivery 'Special' that would cost me £6.70, hardly pennies difference and far too expensive for most buyers to pay. If you mean recorded then as an ex PO employee you must realise that is only standard post and travels with normal post and has no more guarantee than standard post?

OP you sound unlucky with your items if you are only a small seller. I am currently sending around 100 items a month and have not had a loss now for 8 months. Have you done th ebasics like check your packaging is secure enough to get throught the system without tearing and making the item untraceable, or ensuring your addresses are clear and accurate and that there is a prominent return address on package?

custardy

mandycr wrote: »

my mum works for royal mail she has been there for 12 years now i used work there 11 years ago, was a big sorting office never did we have the trouble then as they do now, your post person at the p.o is only too happy to take your cash and send your item off only to be left yorkie in a warehouse for months on end until all the important post such as government mail and large companies whom royal mail rely on for the business is posted as someone pointed out that they are now using couriers as is smaller companies, i can almost guarantee that your missing mail will be sat in a corner somewhere and will be either delivered to its rightfull owner or back to yourself in the future who knows when though,

whenever i send mail now i always send it signed for its guaranteed to get to its destination and only costs a few pennies more, u could always do the same thing in future and tell your buyers why u choose to send it this way if they query it.

well if you worked for RM how do you not understand how recorded delivery works?
do you not think things have changed in 11 years?