New to franking machines, any advice?

ian1984_2

Hi, I run a small online shop that is beginning to grow. We are looking to try and keep our postage charges down for customers despite the new RM charge increase by signing up to a franking machine company. Has anyone had any good experiances with any companies or found good deals we might be able to take up?

Any advice on what to watch out for?

Thanks all!

McKneff

Have you checked any prices for leases etc. They are really really expensive.

Have a look at Pitney Bowes.

paddyrg

The postage may be slightly cheaper, but you need to send one heck of a lot of post before it becomes cost-effective - hundreds of pieces a month - as machine and service contract rental are not cheap.

ian1984_2

Thanks for those replies, had a couple of quotes ranging from 14.95pm to 20.00 (+vat) pm

General figures given out put postage savings at:
Letters- 16p first class, 19p second class
Packages >1700g - 35 - 50p per item
package 2k + over £1.00 per item

the 20.00 is all inclusive so in theory sending 23 packages 2kg + a month would begin to save us money.

Is this a reality or just what they are hoping you will think?

Caroline_a

Try SmartStamp - it's much cheaper for small businesses.

http://www.royalmail.com/discounts-payment/smartstamp

ian1984_2

Caroline_a wrote: »

Try SmartStamp - it's much cheaper for small businesses.

Hi Caroline_a

The website says the prices are exactly the same as stamps bought from the post office, so you pay 5.99 a month to use your own ink to print the stamps that cost the same? Is this right or do they give you different prices when you sign up?

Thanks, Ian.

McKneff

ian1984 wrote: »

Thanks for those replies, had a couple of quotes ranging from 14.95pm to 20.00 (+vat) pm

General figures given out put postage savings at:
Letters- 16p first class, 19p second class
Packages >1700g - 35 - 50p per item
package 2k + over £1.00 per item

the 20.00 is all inclusive so in theory sending 23 packages 2kg + a month would begin to save us money.

Is this a reality or just what they are hoping you will think?

You also have to be connected to an analogue phone line as far as Im aware for updates, it was like this a couple of years ago anyway, things may have changed.

Mrs_Arcanum

The other thing to make sure of is your postal addresses. This can save you money with the postal service if you have properly verified addresses.

shortstop

It would really depend on how much post you send. I work for a medium size company and we send out roughly 250 large letters/packets a day. We currently have a medium business franking machine (not sure if I''m allowed to say who from etc on here so pm me if you want details) and scales that are linked to the machine.

I would say to ask for a rep to come and visit you, don't sign up to anything there and then, but go away and have a real think about the figures etc they give you and weigh it up with your postage costs now.

Our machine has to be connected to a phone line for updates (premium number) and then there's the cost of ink, franking labels (if you send packets), service costs if this isn't included. Also find out if price change updates are included in your contract. The first company we used charged extra for this.
Hope this has helped in some way.

Savvy_Sue

What are your volumes? If they're all packets you're sending, would another delivery company be better?

ian1984_2

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

What are your volumes? If they're all packets you're sending, would another delivery company be better?

Not enough at the to warrant a fed ex type account, probably 40-50 a month at the moment, it's just a side income to our main detailing business but we are getting more orders every month at the so it's something we would have to look at. We use Parceltogo for larger packages that would cost over £5 with royal mail but the only lower priced company we have tried is Collect+ and all three times we have had to re-dispatch replacements through royal mail because of loss or damage...
Shame because if they worked it would be a viable option for us.