Franking Machine

Benson

Hi
Does anyone use a franking machine and have any recs for a small business?
We deal with quite a large bit of post - mainly recorded items and currently using smartstamp but ive noticed that franking saves quite a bit of money on the postage.
The only downside is the rental and then the consumables can be quite expensive. The adverts state rental from £13 per month but its never actually £13.

Just wondering if anyone had any recommendations or alternative solutions?

Thanks

greyteam1959

I stopped using a franking machine about 6 years ago.
Ink cartridges........Stupid price
Reload 'fee'...........Stupid price
Machine rental.......Stupid price.
Etc etc
You have to be sending many hundreds of items to make a minute saving.
Can't offer any sensible suggestions other than don't use a franking machine.
Do 99% of my incoming & outgoing mail by email now.
Sorry.

McKneff

Got to agree with Mervynn11.

There are also white sticky labels to buy, for envelopess that cant go through the machine which again -stupid price.

martindow

I'm another who abandoned a franking machine after a trial period as, for me, the costs outweighed the savings. I still needed to go to the PO to get CoP stamped so preferred to put my business their way.

I think unless you are sending dozens or hundreds of items per day it makes no sense. With large volumes you can justify it and if you get RM to pick up daily you avoid the trip to the PO.

bris

Franking machines are not for everyone, but for most time is money and you need to pay someone to stand there putting stamps on. Franking machines can do the job in a few minutes leaving an employee free to do other work. If you send hundreds of items out a week they are invaluable. If you are a small type of business who has the time needed to do it manually, then there is no real need for one.

terra_ferma

If you spend at least £5000 a year in stamps a business account is the way to go, you get a good discount, stamps will be a thing of the past (you'll have a logo to print on labels or a rubber stamp), and processing will be easier (will weigh items in groups, not individually).

If you call RM business enquiry number they will be able to advise you.
http://www.royalmail.com/customer-service/contact-us

podperson

We use a franking machine and while I do think it's easier and cheaper in terms of us sending out bulk batches of mail I would advise on the following:
don't buy the 'offical' refill cartridges - we have got the non-branded ones for a while now, the last ones were around £35 as opposed to the approx £100 for the official ones, we've never had a bit of trouble with them and they last just as long.
same with the 'official' labels, any plain white sticky labels do the same job and can be got for a few quid.
watch for them sending you 'new tariff chips' - we have been sent 4 in the last 18 months at approx £100 each with them claiming you 'need them'. You don't they are optional but if you open them you have to pay so I've sent them all back, printed off the new prices from the Royal Mail website and stuck on the machine.

Also, if you send a lot of recorded I don't know I'd recommend it. You still have to go to post office for them for the tracking and even though I have the correct price for recorded letters from the Royal Mail website, I end up in a fight with the postal staff every single visit as they try and charge me the difference for the normal rather then franking price (and this is at 3 different post offices) and half the time claim the franking price is wrong anyway. If I know I'll be in a rush I just pay for it and claim it back to save the hassle