Royal Mail new prices released

zerog

I still see plenty of people queueing up at post offices near me to exchange their foreign money, despite proper BdCs giving far better rates just opposite / a few doors down.

soolin

I've been to a couple of auctions this week (at one I was a seller an dlisted quite a lot of large items that I have struggled to sell even at the current RM prices) and there has been quite a lot of discussion about the new prices- this year people do seem to be on top of them. I actually have a suspicion that someone on here may have been at one auction as they seemed to know about this thread!

Some people do seem to be looking at couriers, but there was also a general worry amongst those not registered as businesses that by using couriers or drawing attention to themselves by asking RM about business rates that HMRC might catch them. An awful lot of people though were saying that they will stick to smaller items and only buy large things when they can go to a antiques fair or upmarket car boot.

One of the auctioneers even sold some items on the basis that they were going cheap so we could all ebay them and ship them before the prices went up, and he made a joke that come April he won't be able to shift these large but very cheap goods again until the car boot season is in full swing.

In previous years I had not noticed such discussions about RM prices

custardy

soolin wrote: »

I actually have a suspicion that someone on here may have been at one auction as they seemed to know about this thread!

Stalker mode activated

soolin

custardy wrote: »

Stalker mode activated

Bound to happen, I live in a densly populated area and like many dealers travel quite a distance as well for some of my auctions- I see the same people at aucitons, then car boots and it would seem odd if at least a few of them were not reading (even if not contributing) to this site.

We even buy and sell amongst ourselves, I know one dealer who buys a certain item, so if he is not at one of the auctions I will buy and either sell to him direct or list it at an auction I know he attends.

Going to aucitons quite a lot I also think it shows the grip ebay has on the market generally. Sometimes an auctioneer will tell you what the item is going for on ebay- or suggest this is a good ebay seller- no other site is ever mentioned. They always refer to ebaying items. You see the auction houses as well with all the dealers on their smart phones checking ebay prices!

ballisticbrian

I've been thinking about this and I think it could turn out the perfect storm for the government and Royal Mail. Think about it - all those parcels from China and India under 15 quid don't attract VAT or import duties. By squeezing sellers of low value goods in the UK, people wont return to the high street. The public loves cheap stuff, despite the quality which is normally not apparent till you get an item.
So more goods will be coming in from the far east, less tax revenues for the government, Royal Mail will still be expected to deliver this stuff.
The government is forcing some of these changes on Royal Mail (presumably because of European rules) and they will end up damaging the British economy.

lindseykim13

Well it's taken effect on me as i actually chose not to buy some stock today because i had in the back of my mind the price hike!

Strapped

lindseykim13 wrote: »

Well it's taken effect on me as i actually chose not to buy some stock today because i had in the back of my mind the price hike!

I ordered more - going to ramp up the volume :undecided

Goldiegirl

I've certainly been listing the larger sized things that I want to sell, to get them done before the prices change.

I had already planned not to have anything ending over the Easter weekend, as the PO would be busy on the Tuesday morning, but factor in the new parcel rules as well, and it'll likely be chaos in there!

soolin

Goldiegirl wrote: »

I've certainly been listing the larger sized things that I want to sell, to get them done before the prices change.

I had already planned not to have anything ending over the Easter weekend, as the PO would be busy on the Tuesday morning, but factor in the new parcel rules as well, and it'll likely be chaos in there!

There is now a free listing weekend just before Easter as well. So sellers listing for 10 days on the Sunday will have their things finish on Wednesday which only leaves the Thursday and Saturday to post before hitting the new prices on the 2nd. I do think a lot of casual small private sellers will be caught out .

porto_bello

soolin wrote: »

There is now a free listing weekend just before Easter as well. So sellers listing for 10 days on the Sunday will have their things finish on Wednesday which only leaves the Thursday and Saturday to post before hitting the new prices on the 2nd. I do think a lot of casual small private sellers will be caught out .

Personally, I'm going to list for 7 days, to finish Sunday, to give a week for payments to come in and get items despatched... and avoid the price rises.

But of course, there's always one slow payer! :mad: