New postage costs and restrictions!?*%!

ajantom":36zsc2l0 said:

Feel free to move it, but I felt it was bike related too.

Click to expand...

That's exactly what I was thinking. Moving it to OT as it'll attract more views there.

Postage prices generally are just becoming insane.

Used to buy loads of vinyl from the USA. No more due to the massive postage hikes.

Just sent a couple of very small parcels off to RB members and was shocked at the cost for what were quite small items.

Welcome to Canada.

Oddly enough I just ordered a vinyl from Canada and postage was a lot less than from the USA.

USPS jacked their international rates a few weeks ago.

This really does suck! I have used royal mail for years but fear now it is just way too pricey...people complain of local post offices closing down...is it any wonder! I have been recommended my hermes by the lady I see regularily behind the post office counter for the last 5 years...sad but the end of the post office I see...

Doug

I would guess the huge price hikes are something to do with the government budget cuts, requiring Royal Mail to operate at a greater profit to help pay for hospitals, schools, ministerial limousines etc.

The definition things are a bloody nuisance, but I think one or two of the things said above aren't quite right, e.g.,

Handlebars
These should still be able to go as Medium Parcel rather than Parcelforce - it says "Roll or cylinder shaped parcels larger than these sizes can be posted as Medium Parcels up to and including 90cm in length and up to and including 104cm (length plus twice the diameter)"

Having to wait in for a Parcelforce collection
Parcelforce are in fact encouraging you to leave your parcel at your local post office for collection, and that way you get a £1 discount. There is a further £1 discount if your buyer will collect the parcel from his local post office.

Rims
This always could be a problem, depending on whether the post office took the rules literally. Does a 61 x 61 x 3cm package come within a 61 x 45 x 45cm limit? Strictly speaking no, but its volume is about a tenth of the volume of the biggest medium parcel, so common sense has often prevailed in the past. It depends whether the local post office wants to turn away business. Maybe they'll be forced to in future.

Forks
Again it depends on how literally they take the limit - 70 x 20 x 10cm is about a tenth of the volume of the biggest medium parcel, so we'll see. Anyway, even if it was accepted as a medium parcel, the price for that kind of weight has gone up hugely, so not all that much different to a Parcelforce price.

I like the sound of myHermes and I think I'll give that a go. The max length of 1.2m and max weight of 15kg could be a problem for sending bikes, but I think 1.2m isn't a lot different from Parcelforce's 3m for length plus girth (I usually go for 120 x 70 x20)

My local PO have been very strict with the new rules. They have been told to apparently. I packed up a tyre in a 35 x 35 x 8 small package and they checked it with a tape measure and that plastic letter size thing.
No leeway on the length either, under 61cm, or Parcel Force it must go!

I successfully sent a package through MyHermes last week, though if you read online there are a lot of horror stories about them. They use self employed delivery drivers, i.e. anyone with a car/van.

I'd use Parcel Monkey for full bikes, by far the cheapest I've found, and very good service so far.

Funnily enough, I started a thread a while back about Royal Mail and got slated.

Glad I'm not the only one whom thinks they're too expensive

Being fair, your thread was a little more than complaining about the prices.