Hike in post prices

Posted by Constantly Confused PM | on Thu, 15/03/2012 - 16:49  1379  6 comments | report

So apparently the Royal Mail are about to jack prices up massively, as at 2 April.  It appears franking accounts will be almost unaffected, just a few pence in fact, so I'm wondering...

We buy postage electronically and then print labels with a RM program through the pc and printer.  Is that us franking?  I'm not in the admin dept, but they seemed to think this wasn't franking (and they should know!), but I feel otherwise (instead of pushing envelopes through a machine we are putting stickers on them, surely that is franking by another name?).

Basically if the choice is we get a franking machine or pay double for our postage, I think we will need to price up machines.  But if we already have a franking machine we don't need to.

Any ideas?

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Paul Scholes's picture

From my long term memory...

Paul Scholes | Thu, 15/03/2012 - 17:11 | Permalink

when we used a franking machine, you top your machine up with money in advance and RM give you a discount per item for effectively taking the paper & glue out of their hands and also enabling them to automate the franked items electronically when you put all the franked mail in their special red & green bags.

Printing off a big stamp from their website one at a time, may be more efficient for them in some respects than supplying you with a sticky stamp but everything else is pretty much the same.

Having said all that have you thought of the even cheaper, quicker & far more efficient alternative.....PDF?  We're still using stamps with angels & christmas trees on them (from 2010).

Constantly Confused's picture

Thanks

Constantly Confused | Fri, 16/03/2012 - 08:35 | Permalink

The stamp we print is identical to a franked stamp, it's just it goes on a sticker rather than direct on an envelope.  I don't see the difference, but as I say, I'm being overruled by admin.

Given we are a 'paperless office' you would think we would pdf more, but we don't.  The joys of middle management, I can see things that could be done, but have too little power to actually do anything.

Consider a 3rd party post service

ringi | Fri, 16/03/2012 - 13:49 | Permalink

You don’t have to use the Royal Mail; there are 3rd parties that will charge you a lot less if you have enough mail and put the postcode on.  Some of these will let you set them a PDF over the internet that they then print and mail for you.

PDF's, you've got a hope.

0098087 | Sat, 17/03/2012 - 17:15 | Permalink

PDF's, you've got a hope. They moan about having to print it and it costing them money!

Paul Scholes's picture

009

Paul Scholes | Sun, 18/03/2012 - 13:46 | Permalink

009 (if I may be personal), I don't print PDFs sent to me so why should clients, unless you ask them to?

Yes I understand but if I do

0098087 | Sun, 18/03/2012 - 14:07 | Permalink

Yes I understand but if I do ask them they moan

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