Getting my letters franked

Log in to reply
G

Greensand Ridge

Free Member
Jun 21, 2007
62
4
62
Weald, Sevenoaks
  • #1
    I'm planning a direct marketing campaign which will involve sending out up to 1,000 letters.

    I don't want to spend a whole day putting stamps on envelopes if I can avoid it. Equally, I don't think it is going to pay me to hire a franking machine.

    Does anybody know whether I can take my letters into the post office, pay them for the postage and get them to frank them?

    Or, is there benefit in looking at some sort of business post scheme that will provide this service?

    Many thanks.
     
    D

    Deleted member 3454

  • #9
    Greensand Ridge said:
    I've downloaded the demo system and it looks easy to use.

    Do you have to do a certain level of postage per month for it to pay for itself or do you just accept that you are paying for the convenience?
    Click to expand...

    With SmartStamp you pay the fee (annual or monthly) plus the standard rate for postage via top ups, which work a bit like a mobile top up. I enjoy the convenience of not having to go the post office and but stamps - instead I simply print what I need when I need. In addition when I send out International Recorded, Recorded Delivery or Special Delivery I only have to go to the sorting office and drop it off - so much easier than queuing for ages at a post office.
     
    Upvote 0
    K

    kayak

    Free Member
    Jan 3, 2008
    540
    13
    Cardiff
  • #11
    coxadmin said:
    With SmartStamp you pay the fee (annual or monthly) plus the standard rate for postage via top ups, which work a bit like a mobile top up. I enjoy the convenience of not having to go the post office and but stamps - instead I simply print what I need when I need. In addition when I send out International Recorded, Recorded Delivery or Special Delivery I only have to go to the sorting office and drop it off - so much easier than queuing for ages at a post office.
    Click to expand...

    How does this work with all the new rules about weight and size? Do you just tell it how much you need to put on the letter and it adds it on? Sometimes it can be a little hard to know how much postage you are meant to be putting on.

    My post office close to my office has just closed down so I have to drive to another one which always has massive queues so I am reading this thread with interest. I don't really do much posting though, but what I do do is variable.

    Kind regards,

    John
     
    Upvote 0
    C

    Courir

  • #12
    Hi John,

    Go to this link at Royal Mail and simply enter the weight of your item (after selecting UK or overseas): Pricing Guide. Once you have done this you will see an llustration of the various options making up a 'Letter', 'Large Letter' or 'Packet'.

    If needed there are templates available (try eBay or Viking etc.,) that you can use to check the format of your item.

    Best of luck, Mike
     
    Upvote 0
    K

    kayak

    Free Member
    Jan 3, 2008
    540
    13
    Cardiff
  • #13
    CourirLtd said:
    Hi John,

    Go to this link at Royal Mail and simply enter the weight of your item (after selecting UK or overseas): Pricing Guide. Once you have done this you will see an llustration of the various options making up a 'Letter', 'Large Letter' or 'Packet'.

    If needed there are templates available (try eBay or Viking etc.,) that you can use to check the format of your item.

    Best of luck, Mike
    Click to expand...

    Thanks for the link - it is pretty useful how they tell you what weight four pieces of paper etc would be.

    I was thinkin and once you know the weight of say your ten items you commonly post, i.e. presentation folder, letter, 5 A4 letters, 10 A4 letters etc then you should be done with all the faffing! Save 15 minutes queing in the post office just to post a few letters!

    I will look into this more carefully in the near future!

    Kind regards,

    John
     
    Upvote 0
    C

    Chippie

  • #15
    Greensand Ridge said:
    I'm planning a direct marketing campaign which will involve sending out up to 1,000 letters.

    I don't want to spend a whole day putting stamps on envelopes if I can avoid it. Equally, I don't think it is going to pay me to hire a franking machine.

    Does anybody know whether I can take my letters into the post office, pay them for the postage and get them to frank them?

    Or, is there benefit in looking at some sort of business post scheme that will provide this service?

    Many thanks.
    Click to expand...

    Take a look at this :

    http://www.neopost.co.uk

    They are offering a 30 day free trial of their autostamp franking system and you save 3p on a second class letter and 2p on a first class letter. We're about to do a mailshot to 6000 past customers and thought we'd take it on trial for a month to coincide with that. You can return it after 30 days with 5 days notice in writing, so nothing to lose really. HTH. :)
     
    Upvote 0
    C

    Courir

  • #16
    Chippie said:
    We're about to do a mailshot to 6000 past customers and thought we'd take it on trial for a month to coincide with that. You can return it after 30 days with 5 days notice in writing, so nothing to lose really. HTH. :)
    Click to expand...

    If you have 6,000 I would suggest that you speak to a local mailing house and ask them about Mailsort. If this is a one-off they should be able to take your data and sort it in order to obtain some large discounts. Also you can use this discount to pay their handling fee meaning you might not have to print, envelop lick and stick the items either!

    Some prices:

    2nd Class, Franking Machine, 6k = £1,396.80
    Mailsort 2, 1400 = £1,282.05 (assumes 50/50 split between directs/residues)
    Mailsort 3, 1400 = £1,121.10 (same assumption as above, 7=day delivery but ideal for marketing).

    If your items are C5 or less, use a OCR font for the address (Arial etc.,) and meet a few other conditions then you can use Mailsort 3, 120. This would give you a price of £1,005.96!

    You can speak to your local mailing house about all of the above and they should be able to advise.

    Alternatively, if you are doing this more than a one-off then other options become available and possibly using alternative carriers.

    Best of luck, Mike
     
    • Like
    Reactions: Chippie
    Upvote 0
    H

    HC-Martin

  • #19
    I would suggest spending the time sticking stamps on letters may increase the chance of it being opened somewhat.

    When I sort through post, the order I open in is: 1) From people I know (or am expecting), 2) Stamped (unknown sender) 3) Franked/Junk - and mostly get bored by this point.

    Seriously - get the family together, and spend an evening in from of the tv with a wadge of stamps - and you don't even need to lick them anymore either!!!!!
     
    Upvote 0
    Log in to reply

    Latest Articles

    Top Bottom
    Community
    Articles
    Menu