Best Postage Solutions For Small E-Commerce Store Selling UK & Overseas

[moorland72]

We have set up a small e-commerce site and are looking for the best postage solutions.

All the packages are 25x20x15cm and under 1kg.

We are mostly posting to the uk but also europe & usa.

Currently we use myhermes but they are too slow and don't do international.

Does anyone have any good recommendations? and prices for these services...

I have registered with ups but they quoted me £89 to ship to us, which is crazy of course.

 

[alanc]

What's wrong with Royal Mail? They are the cheapest.

 

[moorland72]

nothing is wrong we use them now, however taking 40 parcels to the post office in one go is a pain so wondered if there was a better solution?

 

[alanc]

Ask RM about a PPI account and then pay for a daily collection (about £900/year).

 

[RedOnion]

If your RM postage is over £15K a year then there is no charge for collection.

 

[DmitryN]

If you plan to ship to Russia and CIS, please let me know. My company has the widest domestic network in Russia and CIS.

 

[waynewes]

Don't go direct to companies like DHL or Fedex at this stage, use companies like inter parcel, parcel monkey, wedelivertheworld etc etc. they will give you prices like £10-£20 per parcel for international. For your UK stuff the best service depends on what you want. The cheapest signed for service I think does end up being MyHermes but if you don't need signed for the try a Royal Mail PPI or if you don't meet that level then try a franking machine. One thing I would say about franking though is they are not flexible and you can get stuck in a long contract. If you are growing the business fast then I would probably avoid franking altogether as it is only a couple of pence cheaper per item against the stamp price but more expensive than PPI.

 

[SamStones]

What's the value of the items?
How many are you sending per week?
How quickly do you need them to get there?

 

[bharris]

As above avoid franking if you can, its a complete rip-off once you pay for the labels, ink, top-up credit etc.. it costs more than going to the post office and your stuck in a contract.

I would go for RM with a OBA, The collection charge is the biggest downside and i struggle to see how they justify it as in most cases they drive past every property picking up from postboxes and post offices every night so why charge????? check in your costings the chages as that can be a lot of free postage with another provider. If you do spend more than £15k then its no problem.

 

[Justin Smith]

We`ve got a franking machine and it saves us loads over the cost of stamps. I agree you have to be careful where you buy the ink and labels there`s a big difference in price and FP mailing charge a totally rip off price for the card required to reprogramme our MyMail franking machine with the new rates. But we get round that by just using the Miscellaneous option, though it`s only practical for us to do this because we put a relatively small number of higher value franks through our machine.
We get RM in every day and this current year it`s £787 + VAT. To be frank (pun intended....) it`s possibly not economic for the relatively small number of things we send RM but going to the Post Office would take too long, remember, even sending one employee who takes 20 minutes at £8 an hour would cost more than getting RM in ! And it`d take longer than 20min if they had to queue to get stuff signed for.

 

[BenPB]

Don't go direct to companies like DHL or Fedex at this stage, use companies like inter parcel, parcel monkey, wedelivertheworld etc etc. they will give you prices like £10-£20 per parcel for international. For your UK stuff the best service depends on what you want. The cheapest signed for service I think does end up being MyHermes but if you don't need signed for the try a Royal Mail PPI or if you don't meet that level then try a franking machine. One thing I would say about franking though is they are not flexible and you can get stuck in a long contract. If you are growing the business fast then I would probably avoid franking altogether as it is only a couple of pence cheaper per item against the stamp price but more expensive than PPI.

Stick to what waynewes said, came across this post and signed up. We deal with customers around the globe that have been stung by going direct to carriers due to not doing their homework.

Do NOT just stick with one carrier and integrate with them, if their network goes down or they decide to hike their prices up you will find it hard to negotiate prices, they know you don't want to waste time and money integrating with another carrier. This is why parcel brokers are your best bet, also most of the good sites will let you negotiate special rates if you're putting enough through them.

 

[moorland72]

thanks we are currently sending out around 15-20 identical parcels each day

they are a small parcel which we send 2nd class at £2.80 all uk based.

we are looking to move to selling around 40-60 parcels per day in few months so looking at best options to help with this..

ie so we

* don't have to go to the post office with 60 parcels
* get discount on the postage
* ideally get the parcels picked up - however how do we "stamp" the parcels before hand..

thanks

 

[JMRidley]

A Royal Mail OBA account sounds perfect for you. We use this and we print out the OBA labels for 24 or 48 hour delivery on our printer (we just use standard 8 x 3 avery labels to print the labels on) and stick them on our parcels, calculate total weight of the parcels divided by number of parcels, fill out the OBA form online which is very simple, put the parcels in a mailing bag with a copy of the form and then drop off at the post office - we don't need to wait in line as our post office has a counter for dropping off mailing bags. We could have parcels collected but as we live close to the post office it's not worth the additional cost for us. You should get a discounted postage rate if you have over 1,000 parcels a year.

 

[moorland72]

thanks for the info, we looked at the online account but was unsure how we would pay and sort the postage labels... will look into it again. and yes being able to simply drop the parcels off at the post office would save us a lot of time money! thanks!

 

[Chris34]

You print the labels yourself via your own pc. You then weigh all sacks of parcels you are sending out, divide the total weight of all the parcels you are sending by the amount of parcels you are sending to give you an average weight and then you input those details into your online Royal Mail account. Once you have uploaded the details you print off a receipt and attach the receipt to the mail sacks. You can drop the sacks off at a post office or your local sorting office. Basically you have already booked the parcels in the system and all you are doing is physically putting the parcels in the system, even the van drivers will take them if you can catch them. Then at the end of each month Royal Mail send you an invoice for payment for the months parcels / letters you have sent.

It's super simple and is exactly what you need. You can book a number of different services via your online account. The labels you attach to the parcels will depend on the service you are using.


Chris.

 

[moorland72]

ah that sounds good. all our parcels are exactly the same weight and size so be easy to work out. i have requested access so will look in to this when approved. many thanks!

 

[fastprint.co.uk]

We use UPS

 

[GuyMor]

Hi,

Our problem is similar. We use RM at the moment, but struggle to find reasonable tracked overseas prices. Our average purchase value is £60, and customers don't want to pay £15 (or even £10 if we absorb some).

Any advice?

we send 25 parcels/week. Only around 5-7 go overseas

 

[Justin Smith]

Hi,

Our problem is similar. We use RM at the moment, but struggle to find reasonable tracked overseas prices. Our average purchase value is £60, and customers don't want to pay £15 (or even £10 if we absorb some).

Any advice?

we send 25 parcels/week. Only around 5-7 go overseas

In our experience there is no cheap way to send parcels overseas, I`d be interested to hear if you find that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow ! We use either P4D (the parcels agent) or RM International Signed For, which ever is the cheapest for that particular order. The signed for element of the latter is usually significant (about £5) so we sometimes give the customer the option of a non signed for delivery but at their risk. If it`s a relatively low value item they often take that option, and the orders have always got there.
That said, if the parcel is any significant size (or a multiple item order) we can`t even find a cheap way to send stuff to Northern Ireland or NW Scotland !

 

[Justin Smith]

Error

 

[GuyMor]

We use either P4D (the parcels agent) or RM International Signed For, which ever is the cheapest for that particular order. The signed for element of the latter is usually significant (about £5) so we sometimes give the customer the option of a non signed for delivery but at their risk

May I ask how much does a parcel cost to send to Europe and USA?

 

[Justin Smith]

May I ask how much does a parcel cost to send to Europe and USA?

It depends on the weight and size. You can check P4D for yourself here.
As for RM [for signed for add £5.10], using franking 1Kg to :
USA = £11.98
Europe = £7.65

 

[KevinRockett]

Whereas my Clients are paying £2.99 for a lightweight TRACKED item to USA via the eTail USA service and £3.49 for the same tracked item to Germany .

 

[jjscruff]

Postal logistics international and
Future Pro Logistics

Two companies that i have worked with who can send international tracked items for you for from £3.50

 

[wayzgoose]

The signed for element of the latter is usually significant (about £5) so we sometimes give the customer the option of a non signed for delivery but at their risk. If it`s a relatively low value item they often take that option, and the orders have always got there.

Is that B2B? Can't see how "at their risk" will stop a chargeback if a parcel doesn't arrive.

 

[Benjamin Sherwin]

I worked for a Sports Nutrition company that sent an average of abut 60 parcels a day and we found that DPD and Parcel Force (mostly Parcel Force) gave us the best value on a collection service for parcels over 2kg. Anything under that was a job for Royal Mail.

 

[Justin Smith]

Whereas my Clients are paying £2.99 for a lightweight TRACKED item to USA via the eTail USA service and £3.49 for the same tracked item to Germany .

When you say lightweight, what sort of weight are we talking ? And what dimensions ?

 

[Justin Smith]

Is that B2B? Can't see how "at their risk" will stop a chargeback if a parcel doesn't arrive.

We`ve only ever had one or two chargebacks in over 10 years, both times the customer was being an absolute t***. What I`m actually saying is 99% of our customers are decent honest people who wouldn't "rat on a deal". Fortunately, to my knowledge, the few who have gone for non signed for have always had their package delivered anyway.

 

[Abe Choi]

@moorland72 definitely go the Royal Mail Online Business Account (OBA). Anything less than 2kgs at 2nd class will be £2.50. Given that your volume is predicted to pick up you should not have trouble getting over the £15k spend to get free pickup.

@Justin Smith Kevin's service etail is great. We are integrated with his service because he has great prompt service and amazing prices. He goes from lightweight of 100g and up. We had a customer who had to ship over 500+ packages (ranging from 100g - 1kg) in one day to the US. It wasn't a problem for Kevin.

 

[KevinRockett]

Justin,

Lightweight is 0g - 200g, rates are £2.99 to USA and £3.49 to Germany for that weight band. Fully Tracked. Dimensions do not matter as no volumetric charges ever apply. No other surcharges either such as fuel/customs.

Carrrier to USA is UPS/USPS and to Germany it is DPD. Shipping is worlwide, all Countries.

Service brand name is : etail-usa

Hope that helps.

 

[wayzgoose]

Justin,

Lightweight is 0g - 200g, rates are £2.99 to USA and £3.49 to Germany for that weight band. Fully Tracked. Dimensions do not matter as no volumetric charges ever apply. No other surcharges either such as fuel/customs.

Carrrier to USA is UPS/USPS and to Germany it is DPD. Shipping is worlwide, all Countries.

Service brand name is : etail-usa

Hope that helps.

Where can the worldwide delivery details be found?

 

[japancool]

We`ve only ever had one or two chargebacks in over 10 years, both times the customer was being an absolute t***. What I`m actually saying is 99% of our customers are decent honest people who wouldn't "rat on a deal". Fortunately, to my knowledge, the few who have gone for non signed for have always had their package delivered anyway.

Signed for is not for the customers' protection, it's for yours.

 

[KevinRockett]

Wayzgoose - if you PM me I will send you the information and global rates.

 

[Dan Muddle]

We've just conducted some research and it seems that Royal Mail are cheapest shortly followed by UKMail.

We use UKMail so we don't have to go to the post office and we rarely have problems with them, except when we want to order new bags and labels.

 

[FuturePro]

GuyMor, Wayzgoose,
FuturePro will collects your mail from any UK location. Our International prices are lower than Royal Mail. For example:
International Tracked Mail USA to 113g £2.99

PM me and I will provide you with complete global rates.
Mark

 

[KevinRockett]

Just quickly to endorse the Futurepro tracked mail service.

As I was involved in the creation and initial setup of the FPL mail service I can certainly vouch for it. They have great 3PL services and products there also.

Futurepro offer a total mail solution, including UK and RM services, whereas I concentrate only on ecommerce 'lanes' such as USA, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Ireland and Australia via UPS and DPD and do not offer UK or RM or any untracked (as my Clients only want tracked).

We both collect from any UK location.

We don't tend to compete, rather - we complement and have worked together in the past.

I highly recommend them. Nice guys too.

 

[GingerFox]

Hi,
I am terribly sorry for hijacking but may I ask about pricing to Spain and Portugal? Thanks.

 

[KevinRockett]

Gingerfox - that's OK. Spain Tracked 0-100g is £4.99, 101g-200g is £5.49. same for Portugal. 3 to 4 day service.

 

[GingerFox]

KevinRockett. Thank you for the reply.
May I ask about prices for 500g-1kg and what are posting. requirements?

 

[KevinRockett]

Gingerfox. Probably best to PM me for further details. I can then send you all the info you may need.