Cheapest Postage Method - PPI

[GlasgowBeauty]

We currently ship 100 2nd class large letters per day using a ppi account with Royal Mail. At the moment we use the code BPL and print a small 2 on all orders. However when analysing my competitors I noticed they print a small 48 or 24 on orders instead of the 2. Does anyone know the difference between the 2 methods.

Currently I operate as a sole trader and I'm not VAT registered, however I will probably need to register for VAT within the next 6 months, so if there is cheaper Royal Mail accounts that require you to be VAT registered then that is fine.

Our current price is £0.63 for a 2nd class large letter under 100g. Does anyone know what other products Royal Mail offers and if these would work out cheaper.

Thanks
Chris

 

[HTMLHugo]

pretty sure BPL includes vat and should work out slightly cheaper for a somebody who isnt vat registered.

but shouldnt you be using STL?

Standard Tarrif Letter?

 

[Abe Choi]

@GlasgowBeauty - Chris, looks like you got a great business there. As your volumes grow you will want to potentially move (in the long term) to a Downstream Access (DSA) player who consolidates mail on behalf of Royal Mail (RM) and then inject that mail "downstream" which is closer to the recipient. Because the DSA player sorts and moves the mail for RM they receive a discounted rate that a single merchant could not get.

However, Large Letter rates are the most competitive and therefore there aren't much margins available for DSA services. DSA providers like it when you have parcels in the mix as well where that becomes much more revenue attractive.

For now, you could try to do presorting for RM, which means you would sort your large letters according to certain postcodes / regions. By you helping RM, you get a discounted rate. You should invest in software to streamline this sorting process for you. We do this by auto grouping postcodes together and printing in batches so the hard work is already done and you go on with your normal pick/pack process. If you don't have some automated system it is potentially not worth the effort. I hope this helps you out.

 

[alanc]

24 is 24 hour (the new name for First Class)
48 is 48 hour (Second Class)
Why don't you contact your RM account handler and ask them? They are the people who know all the products.
BTW. If you're still printing a digit '2' on the label, you're not complying with RM's label standards.

 

[JPMiddleton]

24 is first class and 48 is second, but it's just a contract service available only to businesses rather than being the new name for first and second (neither 24 or 48 are particularly new).

First and second use the code BPL, and you are fine to use the 1 and 2 (not sure where the previous poster gets that info from but BPL is still definitely in use). CRL is the code for 24/48 and include VAT in their prices, which BPL does not. The only real difference for us is that we can use CRL for much bigger parcel sizes than the traditional small parcel using BPL.

Not sure if that helps!

 

[Gemma Adair]

I think they are just different PPI accounts.

When I signed up for PPI, the lady I spoke to asked if I was VAT registered (I'm not), and said when I am to call back and they will get me onto the 24/48hr service as it's cheaper and the Large Letters now come with tracking or something.

I send normal letters and large letters mostly and use the code BPL.. which is VAT free.

 

[Gemma Adair]

Also, not sure if I'm okay to link, but I just buy rolls of labels from these guys as I send 100's out every day > Can't link as I'm a new user.. but it's PPI - Labels .co.uk

I have 1st Class, 2nd Class and Airmail ones (with integrated return address).

 

[Jeff FV]

Also, not sure if I'm okay to link, but I just buy rolls of labels from these guys as I send 100's out every day > Can't link as I'm a new user.. but it's PPI - Labels .co.uk

I have 1st Class, 2nd Class and Airmail ones (with integrated return address).

Here's a link to PPI labels:

http://www.ppi-labels.co.uk/

I also use them, and more than happy to recommend them.

 

[YesMan]

I've used PPI Labels .co.uk a lot in the past too, before I moved onto a new system which allows me to print the PPI logo straight onto address labels.

Unfortunately it looks like their business will close, with Royal Mail moving everybody over to DMO, no one will need the separate labels anymore!

 

[AnthonyP]

there are websites where they compare all prices from all companies... it would be a good idea to take a look at it...

 

[joshgeake]

24/48 is as cheap as it gets for that size/weight in the UK before you're using DSA. By all means use integrated labels from someone like Priory Direct but do be aware that Royal Mail 2D barcodes will need to be on your Large Letters and Parcels from April.

 

[Jeff FV]

24/48 is as cheap as it gets for that size/weight in the UK before you're using DSA. By all means use integrated labels from someone like Priory Direct but do be aware that Royal Mail 2D barcodes will need to be on your Large Letters and Parcels from April.

... but will they?

I think it is a can that keeps getting kicked down the road.

I suspect there will be a price hike for non barcode mail from April, but I don't think it will be mandatory. (Happy to be shown otherwise if you can point me in the right direction.)

 

[joshgeake]

I think they have already warned their PPI customers to expect an additional cost after April.

I integrated it in November and it's now working 99% of the time. There's plenty of issues with it that are all Royal Mail's fault. DMO's "On Demand" Java system is awful and very slow...but it does work. It adds about 5 seconds onto our picking process.

 

[Jeff FV]

... which suggests that you won't need 2D barcodes from April, just have to pay (a bit?) more for PPI.

 

[joshgeake]

Ok, so you won't *need* it but you'll be paying to not have it and your customers will quickly expect you to have it (once competitors are).

Imagine if the premium to not have it were 50p per package!

 

[Jeff FV]

I don't think our customers will expect it. I think the advantages of DMO are entirely for Royal Mail and not for the sender or recipient.

The premium for not going DMO will be key - there will be costs to us moving to DMO (both time & money) so I shall wait to see what that premium is.

One of the big drawbacks for me is the (typical) byzantine way that Royal Mail works. I've just spend 20 mins or so searching online for more info on how it actually works but can't find a simple set of instructions/videos telling me what to do. The "best" I could find from RM was a video showing how to enter an order, but it involved typing in the address manually - no way am I doing this for each order! I presume you can upload everything from an excel csv sheet?

I'd be interested to hear how you have implemented your solution.

 

[joshgeake]

You can either key it in manually (a staggering number of established and busy businesses do this) or...

Use the DMO direct print On Demand feature. You declare an import/pickup folder on your dispatch computer and present it with a file for each order. Within the file are the address details and information for whatever service you want to use. With your browser open on a DMO java applet webpage, it will process the file and print the label.

Interlink/DPD have a very similar system like this that works very well. Royal Mail's is awful and slow...but at least it works 99% of the time.

As you say, documentation is very limited and they insist on you having a "Result" folder and "Lock" file as well as the Data file which makes implementation awkward. The way we set it up was to have a constantly syncing Dropbox folder - the unix server creates the Data and Lock files and once sync'd it gets picked up by DMO on the dispatch computer. After the label's created, the result file that DMO creates has associated tracking information in it. It's again sync'd by Dropbox and processed on the unix server.

Basically, it should be easier and Interlink/DPD have been doing it this way for years.

 

[Jeff FV]

Thanks for the above.

I think this is why I (and thousands of others) have resisted the move: it could & should be fairly straightforward, but isn't. I'll probably wait until a few more wrinkles in the system are ironed out.

I did stumble across this - Zenstores - I don't know if anyone has used them, but for £25 a month it might be worth it, if it really is seamless and painless.

 

[joshgeake]

Yeah I've seen the third parties that offer these transition services. I like the idea but I don't like having to pass full customer details to them and I also wouldn't like it if their services failed for whatever reason(s).

The only reason I made the transition last year (!) is because they started hounding me. They have a whole team up there dedicated to pressuring PPI/OBA customers into it asap.