Postage for online business

[Mooslak]

Hello

I was wondering if anybody would be able to help me with shipping and postage for online businesses.

I'm currently in the process of thinking up a few business ideas and would appreciate any guidance with regards to shipping products for an online business and how it works? What providers are out there and what's the best price/service out there to use at the moment?

The items would be small sized packages no more than a couple of kilos

Sorry if this question has been asked before. I've had a look around and cannot find anything that answers this question so if there is something please point me in the right direction!

Thanks in advance.

 

[StevensOnln1]

If it's all small/low weight items you'll struggle to beat Royal Mail's prices. If you're sending enough volume you can get a franking machine or business account which both come with lower rates.

 

[JMRidley]

Depends on volume. If you are going to be sending more than 1000 parcels per year then Royal Mail will be hard to beat for parcels under 2kg, provided that they aren't larger than 61cm x 46cm x 46cm. You need to open an OBA account with Royal Mail.

If you are sending less than 1000 parcels then it depends on the parcel size. If your parcels fit into the small packet size (45cm x 35cm x 8cm or 16cm x 16cm x 16cm or less or a tube up to 45cm, 8cm diameter) and are under 2kg then Royal Mail is probably best. If your parcels are larger than this then you want to look at companies such as Myhermes. We send our large wall stickers by My Hermes for £2.50 plus VAT. They would be over £8 by Royal Mail.

For items over 2kg we use parcels2go or parcel monkey.

 

[lindseyg1983]

As others have said, for smaller items you'll struggle to beat Royal Mail on price, even posting with Recorded Delivery. I now use MyHermes for everything though as had so many issues with things going missing/delayed/returned to me for no apparent reason with RM!

 

[simong93]

I would say for smaller items look into franking machine i have made a little postage calculator that can show you the difference between stamps and franking costs feel free to check it out.

precioushosting. co . uk/postagecalculator.php

 

[VapingStore]

Postage is so expensive now compared to before!

 

[Mooslak]

Thank you all! the information has been most helpful

 

[desperatesam]

I've been using Parcel2Go for my business on Ebay. Selling war medals packaged in a typical standard size envelope, you would think to use Royal mail! Hermes all the way with £2.50 a parcel!