The Royal Mail has been at it again and is increasing its shipping prices from 26 March 2018. Whilst they maintain that they are still one of the best value postal operators in Europe (offering first class letter delivery for 27p less than the European average), it will still come as a pinch for many eCommerce sellers who rely on the mail for their business.
Royal Mail Price Increases March 2018
Size |
Weight up to |
1st Class |
2nd Class |
||
2017 |
2018 |
2017 |
2018 |
||
Letter |
100g |
65p |
67p |
56p |
58p |
Large letter |
100g |
98p |
£1.01 |
76p |
79p |
|
250g |
£1.30 |
£1.40 |
£1.22 |
£1.26 |
|
|
500g |
£1.74 |
£1.87 |
£1.58 |
£1.64 |
|
|
750g |
£2.52 |
£2.60 |
£2.14 |
£2.22 |
|
Small parcel |
1kg |
£3.40 |
£3.45 |
£2.90 |
£2.95 |
|
2kg |
£5.50 |
£5.50 |
£2.90 |
£2.95 |
|
Medium parcel |
1kg |
£5.70 |
£5.75 |
£5.00 |
£5.05 |
|
2kg |
£8.95 |
£8.95 |
£5.00 |
£5.05 |
|
|
5kg |
£15.85 |
£15.85 |
£13.75 |
£13.75 |
|
|
10kg |
£21.90 |
£21.90 |
£20.25 |
£20.25 |
|
|
20kg |
£33.40 |
£33.40 |
£28.55 |
£28.55 |
|
Tracked Returns 48
They have also introduced new weight bands to their Tracked Returns 48 service, specifically:
0-2k |
£ 3.05 |
||
2-5kg |
£ 5.66 |
||
5-10kg |
£ 7.58 |
||
10-20kg |
£ 9.60 |
This will affect returns made through eBay’s managed returns procedure and they have issued guidance here.
What Should You Do?
This is the perfect opportunity to review your shipping arrangements:
– Is your shipping carrier working for you?
– Are you going to absorb shipping costs yourself or pass onto the customer
– Are you going to absorb return costs yourself or pass onto the customer
Are You Being Efficient With Shipping?
Organising your shipping, updating your sales channel(s), creating picking/packing lists, individually printing labels and updating your accounting software is time-consuming, hard work and prone to errors. Multichannel management software handles all of this for you, by integrating directly with your shipping carrier (including Royal Mail); from one central screen, for one simple (and affordable) monthly payment.