Help please with postage

hi there…

Can anyone help me :smile: i want to add recorded delivery to my postage costs but am unable or i am not doing it right :confused: i have always used normal 1st class but would like to give customers an option of postage…any advice gratefully received…

This link should help.
http://www.postoffice.co.uk/price-finder

You can only have one sort of postage with each item so there is no option for people to choose between having something sent either standard first class or special delivery. If you want to add a special delivery option then create a listing for special delivery (called something like postage upgrade - special delivery) and set the cost of it as the difference between the standard postage and the special delivery cost (and set the postage for that listing to zero). The royal mail price finder link in the previous reply will allow you work out what that difference will be (remember that folksy take their cut of the purchase price and paypal take their cut on everything so you may want to round up to the nearest pound).

Hi Debbi.

There’s no point at all in offering Signed For as an option (used to be called Recorded Delivery until a couple of years ago) as it only benefits the seller - it doesn’t benefit a buyer in any way, so they won’t pay extra for it.

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Aww thanks @BaggieAggie …it was just a thought thinking the buyer would have more piece of mind :wink: thank you @SashaGarrett and @PoisonedAppleJewellery

Baggieaggie is right - signed for allows sellers to claim compensation through paypal’s seller protection (which requires you to use a trackable service) should something go missing but offers no benefit to the buyer. I send signed for as standard as royal mail’s insurance (with first class post) doesn’t cover precious metal jewellery (not sure what their terms are in relation to copper jewellery) and I want some protection for my peace of mind (especially the more expensive items or those going over seas where recipients (well mine at least) like to track parcels through customs). The £2.50 postage and packaging that I charge for box/ giftbag/ signed for shipping doesn’t seem unreasonable on a £40 necklace but I can see that it might put people off if they were buying less expensive items. Offering a separate upgrade to special delivery which they guarentee will arrive the next day might be useful for anyone who is ordering a last minute present but the price difference between that and the standard first class is over £5.

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I use signed for only so that it increases the £20 insurance of first class small package to £50. As i have never (at this moment) had to make a claim that hasn’t mattered and as the claim I am about to make was for non-signed for and for an £18.50 item the signed for has not been required.
In the case of the missing post I am about to claim for, the customer had a note through his door to say a parcel was left in his shed but the parcel wasn’t there so I think I have a pretty reasonable claim - and I did send the replacement signed for as it was the only way to bypass the thieving toe-rag who removed the original from the shed where postie had left it !

This was a specially requested Cristmas present for a customer who orders my glass every year by selecting what she wants then asking her son to get it for her !:slight_smile:

I was told at the post office that Signed for is generally £1.10 on top of the standard postage cost. :slight_smile:

If you are selling online it really is important that you know what postal prices are. It’s too late once you are at the counter with your package - as the customer has already paid the postal charge you set.

It’s very easy to check prices and range of prices you are likely to use is probably quite limited - certainly if you are only normally posting to the UK anyway. When I go to the post office I know what my parcels will cost and I tell the person who serves me what service I want and how much it will be. I usually only use my local post office so it’s easy but occasionally have to use others and it is so much easier if i can say with certainty…“this is first class, small package, £3.30 ,and may I have a proof of postage please”.

You can download a price list here : http://www.royalmail.com/sites/default/files/Royal-Mail-UK-and-international-parcel-and-letter-prices-30-March-2015.pdf