Good News…Royal Mail are now starting a parcel collection service so you no longer need to go to the post office.
I have been saying for months now, that this is a much needed service.
I cannot put a link on here but it apparently starts today and there is an added charge on top of the regular postage but I am sure it will be worth it especially now with many of us being unable to get out.
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Great - I’ve just been deliberating today about whether to chance the post office or drive over the other side of town to find the parcel post box (Will probably do that) - it will be nice to not have to worry about that anymore!
I’m just going to check out the new service - thanks for the heads up Brenda @teabreaks.
I’ve just read this info about it - you can send a max of 5 parcels at a time and at a cost of 72p per parcel.
How do I use the service?
By Ramzan Karmali
Royal Mail says it has found a solution for its customers who have parcels to send but can’t face the queues in their local post office.
The firm’s new “Parcel Collect” service will operate six days a week and you’ll be able to send up to five parcels at a time.
Your local postman or postwoman will either collect your parcels from your front door or a designated safe space and the service will be part of their daily round.
To use the service you have to book online (www.royalmail.com/bookcollection or via their app) - this can be done from five days in advance up to midnight the day before collection.
Customers will have to make sure their postage is paid for, print their own labels and then pay for the service online.
The charge for using the service is 72p per parcel, in addition to postage costs. Parcel Collect is also available for pre-paid return items at a cost of 60p per item.
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Thanks Sarah…this is so needed and so brilliant x
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Brilliant had a own to our Postie about this a few weeks back. Ours use vans anyway as a remote village so easier. Worth the 72p.
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I presume this will be for any parcels even ones abroad if you buy the postage and fill in the customs online
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This is great news, especially if we go into lockdown. 
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If I may add my thoughts (following a discussion with my local post lady), :
I’ve just returned from my local post office. 1 mile away down the country lanes and I walk there sometimes (not today, raining and my hip says no),
Jo says all the post offices are Very concerned. Post handling is their main business. …aka their Income !
She has asked the post man what he thought. He said “Oh Duck, they haven’t thought this through”.
The posties who will be collecting as just an added task on their normal delivery round have No equipment to handle a collection service. No scanning, no weight / postage charge checking… they will just be collected and go into a bag…
I appreciate that there are some who are more than happy to not have to go out and to them a collection service is a godsend but in my case… my almost daily trips to my very secure post office means that every day I speak to someone other than my husband, even have a socially distanced chat with local friends about once a week… so to me going to the post office to take my parcels has helped to keep me sane these past months…
So if you have a good post office and want to keep using its services in the future then you would be well advised to use it… or face losing it…
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I completely understand the other side of the story Joy @JOYSofGLASS but here, we have already lost the post office and now it is just a tiny counter in Spar, so to them it wouldn’t make a lot of difference. It might even mean that royal mail could offer more jobs to those looking for work. I personally haven’t been out since the middle of January and it is my painting that is keeping me sane…and I often chat to the postman at the door…
Sadly, the world and the way things work are rapidly changing.
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Another thought here is that (unless something has changed) I don’t think post offices make much or anything where the customer has printed their own postage online and is just handing parcels in. Only reason I know this is that where I used to live, one of the local sub-post office owners used to refuse to take them on the basis it brought him no income but added to his work and queue - even though it was part of his contact to do so.
So just to highlight that those wanting to support their local post office may need to be buying the postage from them rather than just dropping off.
My current post office checks weights and size however where I used to live none of them did so not sure that’s strictly necessary. It’s really up to the sender to do this and buy correct postage and important we do as if it’s picked up as incorrect during sorting etc. a charge is levied to the receiver.
It’s important there’s a record of it being picked up so we’re able to make a claim if something goes missing. Posties have hand held scanners so would have hoped they’d be able to scan items in (provided they’ve charged it and it’s working of course!). I’ll need to go check this.
I also don’t want to see my local post office put out of business as they provide so many services and are a lifeline for many, however this could take the pressure off in the run up to Xmas and help reduce the queues.
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I agree there are 2 sides to this. As I have to shield it will be a godsend for me as no way will I use MH. Our posties are happy as means they can now get another van, which then means we will get a delivery of post for 6 days not 4.
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Looks like there will be proof of posting in the case need to make a claim.
‘You must make a claim for loss or damage in writing, as soon as possible after the incident and in any case within 80 Days of the date we accepted the relevant Item providing satisfactory proof that you posted it and we received it (and we will accept a Collection Notification or email receipt which you have received after we have collected your Item from the Collection Point as‘satisfactory proof’ – as well as any other forms of satisfactory proof).’
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Good for everyone that can keep supporting their local Post offices during this pandemic (I’m sure that is what most people would ideally like to be doing still - no-one actually wants to actively contribute to losing their local Post Office)
You have to do whatever is best for yourselves in this situation - if that means going to your local PO - then fair play but if that means getting your parcels collected - good on you too! At least you are all still working and selling during these incredibly tough times
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I gave the new Royal Mail parcel collection a go today (I had a couple of big gallery parcels and an expensive one to Australia, so I thought this was worth an extra 72p a parcel - I figured that it would have cost me at least that in petrol to get to the nearest Parcel post box)
So, I booked it yesterday - I had already bought the postage through Click and drop - so all I had to do when booking a collection was add the tracking number or indicia number (that’s the number above the QR code) and weight. That was it.
The postman arrived this Morning - it was raining, so I couldn’t leave the parcels out the front on the doorstep for him, so I just put them inside the door on the doormat (So I could keep my distance) and he scanned them - then he was off.
So, it’s really easy and there does seem to be a record of them being collected. Just checked my tracked items on the app and it shows them as being collected.
So, if you can’t get to the local Post Office at the moment - this seems worth a go. I’ll let you know if they arrive safely!
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Thank you for the info Sarah. I will certainly be using them as cannot medically stand in a post office queue.
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The posties might not get paid extra for the new collecting service is one of my concerns as well. It’s unfair to them.
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I’m wondering if they’ve employed other Posties just for collecting parcels as the person that collected my parcels last week wasn’t any of my local delivery posties. He came straight from his van and went straight back to his van - he wasn’t doing a delivery round.
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If that’s the case, it would be great! I haven’t managed to arrange a collecting service yet, only found the information about business collection which has fixed price, https://www.royalmail.com/business/parcels/collections
Do you have a link to book a collection you can share please? Thanks, Miya
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Here you go Miya:
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Yes I heard about this, but we will have to pay extra on top of the postage won’t we. So will it be cost effective I wonder.