If you set the listing up with a nominal item price eg 25p to cover the cost of the listing and then set the postage cost to whatever the difference is between 1st and 2nd then you will minimise the fees that you need to pay on transaction (you’ll pay paypal fees on all of it but you’ll only pay folksy fees on the 25p)
Thanks so much Sasha and for getting back so quickly 
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That’s clever. I wouldn’t have thought to do it that way. Brilliant to be able to get hints tips and ideas from orher sellers, the Folksy Hive Mind is special !
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@HelenCliffordArt and @DaisyWings thinking about it that might not work depending on how you’ve got your ‘additional items’ set up on other items. Would definitely need to leave the ‘additional items’ box on the postage upgrade empty. Probably worth doing some tests putting items in a basket to check that it is adding on correctly if you do set it up like that.
@HelenCliffordArt and @DaisyWings it was going to bug me if I didn’t do some tests… So my listing has postage at £7 with additional items at 0 and my postage upgrade has postage at £5 with additional items blank and if I put them both in a basket the postage charge is coming up as £12. So it is working as I thought it would. But please run your own tests if you decide to go that route.
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Claire @kernowclaire …do they collect letters, I thought it was only parcels?.
It would help me a lot of they collected letters…mind you once they charge, it would probably make my cards too expensive.
I am switching to sending 2nd class and have put a note on my shop.
Just in case, I have just bought 50 Large letter second class stamps from the royal mail website.
If you spend £50, the postman brings them to you for no extra charge, if you spend less than £50 you have to pay P&P. My regular stamps I get with my Tesco grocery delivery as that means I don’t have to pay P&P on them.
Mine collects letters, they bring the label with them.
Caroline @Caroleecrafts I think my problem is my cards are low priced…and if the postie collects after the January deadline, I think they will charge an extra 60p making the postage on a £1.50 card £2.20 which I couldn’t possibly pass on to the customer and if I took the hit, I would be out of pocket.
Pity it isn’t like the US where they have mail boxes in front of their houses,if you have mail to be collected you put it in the box and there is a little lever/flag that you raise so that the postie knows there is something in there to be collected.
Thanks Sasha, shall have a closer look at this and see if it can work for me 
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Yes I’m sure they took a large letter but I will go and check then let you know.
Wait and see from January Brenda, our Postie thinks as going so well may continue to do foc. he says they know as soon as they stop that part finishes. I refuse to pay 16p for click and drop at the po as defeats the purpose of buying online cheaper. Plus the people at our local po are so miserable and moody, grab what you are sending fling in the bag etc. they are new and have lost so many customers. Very stupid!
Just in case anyone isn’t aware…you can post online-purchased Tracked 24 / Tracked 48 Large Letters in any post box, and still get the benefits of a tracked service. This allows you to take advantage of the cheaper online postage, but avoid having to go to a Post Office / Delivery Office to drop them off. I live in the sticks, so the nearest post office franchise is a drive away, but there is a post box on my lane, that is emptied once a day at 4 pm.
There is a tiny risk in doing this, in that you won’t have a proof of postage until the item is first scanned (once your item is scanned, you can retrospectively obtain a proof of postage online, to use in any claims for loss). For me, the first scan happens around 7 am the next morning when the item reaches the county sorting depot. Your risk is therefore limited to the item going missing between you dropping it into the post box, and it reaching the sorting depot.
Discovering this has been a game-changer for me; I had been driving to the post office, parking, queuing up etc, which really added a huge amount of faff to my day (or waiting for the postman NOT to turn up for the booked collection, so driving to the post office anyway!). But now I just walk down the lane late afternoon, or if I’m driving somewhere, pull over at the first post box I see. So much easier, even more so when we get to the post office queues at Christmas!
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Any idea what you are going to charge for Large letters? The clear bags and parcel bags, paper, printer ink and petrol have all increased so I was thinking 1.80 for a large letter 2nd class? Does that sound too much. 1.55 royal mail plus 25p for the rest? Or maybe I should just increase my items costs and leave the postage the same?? oh dear…
It’s a dilema deciding what to charge. I’ve always posted first class, but even if I switch from 1st class to 2nd class a single card packaged up usually ends up as a large letter so will be £1.55 and if someone adds a second card so the package is over 100g then it hikes up to £2.40. I don’t think I can justify 85p for each additional item, but if I add this to the cost of the card then it looks over priced and probably won’t sell. Royal Mail are really doing their best to stop people using the non profitable areas of their business. 
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I definitely think you should make an allowance for packaging materials and other ancillary costs with shipping the item in the postage cost.
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I always add extra to the postage cost to allow for packaging. Unfortunately, even the packaging has gone up a lot recently. I used to buy my padded envelopes in poundland.They did packs of 8 small or 6 medium for £1.00. Now it’s 3 medium for £1.50 so double the price, and I can’t always get them either so have resorted to online, but they aren’t much cheaper, plus I have to buy larger quantities to get a lower price. I may have to look at alternative packaging to reduce cost.
I’ve just returned from a couple of weeks off and have spent the last day or so updating all my postage here and at the other place. Folksy might not be perfect for adding International postage options, but the other place seriously does take forever to do and even after all that effort, the International stuff is never that accurate for additional items! Your choice seems to be to cut your own throat by going too low or overcharge and possibly put off the customer by huge initial shipping charges, even if you do refund overages after the fact.
That aside though, thought I’d just share something interesting I noticed for anyone else who ships to the US. I looked at this several times before I’d believe it was correct, but apparently it is - once you reach a 500g small parcel, it’s cheaper to ship to the US via the Tracked service than it is for the Standard. I don’t know if this has always been the case, I certainly haven’t noticed it, but it is the case now.
No idea if this is intended on RM’s part or a mistake, but just something to look out for.
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Royal mail are doing a promotion on certain types of postage to the USA until the end of the year. Its possible that is why you are seeing this quirk.
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Hi,
I’ve changed my postage to 2nd class after the Royal Mail increased. Out of interest, does anyone pay extra to have 2nd class large letters tracked?
I paid £1.55 online for my handmade jewellery order, and it was collected from my house on 6/10/23.
I tried tracking my item using the code on the collection order.
The message on Royal Mail track your items says: ‘Sorry, we haven’t tried to deliver this yet so we don’t have an update yet.’
Do you think customers would pay Signed for 2nd class at £3.05? I sell very little on Folksy so I’m weighing up my options. Thanks.
None of the second class services come with full tracking - only delivery confirmation. (tracked 48 would be the equivalent service with full tracking so you can find out where it is)
As a shopper I find signed for first or second class annoying - having to wait in to sign for something is a pain especially if I don’t know which day it is going to arrive. Since the RM insurance doesn’t cover precious metal jewellery unless it’s sent special delivery, at your price points I would suggest that you self insure and use the cheapest postage option.
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