29 replies to this topic

[roberts]

Good afternoon TMF,

Basically, a very simple question…

Is the extra cost for a 1st class Royal Mail services worth it, or are you happy with Royal Mail 2nd class?

And an explanation of why we want to know…

When we started out in 2008 we made the decision to send all parcels on signed for services (so everything we sent could be tracked by ourselves and the customer). Back in 2008, Royal Mail prices, weight and size categories were completely different, allowing us to send our small items (such as rear wheel arch covers, dash rail covers, door plastics etc.) on a recorded 1st class service for £3.20.

This P&P price worked, as the cost of the P&P was less than the cost of the item.

Unfortunately, now five and a half years later, the same P&P service costs £5.50. And, as Royal Mail prices have risen, sales of small items have gradually dropped. It's not rocket science to see why, the P&P cost is now more of an expense than the cost of some items (namely rear wheel arch covers).

As a result, we have made the decision to to drop the recorded signed for option and also change one of our jiffy bag sizes, which will allow us to add a second cost for Royal Mail services (everything is currently sent on the same service - small parcel 1st class recorded).

The new prices will be either as follows:

1st Class
- Large letter (so rear wheel arch covers, front door plastic, back door plastics, trim-clips): £1.60
- Small parcels (so dash rail covers, full sets of plastic door sheetings, lower dash trays, rear pocket covers, rear pocket liners): £3.90

or

2nd Class
- Large letter (so rear wheel arch covers, front door plastic, back door plastics, trim-clips): £1.50
- Small parcels (so dash rail covers, full sets of plastic door sheetings, lower dash trays, rear pocket covers, rear pocket liners): £3.50

 

A couple of discussion points:

- Would you rather pay the extra money for a 1st class service or, is a 2nd class service sufficient?
 

- Most things are made to order, so very little is dispatched same/next day here at Optimise. But even so, does the P&P service time scale matter to you?

 

Also, any feedback regarding the matter is welcome, so please fire away.

 

 

Thanks
Andy @ Optimise Automotive

Edited by roberts, 13 May 2014 - 03:45 PM.

[HarrysMini]

Given that the difference here is only a few pence, I think 1st class would be worth it.

[andy159]

i agree with harry  but the main priority for me is getting it without it being damaged even if that service may take longer to arrive

[Bungle]

i send most of my work related post second class these days and most of the time it's no slower than first

[kieranjt]

Is giving the customer the option between 1st and 2nd class at the checkout viable?

Taking into account the extra cost/handling time involved in sorting between the two in your goods out department.

[roberts]

Given that the difference here is only a few pence, I think 1st class would be worth it.

 

Yeah I agree, but 40p ish is actually quite a lot when your spending £5 on the product - which is why we are after the feedback

 

 

i agree with harry  but the main priority for me is getting it without it being damaged even if that service may take longer to arrive

 

Yeah, the reason why we charge either 25p or 50p on top of the price (of these new costs) of the actual postage is because of the jiffy bag costs. There is no difference between 1st and 2nd class in terms of getting it to you without being damaged.

 

 

i send most of my work related post second class these days and most of the time it's no slower than first

 

Yup, it's the same with our FedEx orders, they all go out on a 48hour service but all (a massive majority anyway) get delivered next day. But 1st to 2nd class sometimes has a psychological influence on people, which is one of the reasons for the poll and feedback requests.

 

As above (in the original post), most things are made to order, so very little is dispatched same/next day here at Optimise anyway, but despite this - people do like to know that once dispatched it will be with them ASAP (people get excited once it has been dispatched and want it the next day I think).

 

 

Is giving the customer the option between 1st and 2nd class at the checkout viable?

Taking into account the extra cost/handling time involved in sorting between the two in your goods out department.

 

A good idea but were not interested in offering an option of 1st or 2nd class as it complicates things too much at our end unfortuately:

 

- First on the website, offering the choice is near impossible (if would be easy if we only dispatched items using Royal Mail, but we don't).

 

- It then complicates things when the item is packaged, as we need to know which jiffy bags are going out 1st or 2nd class (solutions will take time, which means we would need to charge more and we are back at square one of P&P being too expensive).

 

Anyway.....

 

So far, thanks for the feedback guys, we are in no rush to change things so will let this run and listen to all suggestions.

 

 

Thanks
Andy @ Optimise Automotive

Edited by roberts, 13 May 2014 - 03:43 PM.

[Richie83]

Royal Mail are always my second choice courier. Now in an ideal world I'd use DPD. They are relaible and get the stuff to where it needs to go un damaged.

[megamini_jb]

Yeah I think the extra is worth 1st class, but I personally don't trust just normal 1st/2nd class. I always send stuff signed for, even small stuff. Might cost more, but saves hassle of muppets saving item never arrived when it did.

I sold a centre console and charged £6 or £8 for postage. As I only send items recorded/signed for, it ended up costing £13. I could of easily sent it way cheaper on normal service, but paid the extra myself just so I know the buyer received the item

Edited by megamini_jb, 13 May 2014 - 04:48 PM.

[JackF]

I think priority comes with ensuring the product is traceable - so recorded delivery/tracked/signed for is always my first priority. That mean 'missing/damaged' items can be tracked and no blame is falsely placed directly on the seller or the buyer?

 

With the majority of the products optimise sell, they are not necessities - the car will still work tomorrow without that bit of interior trim. Where as from other mini spares sellers, the items may well be urgently needed; this is where the next day service is a good option to have at the checkout. IMO

 

I'd rather my product from Optimise arrived next week, in one piece, having been signed for and tracked. As opposed to tomorrow, possibly damaged or lost in transit, with no way of proving anything.

 

I hope that sort of makes sense.. 

[Jase]

Royal Mail will soon price themselves out of the market. We tend to use couriers now as the cost to send is more or less the same.

[roberts]

Again, thanks for the feedback guys....

 

Royal Mail are always my second choice courier. Now in an ideal world I'd use DPD. They are relaible and get the stuff to where it needs to go un damaged.

 

We use FedEx as our courier service, this service for P&P costs £10.50 (for the delivery service and the packaging), it's the smaller items that are sent using Royal Mail. If courier services charged Royal Mail prices for A4 or A3 jiffy bags we would happily use them for our smaller items, but they don't (courier services start at £6.50 ish).

 

 

Yeah I think the extra is worth 1st class, but I personally don't trust just normal 1st/2nd class. I always send stuff signed for, even small stuff. Might cost more, but saves hassle of muppets saving item never arrived when it did.

I sold a centre console and charged £6 or £8 for postage. As I only send items recorded/signed for, it ended up costing £13. I could of easily sent it way cheaper on normal service, but paid the extra myself just so I know the buyer received the item

 

Firstly, centre consoles are a large item so they are sent with FedEx.

 

And thanks for the feedback regarding the signed for service. As I have said above in my opening post, back in 2008 (when we started out), it cost £3.20 (including packaging costs) to send the items that we do via Royal Mail 1st class recorded, this same service now costs £5.50.

 

Each time Royal Mail prices go up (each March they go up by around 20p) our sales of the items that we dispatch via Royal Mail go down.

 

So we are now dropping the signed for option for Royal Mail dispatched items, simply so we can reduce the cost of the P&P.

 

That decision has been made, we simply now need to decide if we send everything 1st or 2nd class.

 

 

I think priority comes with ensuring the product is traceable - so recorded delivery/tracked/signed for is always my first priority. That mean 'missing/damaged' items can be tracked and no blame is falsely placed directly on the seller or the buyer?

 

With the majority of the products optimise sell, they are not necessities - the car will still work tomorrow without that bit of interior trim. Where as from other mini spares sellers, the items may well be urgently needed; this is where the next day service is a good option to have at the checkout. IMO

 

I'd rather my product from Optimise arrived next week, in one piece, having been signed for and tracked. As opposed to tomorrow, possibly damaged or lost in transit, with no way of proving anything.

 

I hope that sort of makes sense.. 

 

As above really, ideally we would like to continue sending items recorded, but unfortunately the cost of recorded delivery is now so high that a majority of our customers refuse to pay it.

 

 

Thanks
Andy @ Optimise Automotive

Edited by roberts, 13 May 2014 - 06:13 PM.

[roberts]

Royal Mail will soon price themselves out of the market. We tend to use couriers now as the cost to send is more or less the same.

 

Yeah, a lot of people say that, but that's not the case for the items that we send with them, as they are small items.

 

We have never used Royal Mail/Parcel Force as our courier services, we have only ever used them for our "large letter like items" - so basically anything that fits in a jiffy bag (up to A3 in size) such as rear wheel arch covers, rear pocket liners, door fillets, dash rail covers etc.

 

For "large letter like items" Royal Mail remain by far the cheapest (even if sent recorded). Although DPD seem to be the cheapest courier for "large letter like items" costs do start at around £6.00 / £6.50 (including the VAT) depending on weekly numbers. So P&P (so the postage and also the packaging fees) using DPD would start at the £7.00 / £7.50 mark if we used them instead of Royal Mail.

 

We need to reduce the cost further (from £5.50 including packaging fees) - which is why we are dropping the extra recorded service (that costs £1.20 per package).

 

 

Thanks
Andy @ Optimise Automotive

Edited by roberts, 13 May 2014 - 06:28 PM.

[Tamworthbay]

I ticked the second class option but I do wonder if some buyers would be put off if it was the only option - may I still the idea that the whole operation is a 'budget' option. People can be really strange in the way they see stuff.

[keefr22]

The service from Royal mail these days is so inconsistent that it's not worthpaying 'premium' prices from them. I certainly hesitate to pay extra for 'recorded' these days. Last week the postie again left two 'signed for' parcels on our front doorstep. Obviously they hadn't been 'signed for'. They've been doing this for years & I've complained on a number of occasions. I've always got a book of first class stamps for my trouble. Not what I wanted though....

As to normal first/second class post, there is in my experience no difference these days, one can be as good or bad as the other! Last week I had a package sent post free second class from one supplier - ordered Thursday morning, delivered Friday morning. Ordered something else on e-bay at the same time, there was no choice other than first class post. Had a dispatched notice Thursday afternoon - it arrived today! (& the postmark confirmed the dispatch notification)

I agree with sentiments above - couriers are now generally much better & more reliable than Royal Fail.

[Tamworthbay]

And as with all the privatised companies the service will go down and the costs will go up.