Keeping postage costs low

[cortex]

I was just wondered what the best method you guys use to save money on postage fees like stamps etc?

Envelopes I get for free from friends who work in offices or I buy them from the £1 stores.

I spend about £60 - £80 a week on 2nd Class Large Letter stamps a week, but I was wondering whether it would be cheaper to buy them online from Royal Mail? A 2nd class stamp is 58 pence.

I send out about 100 large letters a week - thats IF im feeling enthusiastic.

Obviously it would be great to save some money on postage as then I could lower the price for items online and compete with other sellers.

What do you guys use for postage options?..

[bode]

I am able to save on buying large letter stamps by using thinner CD type envelopes which just about qualify as standard first class. I don't what you are posting but a few mm can make all the difference. A franking machine if you have enough volume?

[cortex]

No idea how a franking machine setup works - I send out about 100 large letters per week so I doubt i need one of those. I was looking at RMail business account so i can print out postage-paid stickers instead of buying stamps. Dunno if anyone on here uses this feature??...

[bode]

http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/j...%20&%20Payment

[cortex]

Thanks bode but i cant seem to find out if its cheaper to buy stamps/postage fees online or in the post office. For example I use 2nd class large letter stamps which are 58pence. Is it cheaper if i did it online??

[bode]

Printing stamps, post office and accounts are all the same price. I think the only way to save on costs is to charge an extra 10p on P&P.

This is probably the only thing that might apply to you:

http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/j...mediaId=400047

[forummember]

You think £80 a week is bad!

I'm spending £70-100 a day!

I'm looking into a franking machine which would mean a lot more £££.

[GTB]

yeah try to use smaller or thinner envelopes so they qualify for cheper postage

i buy from the £1 shops too

have a look on eb ay for the similar ebvelopes but buy in huge bulk and save a few bob there

if you print postage,stop doing that,save money on ink and paper etc costs

when it comes to paying to send,the small and lighter the better

not sure if a franking machine would save you money,i just dont know

[Bunneh]

I buy my envelopes on Ebay from a seller who sends them free delivery via CityLink

I pay £5.99 for 50 DVD size envelopes
and £8.95 for 50 large letter envelopes

Which works out a lot cheaper than paying £1 for 5 at the pound shop.

[GTB]

£8.50 for 50 is expensive bud

i get 20 for a £1,just normal large letter`s though,no bubble wrap inside em

but they do the trick

[Bunneh]

I need the bubble envelopes because my items are more delicate and would be ruined if i used just plain ones,
I know the bubbles ones cost £1 for 5 at the pound shop.

Why do most sellers buy the 'Enclosed Documents' sleaves to stick on there parcels? Surely it is just fine to insert the paypal invoice in the parcel rather than incur unessary costs :/

I also read somewhere that when buyers give low DSR stars for shipping they dont take into account the costs of the packaging for the item mailed to them so some buyers buy a pricing gun and label the price of the envelope on the back of the envelope so that when the buyer sees that he takes the packaging into account.

Sorry im rambling now... i will stop and keep to the topic hehe...

[GTB]

yeah for bubble ones thats quite good,tiz £1 for 3 at my pound shop:(

[GrannyT]

I've just bought 200 mail lite bags for under £14.00 - 7p each. Small admittedly B/00.

[luverlyjuberly]

You can buy unfranked stamps on eBay. They are not sticky on the back so you need glue. Type this in ebay search for a look:
100 Unfranked First Class Stamps off Paper
or this
100 GOLD FIRST CLASS STAMPS UNFRANKED UNGUMMED FV £46

[luverlyjuberly]

Originally Posted by luverlyjuberly

You can buy unfranked stamps on eBay. They are not sticky on the back so you need glue. Type this in ebay search for a look:
100 Unfranked First Class Stamps off Paper
or this
100 GOLD FIRST CLASS STAMPS UNFRANKED UNGUMMED FV £46

As you will see they go for a lot less than "new" stamps. Do NOT tell the PO you are doing this though as the stamps have not been franked by accident. The PO frowns on the reuse of second hand stamps.

.

[GrannyT]

Hmmm....essentially illegal and for minimal savings.

Saving approx 10p per stamp and risking Mr. Plod and his size 10 boots visiting your house.

If you knowingly use a stamp that has already been used to it's value then you are committing fraud - I guess you can come up with all sorts of excuses but it's a magistrate you would need to convince not me

[GTB]

yeah completely stupid and absolutely pointless

just add 10p on to p&p if it matters so much

i know we all want cheaper ways but breaking the law is just taking it too far

maybe if i was saving a grand a time then it mite be worth a few months on holiday courtesy of her majesty

[cortex]

Thing is ...i always for FREE P&P to get the 5 star DSR

[GTB]

i see cortex,but breaking the law for penny's aint worth it

not saying that is the plan

errr do franking machines actually save you money or just alot of time?

[GrannyT]

IMO Cortex - stay away from the used stamps. You would look pretty silly sitting in a cell saying "Well, I saved 10p a letter on my postage so I guess 6 months (or whatever) is worth it"

Find your savings else where

[cortex]

Dont worry guys im going to use used stamps. Thats not really my style. Plus even if it was legal i still wouldnt bother to go thru the hassle just to save pennies.

Anyhow..Im not sure how one would end up in prison though. I mean, how would they trace you? What proof would they have? Would they really spend hundreds of pounds on an investigation for a philatelic misdemenour....i highly doubt it

[GrannyT]

You are probably right - but I take the view that if I'm going to break the law and risk the consequences it's got to be worth a huge sum - I'm too old to eat porridge