Postage

ballistix35am

Howdy,

Can anyone tell me if there is a cheaper alternative to An Post for delivery services... I'm trying to start a business and all products will be delivered by postage but the problem is its costing €5.25 to send tiny packages that are hardly worth that anyway. I'm not sure whether to go down the route of couriers but I'm sure they would be more expensive.

Cheers

delllat

ballistix35am wrote: »

Howdy,

Can anyone tell me if there is a cheaper alternative to An Post for delivery services... I'm trying to start a business and all products will be delivered by postage but the problem is its costing €5.25 to send tiny packages that are hardly worth that anyway. I'm not sure whether to go down the route of couriers but I'm sure they would be more expensive.

Cheers

this is a common problem for selling "low value" items

i decided to register everything but i agree with you its a complete rip off

courior might be viable if youve got the numbers

theres just too many things that can go wrong when u stick a stamp on something and hope for the best

postal theft is huge in my opinion ,and theres a thread about it every week

postal loss is another big one,how it happens i dont know

then you have items that could really have been delivered to correct address and when the scumbags notice u havent chose registered post they decide to claim non-delivery

you also have to deal with postmen stockpiling mail at the depot and going out on their round with just "attempted delivery dockets"

the sooner the monolopy ends il be using alternative post whatever it is

ballistix35am

The only problem is the alternatives aren't always better... Just cant get over the rip off. Its put this business on hold for me and it killing me! Damn them!

delllat

if youre selling on ebay you rely on the items getting to the customers in a timely reliable fashion

unfortunately the postal service is so sh1t that thats not possible

that leaves you with somehow cutting corners elsewhere and going with registered

you can charge the customer the 5.75 for registered but i agree its difficult to stay competitive when your postage is extortionate

hedgehog33

I launched a site recently and I've had the same dilemma. I decided to with standard post for lower priced items, and registered post for higher values. I'll just take the hit for any that go missing, it's the only way really, as nobody would order those items otherwise as shipping would be too high.

It's hard to get decent courier rates until you know what kind of volume you'll be sending out.

ballistix35am

Maybe I've calculated it wrong because brewing over it, it just doesnt make sense for them to charge so much. Watch this space i guess

lanod2407

Worked in electronics high-tech MNC a few years back within Logistics function. Had a similar experience where new low-price product was going out via courier and the cost mixed with customers not wanting to be at home to sign for low-price parts created problems.

Postal was the solution - BUT we did extensive testing and trials to make sure that it worked both for customers and cost.

I'd have a question here - if the postal rates are so high compared to your product price, then how did your business plan give you the green light to proceed?

If you ship via standard post, what level of non-delivery complaints do you get? Is the cost of fixing that less than the extra cost of shipping everything via courier / registered? If yes, then that's the way to go. That's if the total cost versus revenue makes sense for your business.

Tip - ship replacement complaint product via courier / registered to ensure it gets there. Removes repeat incidents of claims - whether genuine or not!

Another tip - I found that Italy has lowest performance in Europe for Postal deliveries - everything there went via Courier.

I'd really ask yourself how did you get this far before you discovered that the costs were too high. Sounds like the business case may not have been tested rigorously enough for low ticket items??

Best of luck.

delllat

lanod2407 wrote: »

Worked in electronics high-tech MNC a few years back within Logistics function. Had a similar experience where new low-price product was going out via courier and the cost mixed with customers not wanting to be at home to sign for low-price parts created problems.

Postal was the solution - BUT we did extensive testing and trials to make sure that it worked both for customers and cost.

I'd have a question here - if the postal rates are so high compared to your product price, then how did your business plan give you the green light to proceed?

If you ship via standard post, what level of non-delivery complaints do you get? Is the cost of fixing that less than the extra cost of shipping everything via courier / registered? If yes, then that's the way to go. That's if the total cost versus revenue makes sense for your business.

Tip - ship replacement complaint product via courier / registered to ensure it gets there. Removes repeat incidents of claims - whether genuine or not!

Another tip - I found that Italy has lowest performance in Europe for Postal deliveries - everything there went via Courier.

I'd really ask yourself how did you get this far before you discovered that the costs were too high. Sounds like the business case may not have been tested rigorously enough for low ticket items??

Best of luck.

id say this is a close enough example of what hes talking about:

wholesale item cost=2euro
postage price =85cent
ebay/paypal fee=1.20
envelope=0.05
sale price=8.00
profit=3.95
profit after registered post -1.20 in the red


the service is just too expensive for low end items

delllat

forgot to add by sending the first item normal post and it getting stolen

then sending the replacement registered the breakdown is even worse:


wholesale item cost=2euro
postage price =85cent
ebay/paypal fee=1.20
envelope=0.05
sale price=8.00
profit=3.95
-replacemnt item -2.00
-registered post-5.75

3.80 in the red!:eek:

lanod2407

Delllat

The 7.75 hit for lost / stolen shipments gets diluted by the % of shipments that get lost stolen.
So, using your example, if 1% of shipments have to be replaced then that's 7.75 x 1% = 0.775 additional cost onto the cost of each unit.

Revised Costs - based on 1% lost shipments via postage

wholesale item cost: €2.00
postage price €0.85
ebay/paypal fee €1.20
envelope €0.05
Complaints €0.78
TOTAL COSTS: €4.88

Sale price €8.00
Profit €3.12

That excludes any labour costs and costs for facilities, heating, lighting, etc.
Jeez - I used to get paid for doing this stuff!!

Dabko

Its an An post conspiracy to loss every 5th thing in the post so us tools (the general public) have to pay 10 times the price just to get the item delivered.

31,546 written complaints they received in 2007. I somehow dont think they the give a flying sh1te - they run the monoply. Screw the public, where else they gonna go?:mad:

lanod2407

Dabko wrote: »

Its an An post conspiracy to loss every 5th thing in the post so us tools (the general public) have to pay 10 times the price just to get the item delivered.

31,546 written complaints they received in 2007. I somehow dont think they the give a flying sh1te - they run the monoply. Screw the public, where else they gonna go?:mad:

I'm not going to get into a discussion on this, and most certainly am not going to fight An Post's corner - but the extensive work I've been involved in across EMEA regarding Postal & Courier services would not reflect any major problems to my knowledge with An Post that would be outside the European norm.

The 31k complaints looks like a shock number - but there are more than 910 million items delivered by An Post each year - so that's 0.0035% complaints (34 defects per million!)........ or 99.9965% OK deliveries.
They've also been improving the % of deliveries made "Next Day" over the past 3 years - don't recall the exact numbers.
If I was running a business with those metrics I'd be reasonably happy!
And yes, I know that there are other metrics and measurements that would be required to provide a more robust measurement of customer satisfaction - but I'm just commenting on what's in front of me.

delllat

lanod2407 wrote: »

Delllat

The 7.75 hit for lost / stolen shipments gets diluted by the % of shipments that get lost stolen.
So, using your example, if 1% of shipments have to be replaced then that's 7.75 x 1% = 0.775 additional cost onto the cost of each unit.

Revised Costs - based on 1% lost shipments via postage

wholesale item cost: €2.00
postage price €0.85
ebay/paypal fee €1.20
envelope €0.05
Complaints €0.78
TOTAL COSTS: €4.88

Sale price €8.00
Profit €3.12

That excludes any labour costs and costs for facilities, heating, lighting, etc.
Jeez - I used to get paid for doing this stuff!!

that all looks lovely but i think % of packages getting lost/stolen or delivered and claimed non delivery would be higher than 1%

call me a pessimist if you will but i do this all day and i know from the amount of fcuk ups that the number is higher than 1%

lanod2407

delllat wrote: »

that all looks lovely but i think % of packages getting lost/stolen or delivered and claimed non delivery would be higher than 1%

call me a pessimist if you will but i do this all day and i know from the amount of fcuk ups that the number is higher than 1%

Deep Breath ........... that's better!!

The numbers are there for illustration purposes - it's an example!

delllat wrote: »

i do this all day

Do you mind me asking - what do you do all day?

delllat

lanod2407 wrote: »

Deep Breath ........... that's better!!

The numbers are there for illustration purposes - it's an example!



Do you mind me asking - what do you do all day?

ship items to customers,i would have thought that was obvious enough given the topic and content of the thread:rolleyes:

hedgehog33

Ah Lads there's no need to argue over it. Divide and conquer, it's all part of An Post's plan :pac:

Borzoi

ballistix35am wrote: »

Howdy,

Can anyone tell me if there is a cheaper alternative to An Post for delivery services...

Would it be worth your while going North once or twice a week to use the Royal Mail?

BarryM3

ballistix35am wrote: »

Howdy,

Can anyone tell me if there is a cheaper alternative to An Post for delivery services... I'm trying to start a business and all products will be delivered by postage but the problem is its costing €5.25 to send tiny packages that are hardly worth that anyway. I'm not sure whether to go down the route of couriers but I'm sure they would be more expensive.

Cheers

Depending on quantities/location of collection and delivery then there is cheaper options. Up to 20% in fact.....

Would need more info to be accurate though.

delllat

Borzoi wrote: »

Would it be worth your while going North once or twice a week to use the Royal Mail?

for me pesonally it wouldnt

the petrol/time cost would outweigh the benefits

also people love to get things fast,stockpiling mail for a few days wouldnt be good for ebay dsrs(detailedsellerratings) and feedback