An Post- No more sending jewellery by registered post

andodenis

I have an eBay business, I've been using An Post Registered Mail for two years to post Jewellery worldwide. I've never had any problems with it. I've no complaints about the service. An Post has made a lot of money from my business.
However from September 1st 2011 they won't accept jewellery in Registered Mail. All I need from this service is proof of postage & proof of delivery. They've never lost anything so I don't need any compensation for loss. But no jewellery will be accepted, what a stupid decision, they could offer the service with no compensation & the sender accepting the risk of loss. It should be the senders choice.
This is very damaging to my business. DHL won't accept jewelley. My only option is to drive up to the north from Dublin, twice a week, what a waste of my time & money(petrol & tolls). This also means my customers get slower delivery times.
I don't believe that the Post Office loses any money on this service, I'm pretty sure they make money from it. Now they are closing down a profitable business & damaging small Irish businesses. What a disgrace. Any comments?

i71jskz5xu42pb

andodenis wrote: »

All I need from this service is proof of postage & proof of delivery. They've never lost anything so I don't need any compensation for loss.

Don't tell them it's jewellery. Problem solved.

andodenis

Wow, quick reply!
I've thought of that i.e not telling them that it's jewellery. There's a few minor problems.
1- It's dishonest.
2- I've been using the same two Post Offices for two years. They already know exactly what I'm sending.
3- I have to put on a customs sticker on the envelope for items posted outside the E.U detailing the contents. I don't want to risk confiscation because of a false declaration of contents. I've had items refused & returned by both the Canadian & Russian customs.

dudara

Given that this is a business related issue for you, I'm moving the Entreprenurial & Business Management forum

dudara

smcgiff

Mmm - strange, but I'm sure An post have their reasons.

Would putting NCV (No Commercial Value) on the form help? This is saying to An Post that you put no value on the contents and therefore expect nothing if it goes missing.

Not sure if this would be possible for exports though, as you said above.

Separately, An Post used to offer an insurance package on top of plain registration costs. Have they also stopped accepting Insurance on Jewellery packages?

Swift Post also has an online tracking system if I recall, maybe that's an option?

Is there a viable non-An Post delivery service i.e. DHL or would that be too costly - would your customers pay more for quicker delivery?

TylerIE

My internet is effectively back to dial up rate so I cant check myself but have you considered

Citypost? AFAIK They do international - their post just feeds into Royal Mail / USPS etc once it reaches the overseas destination.

Some people here have reported Fastway doing good rates in Ireland (32 counties), €7. From when I used to send registered post I often paid €16 upwards so it could be a bit cheaper.

Finally if you send a lot to the US or Canada would you consider drop shipping? Package up all your orders once a week, stick them in a box and courier them to the drop-shipper. They open the box and repost them as desired. Many of them will also keep an inventory for you if desired so that all you have to do is inform them of the order. Google can find one or PM me for one I have in the states. It may actually balance in terms of cost in that while you have to pay for courier, the internal postage for the final leg would be a bit cheaper.

There also are a number of drop-shipping style companies on the border, just on the Northern side. My nets ridiculously slow ATM but search in the bargain hunters forum and they can be found there.

andodenis

Thanks for the replies.
It's a problem to put NCV on some items because when the customs check it they might send the item back to me. This has happened twice, but I'm more worried about confiscation.
The Post Office didn't tell me anything about extra insurance. I don't think it's available. I'm more concerned with the proof of postage & delivery & tracking than the insurance.
I've never heard about Swift Post or Citypost or Fastway. I've always just used the Post Office. I will have a look into all of these options. DHL don't ship jewellery.
I don't think that I have enough volume to use a drop shipping service, but again I'll look into it.
Thanks for the replies & thanks in advance for any more replies.

smcgiff

Hi swiftpost is an an post product

Wats_in_a_name

Swiftpost is now Express Post. I always thought you could send jewellery but it just wasn't insured even by Registered post.

ewanalex

andodenis wrote: »

I have an eBay business, I've been using An Post Registered Mail for two years to post Jewellery worldwide. I've never had any problems with it. I've no complaints about the service. An Post has made a lot of money from my business.
However from September 1st 2011 they won't accept jewellery in Registered Mail. All I need from this service is proof of postage & proof of delivery. They've never lost anything so I don't need any compensation for loss. But no jewellery will be accepted, what a stupid decision, they could offer the service with no compensation & the sender accepting the risk of loss. It should be the senders choice.
This is very damaging to my business. DHL won't accept jewelley. My only option is to drive up to the north from Dublin, twice a week, what a waste of my time & money(petrol & tolls). This also means my customers get slower delivery times.
I don't believe that the Post Office loses any money on this service, I'm pretty sure they make money from it. Now they are closing down a profitable business & damaging small Irish businesses. What a disgrace. Any comments?

Why not use FedEx??

J_Wholesale

What kind of jewellery are you sending? Usually the ban on jewellery doesn't extend to costume jewellery, only to precious metal jewellery. DHL, for example, have no problem with costume jewellery.

If it's not precious metal, then either mark it as costume jewellery or as fashion accessories.

gavney1

For deliveries within Ireland, I have to recommend Fastway.

We get a rate of €3.95 for a fastway bag (which is quite a large bag) anywhere in the Republic.

We also use them for UK, but it's not particularly cheap and they sub-contract to another company in the UK, which aren't all that reliable I've found.

andodenis

What I've been doing recently is just going to some different post offices & sending the items, when asked I just say there's nothing of value inside. This is not a permanent solution. I've checked a few different sending methods, some of them are either expensive, or don't accept jewellery, or don't ship worldwide. I'll keep checking around, I'm sure I'll find a solution. Thank you for all the suggestions.

AstonMartin

Whats the official reason for this?

tanyabond

Maybe mark it as "accessory"?..
Whenever I post my goods abroad I always mark items as gift with no commercial value, and since you only use registred post for delivery confirmation maybe try that too?

andodenis

I've heard from the Post Office again. It is possible once again, from today, to send jewellery by Registered Post, but there will be no insurance against loss. I'm not so happy about this, but I can live with it as I haven't had them lose anything yet.

andodenis

Thanks for all the replies & suggestions.