Cost of Registered Post

I'd call yesterday to send a letter via registered post. It was a birthday card containing something of around €50.

I didn't want to risk it by sending it through the normal standard post in case it went missing so opted for the security of Registered Post.

Now I understand that this is an extra service provided by An Post but when the post mistress told me that it would cost 8 euro to send the birthday card to another county in Ireland I was a little baffled. She too remarked on the severity of the price.

Am I alone in thinking that €8 is quite expensive for a registered letter?

carltonleon

Not really... Premium product premium price.
It gets scanned every step of the way and is signed for so you can see who receives the item. It also includes insurance so your contents are covered.

Pretty good value for the piece of mind if you ask me. If none of these things are important to you just stick a €1 stamp on it and be done with it

dok_golf

carltonleon wrote: »

Not really... Premium product premium price.
It gets scanned every step of the way and is signed for so you can see who receives the item. It also includes insurance so your contents are covered.

Pretty good value for the piece of mind if you ask me. If none of these things are important to you just stick a €1 stamp on it and be done with it

agreed.

punisher5112

Why would you send cash???

Write a cheque if sending money.

Use PayPal or Western Union if you want either or a bank transfer.

Effects

punisher5112 wrote: »

Why would you send cash???

Write a cheque if sending money.

It is the year 2018. Cheques are the past.

Beric Dondarrion

An Post have put their prices up as of the 4th of April. It's now 10Euro to send a package of 1kg in weight to the UK (up from 9 euro, an 11% increase! ). All other prices have increased as well.

I send a lot of items to the UK ranging from small packets (less than 250g) to heavier ones (up to 2Kgs)......realistically it's just not worth my while anymore.

Can't see how they will continue to be competitive if they just keep hiking their prices especially with competition from the likes of Parcel Motel etc.

davo10

punisher5112 wrote: »

Why would you send cash???

Write a cheque if sending money.

Use PayPal or Western Union if you want either or a bank transfer.

Nothing says "Happy Birthday" like cheques and electronic transfers, kids in particular love them.

CeilingFly

Beric Dondarrion wrote: »

I send a lot of items to the UK ranging from small packets (less than 250g) to heavier ones (up to 2Kgs)......realistically it's just not worth my while anymore.

Can't see how they will continue to be competitive if they just keep hiking their prices especially with competition from the likes of Parcel Motel etc.

If you send a lot of items, then contact them for their bulk rates. An post are market leader in parcel delivey here by quite a margin and if you have the volume, no-one can beat their rates.

The post office network is costly to operate and are priced for one-off items. - Sort of like a convenience store. Once you need several items you'd probably go to a supermarket - and if you needed a lot of items regularly, you'd go to a wholesaler.

We send a lot of items to the UK - weight is usually 5-10kg and current price is €7.23 per parcel. For most european countries our rate ranges from €9 to €15.


Rates will be dependent on level of business. - Just like any busness.

Beric Dondarrion

CeilingFly wrote: »

If you send a lot of items, then contact them for their bulk rates. An post are market leader in parcel delivey here by quite a margin and if you have the volume, no-one can beat their rates.

The post office network is costly to operate and are priced for one-off items. - Sort of like a convenience store. Once you need several items you'd probably go to a supermarket - and if you needed a lot of items regularly, you'd go to a wholesaler.

We send a lot of items to the UK - weight is usually 5-10kg and current price is €7.23 per parcel. For most european countries our rate ranges from €9 to €15.


Rates will be dependent on level of business. - Just like any busness.

Right. So the little guy gets shat on once more.....I'm not a business nor would I have business levels of packages to send with any regularity (nothing that would ever get me a bulk discount anyway) but I have noticed that the prices and pricing structure An Post has put in place seems to be there to try and deter ordinary folks from using their services (the last hike in the cost of a standard stamp all but proved this).

CeilingFly

Beric Dondarrion wrote: »

Right. So the little guy gets shat on once more.....I'm not a business nor would I have business levels of packages to send with any regularity (nothing that would ever get me a bulk discount anyway) but I have noticed that the prices and pricing structure An Post has put in place seems to be there to try and deter ordinary folks from using their services (the last hike in the cost of a standard stamp all but proved this).

No, like any business they are finally pricing to the level of cost.

The cost of staffing and operating a physical post office are substantial, and those costs should be borne by those users. Its the same system in most countries.

There are other options - DPD, GLS, Fastway all operate delivery services to the UK and as they use road/sea, they can be cheaper.

If you are in a business that is selling online, you need to do a little work on the delivery aspect and see what suits you best.

Beric Dondarrion

CeilingFly wrote: »

No, like any business they are finally pricing to the level of cost.

The cost of staffing and operating a physical post office are substantial, and those costs should be borne by those users. Its the same system in most countries.

There are other options - DPD, GLS, Fastway all operate delivery services to the UK and as they use road/sea, they can be cheaper.

If you are in a business that is selling online, you need to do a little work on the delivery aspect and see what suits you best.

Never said I was the owner or part of a business , you assumed that yourself.

Bit of a chicken and egg situation here though, you say the costs of operating the post offices are substantial but without customers (Joe public) there would be no need for them in the first place. If An Post just want to cater solely for business customers by offering reduced bulk rates etc then that's their call. Like any business though, improvements, diversification and streamlining might actually help them run more efficiently without having to constantly hike prices to plug the holes!

CeilingFly

Beric Dondarrion wrote: »

Never said I was the owner or part of a business , you assumed that yourself.

Bit of a chicken and egg situation here though, you say the costs of operating the post offices are substantial but without customers (Joe public) there would be no need for them in the first place. If An Post just want to cater solely for business customers by offering reduced bulk rates etc then that's their call. Like any business though, improvements, diversification and streamlining might actually help them run more efficiently without having to constantly hike prices to plug the holes!

you said "I send a lot" - bulk rates are available to anyone who sends volume with any of the carriers.

If you were sending a 2kg small packet from Uk to Ireland with royal mail, the cost would be £13.45 (€15.50) - almost 20% more expensive than An Post.

And they are not "plugging holes" - they are catching up with normal business practice of pricing to cost of operation.

Beric Dondarrion

CeilingFly wrote: »

you said "I send a lot" - bulk rates are available to anyone who sends volume with any of the carriers.

If you were sending a 2kg small packet from Uk to Ireland with royal mail, the cost would be £13.45 (€15.50) - almost 20% more expensive than An Post

Yep. And if you used Parcel Motel it would cost £4.96 to NI for a 2KG package and €3.95 for a stay in a locker, quite a saving on the cost of both mail services. Someone managed to figure out a way to get the same item here and not screw the punter in to the bargain. Hint, it wasn't either of the postal services!!

CeilingFly

Beric Dondarrion wrote: »

Yep. And if you used Parcel Motel it would cost £4.96 to NI for a 2KG package and €3.95 for a stay in a locker, quite a saving on the cost of both mail services. Someone managed to figure out a way to get the same item here and not screw the punter in to the bargain. Hint, it wasn't either of the postal services!!

again, volume is the key.

If Parcel Motel were to deliver to your home, they charge 7.95, so 7.95 + £4.96 (€5.75) = €13.75
Like for like, your example is more expensive.

Beric Dondarrion

CeilingFly wrote: »

again, volume is the key.

If Parcel Motel were to deliver to your home, they charge 7.95, so 7.95 + £4.96 (€5.75) = €13.75
Like for like, your example is more expensive.

And if you're not home you have to go the post office to collect said package....same as going to a locker to pick it up.....we can split hairs all day. Fact is that it possible to get the same item in to your hands at a cheaper cost.....maybe the postal service should embrace a few of these ideas.....

decky1

went into the post office on thursday to get a small package [Book] weighed as the buyer wanted to know the cost of postage it was 2.80 euro, went in on friday to post it 3.10--the price of postage went up today she said WTF, DO an Post put up the prices whenever the want?

Effects

decky1 wrote: »

DO an Post put up the prices whenever the want?

They give notification of increase.

uli84

I agree; it’s a rip off, also the latest packet prices increase was very sneaky, almost nothing published anywhere as to by how much the increase is, just some general bullsh*t
They like comparing how cheap their prices are against other EU countries on every increase but just last week my friend sent me a packet weighing 350g via registered priority post from Poland to Ireland at 5€ cost’ , sending this same packet from Dublin to Kildare would cost 8€ and 14€ Ireland to Poland.