An Post price increases (again)

BarryD2

Was taken by surprise in local post office today. Price increases across the board for large envelopes, packets and parcels - seems to be about 10% on average, since 4th April. On top of a round of similar increases last year and the same before that. Not a word in the media that I heard about it. The price of an ordinary stamp stays the same at €1 but sure everything else is up and up.

Are they mad or what? How many businesses can justify 10% increases year on year? On top of closing down much of their network where packets and parcels can get into the system.

Consumers these days are picky with online shopping and will baulk at delivery charges. The pressure is for 'free shipping'.

What An Post seem to be doing is continuing to pay their management fat wages at the expense of small businesses and particularly rural ones. We have to drive further and further to find a post office and pay more and more and more. They are passing their costs onto us.

Does Irish governments ever think at all?? They talk about encouraging rural online business on the one hand whilst another arm of the state is busy screwing the same businesses.

Not impressed.

makeandcreate

BarryD2 wrote: »

Was taken by surprise in local post office today. Price increases across the board for large envelopes, packets and parcels - seems to be about 10% on average, since 4th April. On top of a round of similar increases last year and the same before that. Not a word in the media that I heard about it. The price of an ordinary stamp stays the same at €1 but sure everything else is up and up.

Are they mad or what? How many businesses can justify 10% increases year on year? On top of closing down much of their network where packets and parcels can get into the system.

Consumers these days are picky with online shopping and will baulk at delivery charges. The pressure is for 'free shipping'.

What An Post seem to be doing is continuing to pay their management fat wages at the expense of small businesses and particularly rural ones. We have to drive further and further to find a post office and pay more and more and more. They are passing their costs onto us.

Does Irish governments ever think at all?? They talk about encouraging rural online business on the one hand whilst another arm of the state is busy screwing the same businesses.

Not impressed.

There was one little tweet about it a month ago from An Post. It's ridiculous - a customer in Kildare can use Address Pal and collect a parcel from the P.O for 3.75 - the exact same parcel from me in Laois costs me 9 euro to send.
Yes, I can add value to the customer if they come in store with knowledge, info, free demos etc but online I'm dead in the water as a small business without the funds to finance a decent online ordering system.
And that's before you even consider the chinese counterfeits and the people that come to me for info and then buy elsewhere.

MOH

It's insane. Prices for large envelopes and small packets have increased by 50% in less than 4 years (comparing against archived page from July 2014). There's no justification for that level of increase. It's made it practically impossible to run a competitive online business in Ireland unless you're either doing huge volumes and able to negotiable a decent bulk deal, or high value items where the postage cost isn't as high a percentage (in which case you're probably not going to be trusting An Post anyway)

BarryD2

MOH wrote: »

It's insane. Prices for large envelopes and small packets have increased by 50% in less than 4 years (comparing against archived page from July 2014). There's no justification for that level of increase. It's made it practically impossible to run a competitive online business in Ireland unless you're either doing huge volumes and able to negotiable a decent bulk deal, or high value items where the postage cost isn't as high a percentage (in which case you're probably not going to be trusting An Post anyway)

+100
Thanks for that link too for 2014 as I've thrown out my old price lists. What other business in Ireland has put up it rates by 50% whilst reducing services like this? An Post can only do it, as they have a virtual monopoly.

I heard that Dave McRedmond chap being interviewed the other day. No questions about price increases, he was allowed to waffle in his la-de-da D4 accent on how the online shopping and parcel & packet business was the great hope........ He's a prime example of An Post management that need to be hauled out of their plush ivory towers and obliged to actually try and use the increasingly shrinking network of POs whilst paying through the nose for the privilege. He talks of co-locating POs with convenience stores as if this is some great consumer solution. I'd like to see McRedmond hauling in several parcels through the length of a supermarket from some over crowded car park and then queuing for 20 minutes....

CeilingFly

An post have increased the labour intensive and previously subsidised one off posted items.

No increase on commercial agreements and we even got a decrease of 6% this year as our volumes are up substantially.

You could see it as pricing to costs - how many businesses subsidise small one off customers by charging large customers a higher than market price.

If you do decent volume, you will get very good rates. Same with any business purchase.

MOH

CeilingFly wrote: »

An post have increased the labour intensive and previously subsidised one off posted items.

No increase on commercial agreements and we even got a decrease of 6% this year as our volumes are up substantially.

You could see it as pricing to costs - how many businesses subsidise small one off customers by charging large customers a higher than market price.

If you do decent volume, you will get very good rates. Same with any business purchase.

That nice for you.
None of that changes the fact that they've put their standard rates up by 50%.

CeilingFly

MOH wrote: »

That nice for you.
None of that changes the fact that they've put their standard rates up by 50%.

but they were way underpriced compared to the cost, so like any business (including your own) you need to realign your price to reflect the cost of the product or service.

If you are doing volume, negotiate a deal - same as you'd negotiate with nay supplier that you'd be giving regular business to.

Their prices are still cheaper than equivalent services in neighbouring countries incl UK

MOH

CeilingFly wrote: »

but they were way underpriced compared to the cost, so like any business (including your own) you need to realign your price to reflect the cost of the product or service.

If you are doing volume, negotiate a deal - same as you'd negotiate with nay supplier that you'd be giving regular business to.

Their prices are still cheaper than equivalent services in neighbouring countries incl UK

Which is great if you're a well established business with the clout to negotiate such deals. In which case I still don't see why you wouldn't be dealing with a courier.
The quality of An Post's service is abysmal. Speaking both from the business side, formerly, and as a consumer. Not just on the delivery front, but dealing with staff both in post offices and centrally who absolutely couldn't care less is draining.
Having clearly addressed post from An Post delivered to my door by a random stranger who got it instead would make me wonder how many times I resent non-delivered items to a customer just because of their general incompetence.
Having to teach your national postal service's marketing department about basic data protection regulations is pretty depressing.

Unless of course you're in a position to seriously threaten their ever dwindling revenue. Which most people aren't.

CeilingFly

MOH wrote: »

Which is great if you're a well established business with the clout to negotiate such deals. In which case I still don't see why you wouldn't be dealing with a courier.

The quality of An Post's service is abysmal. Speaking both from the business side, formerly, and as a consumer.

Unless of course you're in a position to seriously threaten their ever dwindling revenue. Which most people aren't.

1. We review our costs regularly. An Post beats DPD and Fastway for us. After all they are by far the largest parcel delivery service in the country.

2. We now send 300-400 parcels a week (when we started it was about 50 - so you don't need excessive clout to negotiate a good price - same with any supplier). In four years we've only had one parcel go missing. - Previously we used a well known courier company and there'd be a missing parcel almost every month

3. Ever dwindling revenue? - do a weeny bit of research before making such statement, as you lose all your arguments with such a glaringly incorrect statement. Parcel volume (where the profits are) increased by 30%, revenues increased by €15m, standard mail (where the losses were til price increase) is certainly reduced as expected and as is happening anyway around the world. In 2017 it was -9% against projected -12%. So substantial increased revenue in their profitable areas and decreased revenue in the previous loss making area - I've no accountancy experience, but that sounds quite good when you increase your profitable area 30% and decrease the loss making area.

4. Basic data protection? - an error in delivering a sealed letter? Are your serious? Maybe you need to learn what data protect is - suppose you want Thoms Directory and the electoral register made obsolete too to "protect your data"

Rednick8

An post is a joke of a brand now the public paying for the rebrand I was buying labels €152.12 now they want €203 with a discount card ? Do they think people are stupid A DISCOUNT card wow a label €4.94 to €8.12 what a bunch of robbers but now how do we get a better price ? My online product would nearly double in some cases with this increase nobody even told us the post man use to collect them now not they balls up this service big time