Skimming on POST!!! Since when did 1st Class signed for post within the UK, cost £5?

 

Those of you who try to charge this should be ashamed of yourselves, its skimming plain and simple, I'll never buy a record from you, and I hope others take the same stance...If I drove to Manchester from where I live in Bucks to deliver to the post office, more fool me... but you dont charge the customer your petrol cost do you? you use the local post office and you get on your bike...

 

This is a good place to get your prices from...  https://www.royalmail.com/personal/uk-delivery/signed-for-1st-class?intcampaignid=CLT_0613_LP_20

 

 

Bloody cheek... I hate skimming...!!!

 

Malcolm

Edited January 20, 201510 yr by Mal C

I would not pay £5, I think £3 is taking the p!$$.

£2.50 covers it in the UK, and that takes in consideration the mailer and anything else you might use to seal and pop on the parcel..

 

Just waiting to get my slap on the wrist for posting this in here, but this is a community, regular folk on here buy and sell to each other, if you take the piss it should be highlighted imo...

Edited January 20, 201510 yr by Mal C

Nothing wrong with complaining about it, I moan about it all the time, if I can send THREE records for £2.34 then everyone else can.

Who is charging £5 for 1st class post?  

Just don't deal with them...

Yep 2.34 in one post office 2.44 in other one local to me 2.50 is fair price for signed for in UK

Yep 2.34 in one post office 2.44 in other one local to me 2.50 is fair price for signed for in UK

Barry I use new mailers and charge £2.60 for one record recorded it only just covers my costs

I use 2x 6mm thick custom cut plastic stiffeners and brand new cruciform or envelope mailers. Way stronger than those flimsy card square stiifeners (which I was originally using 5 per package)..... and whilst actual postage still comes in at £2.34, the packaging costs me 60p per parcel.

So I charge £2.95 for first class recorded to cover the full cost.

When buying I would personally rather pay slightly more to know that the packaging is sufficiently strong enough...we often see posts on here about records arriving broken in a paper envelope with no stiffeners.

£5 however, is simply taking the piss!

Where do you get those plastic stiffeners from Mace, and do they work out cheaper than card ones?

£2.50 covers it in the UK, and that takes in consideration the mailer and anything else you might use to seal and pop on the parcel..

 

Just waiting to get my slap on the wrist for posting this in here, but this is a community, regular folk on here buy and sell to each other, if you take the piss it should be highlighted imo...

 

can you expand on the bolded bit? Mal

 

this is the 'box' section which has always been about posts about vinyl, collecting, selling etc which includes this subject

 

so a bit lost on just what you are trying to say?

 

thanks

mike

I knew I was bit naughty for putting it up in the sales section, and I expected it would be moved, so thats what that relates too.

 

so to give context, I asked a seller for a track this morning, Ive not named him, and he came back with a fiver for 1st Class signed for, and when I asked why he was charging that he told me he had to drive out of town to the post office. well obviously I wanted the 45, but i dont charge folk that when I sell 45's, I wouldn't think of taking the proverbial, especially on here...

 

We all buy and sell from each other on here, its a great community for that, but if some are taking the Micky I think others should know is going on, and hopefully that might change their decision as it did mine, I obviously declined the 45.

 

Malcolm

Edited January 20, 201510 yr by Mal C

Robbing Barstewards, I live malaga Spain[Recently got a flight to uk for £12 ]some dealers ask the same in postage for 1 lp. Dont they realise everybody can google a price .Stop Skimmers ,use Easy Jet!

I drive to the post office every day. Otherwise I couldn't get mail sent.  I don't think it would go down to well if I put on my lists "have added £2.50 on for you to pay for my petrol", so if seller is charging £2.50 every time he sells a record, he's getting an awful lot of free petrol!

I knew I was bit naughty for putting it up in the sales section, and I expected it would be moved, so thats what that relates too.

 

sniiped

 

 

ahh got ya now 

you posted this  thread in sales ?

and Rod must have moved it, yep just looked and he did

 

i thought you were having a pop at something but not sure what

 

which sort of does say if you post in the right places then less chance of mis-understandings occuring

 

anyway no probs

alle ist klar  

Where do you get those plastic stiffeners from Mace, and do they work out cheaper than card ones?

Pete, I have been experimenting with 3mm Acrylic and 4mm Polycarbonate stiffeners. I just found a plastics stockholder, bought a few sheets and got them to cut them to size for me. I had 7" & 12" stiffeners cut plus some 45 & LP record dividers for my boxes too. There are plenty of stockholders/fabricators on Ebay doing it. 

Pete, I have been experimenting with 3mm Acrylic and 4mm Polycarbonate stiffeners. I just found a plastics stockholder, bought a few sheets and got them to cut them to size for me. I had 7" & 12" stiffeners cut plus some 45 & LP record dividers for my boxes too. There are plenty of stockholders/fabricators on Ebay doing it. 

 

I'm on to it thanks Nick

Plastik stiffeners, you can't get more environmentally friendly. Can you?

Plastik stiffeners, you can't get more environmentally friendly. Can you?

Made with recycled plastic........  

environmentally friendly

 

Two words that make me want to throw up

Robbing Barstewards, I live malaga Spain[Recently got a flight to uk for £12 ]some dealers ask the same in postage for 1 lp. Dont they realise everybody can google a price .Stop Skimmers ,use Easy Jet!

That`s true but not much change out of a tenner to Spain signed for, sent 2 last week, single 45`s, via royal mail, one was £8.70 other was £9.15 still got the receipts but 12 quid is over the top.

Barry I use new mailers and charge £2.60 for one record recorded it only just covers my costs

yep i dont always use new mailers if ive got some just come in, i recycle them to be environmentally friendly )) ,£2.60 is not an issue Brian. 

International signed for in Europe is about £8.60 sent one to Finland that was nearly £13.00

International signed for in Europe is about £8.60 sent one to Finland that was nearly £13.00

 

Finland is usually £8.60 as well...for one or two items

I know Pete think the post office ripped me off on that one think the girl input the wrong details. I was a bit surprised at the cost but just paid it

I knew I was bit naughty for putting it up in the sales section, and I expected it would be moved, so thats what that relates too.

 

so to give context, I asked a seller for a track this morning, Ive not named him, and he came back with a fiver for 1st Class signed for, and when I asked why he was charging that he told me he had to drive out of town to the post office. well obviously I wanted the 45, but i dont charge folk that when I sell 45's, I wouldn't think of taking the proverbial, especially on here...

 

We all buy and sell from each other on here, its a great community for that, but if some are taking the Micky I think others should know is going on, and hopefully that might change their decision as it did mine, I obviously declined the 45.

 

Malcolm

 

That is a superb idea.

 

Might add a surcharge of 50p for the wear on my Grenson's undercarriage.  

Edited January 20, 201510 yr by JNixon

£2-80 for signed second class anywhere g b. reasonable I think.

Plastik stiffeners, you can't get more environmentally friendly. Can you?

The ones I use can be re-used indefinitely, they are really strong, and just as importantly, extremely light in weight.

Cost is more than cardboard, but as I said, I was using 5 card stiffeners cus the UK supplied ones are flimsy as fcuk....I even posted up on here about finding a supplier for the rigid card ones you get from the States.

 

So I looked at what options plastic ones offered, and now I have about 3000 of the buggers!

 

Keep an eye on ebay for offcuts - I bought 450 pieces large enough for LPs of a guy in Leeds for a fiver all in and a mate picked them up for me.....just need to find some LPs to sell now !

Skimming on POST!!! Since when did 1st Class signed for post within the UK, cost £5?

 

Those of you who try to charge this should be ashamed of yourselves, its skimming plain and simple, I'll never buy a record from you, and I hope others take the same stance...If I drove to Manchester from where I live in Bucks to deliver to the post office, more fool me... but you dont charge the customer your petrol cost do you? you use the local post office and you get on your bike...  This is a good place to get your prices from...  https://www.royalmail.com/personal/uk-delivery/signed-for-1st-class?intcampaignid=CLT_0613_LP_20

 

Bloody cheek... I hate skimming...!!!

 

Malcolm

 

I ask £2.70 signed for 1st class, with 2nd record free then only 0.50p per record thereafter. I've have had some real humdingers over the years. One bloke wanted £7.00 for a £10.50 record, when I asked why so high he replied "packing materials, my time, fuel for car to post office, tape, labelling and passing on of tracking number".......     Perhaps best was a person who agreed I could go and collect item or have it shipped for £20.00 (wasn't a record) I bought it and asked to come and collect (3 miles from my older brother)  he said he'd reduce "shipping costs" by £8.00 to £12.00, I told him to stuff it.

Even if the package was too thick for the large letter slot and was to then be a small package it still wouldn't be a fiver, about 3.50 I think.  

Plastic stiffeners might be ok in theory but do they absorb shock?

They are corrugated like carboard, not a solid plastic sheet....hence lightweight, strong, and can absorb shock.

You obviously rotate one sheet to the other by 90 degrees so corrugation runs opp way and increases strength.

Even if the package was too thick for the large letter slot and was to then be a small package it still wouldn't be a fiver, about 3.50 I think.  

If you exceed that 'letterbox' slot size first recorded goes from £2.34 actual to about £4.30 !

 

Its possible that this is why the seller quoted £5....if he packed with extra stiffeners and increased depth of package too much it would be £4.30 + materials.

Edited January 20, 201510 yr by Mace

I ask £2.70 signed for 1st class, with 2nd record free then only 0.50p per record thereafter. 

 

Rip off!  

You can post 3 records for the price of 1 so that extra 50p is extortion.

As I have mentioned - 3 x 45 in a mailer with two pieces of cardboard costs £2.34

I charge £2.50 so I get 16p back

Rip off!  

You can post 3 records for the price of 1 so that extra 50p is extortion.

As I have mentioned - 3 x 45 in a mailer with two pieces of cardboard costs £2.34

I charge £2.50 so I get 16p back

 

Have a heart Pete !! I haven't ever been able to post 3 for £2.34 nor 2 even, mind you I ship them in tea chests

International signed for in Europe is about £8.60 sent one to Finland that was nearly £13.00

Hi Mark

There are two bans of International Signed For:

Circa £10.00 Signed For On Delivery Only But Not Tracked All The Way

Circa £13.00 Sined For And Tracked At Each Destination Of It's Journey.

Dave

Anyone got a link for the plastic stiffeners?

Hi Mark

There are two bans of International Signed For:

Circa £10.00 Signed For On Delivery Only But Not Tracked All The Way

Circa £13.00 Sined For And Tracked At Each Destination Of It's Journey.

Dave

 

Some countries don't even offer tracked, Italy is one I think.

I sent a lump of steal to a customer yesterday (got to be heavier than a record ) and that was only £3:20 first class , some people just chance their arm

Might it be helpful to create a 'sticky' on the Sales page giving current rates for sending records (within UK)?

I blame the Post Office.

As an infrequent seller, I have had the odd bit of minor argy -bargy simply because i have estimated postage. Not out of badness, but through lack of opportunity to check at the time i list (usually when the Post Office is shut - ie anytime i am not at work!)

I do have some slight sympathy with the 'time and trouble' argument...Most weeks, nature of my job means I have a two and half hour window at the local sub post office Saturday morning, queuing for up to an hour behind everyone picking up the week's missed collections or an hour's round trip to a PO that stays open later + queue time. Six and two threes! Not that I would ever add to postage for this...

And then you get buyers where you give a discount and they start sending reminders if it doesn't arrive within two days of payment (in spite of explanation that they won't be sent until following weekend).

Anyway, because of all the hassle with posting I have sort of concluded it's not really worth my while to sell any more records...

I agree £5 seems expensive, I rarely sell and so have no axe to grind; because I live in a town with local post office so the £2.50 seems pretty much on the mark. But I suppose if the seller lived in a rural area and travelled by bus to town then the travel costs alone would probably be £3+, alternatively if travelling by car the parking costs of about £2 in most large towns would need to be factored into the postage.

I guess a seller living in inverkirkaig the £5 could be cost of getting to the post office and the postage extra.

If the seller does charge £5 they could consider explaining why the postage costs are exceptional. 

Atb

Stu

If you exceed that 'letterbox' slot size first recorded goes from £2.34 actual to about £4.30 !

 

Its possible that this is why the seller quoted £5....if he packed with extra stiffeners and increased depth of package too much it would be £4.30 + materials.

 

I think you're right about this…..I mean you will get people who over charge for no reason but I think in general most tow the line and only charge whats necessary. Its all very well for established record dealers to pick holes in other peoples postage prices but not everyone buys supplies of the specialist record mailers/stiffeners. If its your business then of course you're gonna stock up on the correct packaging and you can finely tune it to your needs. For casual sellers however,[ Not Diamond Jumpers, Farrah Slacks, Nasty Basket Weave Shoes Etc !], its simply not worth stocking up on loads of packing materials is it ? When I send stuff out to people I just re-use old mailers/stiffeners and wrap them in a new jiffy bag to alleviate any problems with writing on the old mailers. The cost of the jiffy bags are minimal[4 in a pack for £1] and it saves a lot of time and trouble for me personally. However, from experience, its easy to overpack something slightly and then incur extra costs which all comes out of your pocket….paying £4 plus out to send a £10-15 record kinda defeats the object of selling some pieces doesn't it ? Depends how much you want rid of them I guess.

I mean personally,if I wanted a record, particularly something not freely available elsewhere,I would  have just paid the £5 postage and not worried about it. If it was available elsewhere for less then buy it from there. 

Were all different but sometimes penny pinching just overrides everything else for some.For example, I notice people selling expensive records on here and still wanting to charge people £7.50 for postage ! Am I the only one who thinks theres something not quite right there ? …...

I think you're right about this…..I mean you will get people who over charge for no reason but I think in general most tow the line and only charge whats necessary. Its all very well for established record dealers to pick holes in other peoples postage prices but not everyone buys supplies of the specialist record mailers/stiffeners. If its your business then of course you're gonna stock up on the correct packaging and you can finely tune it to your needs. For casual sellers however,[ Not Diamond Jumpers, Farrah Slacks, Nasty Basket Weave Shoes Etc !], its simply not worth stocking up on loads of packing materials is it ? When I send stuff out to people I just re-use old mailers/stiffeners and wrap them in a new jiffy bag to alleviate any problems with writing on the old mailers. The cost of the jiffy bags are minimal[4 in a pack for £1] and it saves a lot of time and trouble for me personally. However, from experience, its easy to overpack something slightly and then incur extra costs which all comes out of your pocket….paying £4 plus out to send a £10-15 record kinda defeats the object of selling some pieces doesn't it ? Depends how much you want rid of them I guess.

I mean personally,if I wanted a record, particularly something not freely available elsewhere,I would  have just paid the £5 postage and not worried about it. If it was available elsewhere for less then buy it from there. 

Were all different but sometimes penny pinching just overrides everything else for some.For example, I notice people selling expensive records on here and still wanting to charge people £7.50 for postage ! Am I the only one who thinks theres something not quite right there ? …...

 

I'm afraid although it might be cutting off my nose to spite my face, I would rather not have the record than pay £5 postage for something that costs no more than £2.50 to post, it's a matter of principle.  And I do this, all the time on eBay, if post is over £3, I just don't bid, so I can't complain when they overcharge me.

Yes Pete…..but surely, you're buying to sell mostly aren't you ?That does make a big difference doesn't it ?I mean, If it was something you really,really wanted,for yourself,would you back out then ?  All over £2.50 ?  I take your point on the principle of it but sometimes all that goes out the window if its something you want ! 

Yes Pete…..but surely, you're buying to sell mostly aren't you ?That does make a big difference doesn't it ?I mean, If it was something you really,really wanted,for yourself,would you back out then ?  All over £2.50 ?  I take your point on the principle of it but sometimes all that goes out the window if its something you want ! 

 

No I just buy for myself Ivor - reggae 45's - don't buy soul 45's, apart from the odd British and bootlegs, just wait for people to bring them to me

The point I made about excessive packing materials is quite valid though Pete.....I accidentally overpacked one a few weeks ago so it was just tight through letterbox guide and had to pay £4.30.......I could have come home and repacked but wanted to get the record off to the buyer that day and it was late on so I had to pay the extra.

 

If the seller has made the same mistake they could innocently think that's the going rate.

 

Seems niave I agree, but if they aint used to packing within RM limitations its an easy mistake to make.

 

I've overpaid postage to get records many times, quite recently of a paper list from the States the seller overcharged me by $15 for a bunch of 45s.....figured it cost me $1 a record, and whilst its annoying I didn't complain cus I got some great stuff for decent prices, and figure if I complained or demanded a refund he might not deal with me again.

 

Don't make it right, and its still annoying, but I figure it aint always worth cutting your nose off to spite your face.

 

Unless its 'The Count' of course.......

The point I made about excessive packing materials is quite valid though Pete.....I accidentally overpacked one a few weeks ago so it was just tight through letterbox guide and had to pay £4.30.......I could have come home and repacked but wanted to get the record off to the buyer that day and it was late on so I had to pay the extra.

 

If the seller has made the same mistake they could innocently think that's the going rate.

 

Seems niave I agree, but if they aint used to packing within RM limitations its an easy mistake to make.

 

I've overpaid postage to get records many times, quite recently of a paper list from the States the seller overcharged me by $15 for a bunch of 45s.....figured it cost me $1 a record, and whilst its annoying I didn't complain cus I got some great stuff for decent prices, and figure if I complained or demanded a refund he might not deal with me again.

 

Don't make it right, and its still annoying, but I figure it aint always worth cutting your nose off to spite your face.

 

Unless its 'The Count' of course.......

 

This happened to me today, package didn't fit through the letterbox guide and was charged £4:30 for first classed signed for.

The point I made about excessive packing materials is quite valid though Pete.....I accidentally overpacked one a few weeks ago so it was just tight through letterbox guide and had to pay £4.30.......I could have come home and repacked but wanted to get the record off to the buyer that day and it was late on so I had to pay the extra.

 

If the seller has made the same mistake they could innocently think that's the going rate.

 

Seems niave I agree, but if they aint used to packing within RM limitations its an easy mistake to make.

 

I've overpaid postage to get records many times, quite recently of a paper list from the States the seller overcharged me by $15 for a bunch of 45s.....figured it cost me $1 a record, and whilst its annoying I didn't complain cus I got some great stuff for decent prices, and figure if I complained or demanded a refund he might not deal with me again.

 

Don't make it right, and its still annoying, but I figure it aint always worth cutting your nose off to spite your face.

 

Unless its 'The Count' of course.......

 

No don't get me wrong, if the record was worth £500 I'd be daft not to pay the excess postage, I'm talking about when it's worth £5, £10, £20

 

 

 

 

Unless its 'The Count' of course.......

Aah  ' the Count'  surely wins the award  for non accommodating character in the record business...for never selling on Ebay due to his ridiculous reserve prices and other misdemeanors well documented here      , 

If you're selling a few things maybe this is a useful thing to buy?

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0093OCE1C/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=569136327&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B003275MF6&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=11R0X4F6CCFCYW2MMBQ0

If you're selling a few things maybe this is a useful thing to buy?

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0093OCE1C/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=569136327&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B003275MF6&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=11R0X4F6CCFCYW2MMBQ0

 

I made myself one from cardboard, I take it with me when I go the post office just in case there's a discussion with the person on the other side of the counter.

Sellers don't actually "charge" for postage, they price it up and the decision to accept it or not is the buyers'. I always add it to the price of the record and make my decision on total cost. Buying from the US can range from $10.00 and anything up to $28.00. If it's the latter I always challenge it and ask for an explanation, usually they'll come down, I quote the USPS website calculation. UK postage costs are pretty good, perhaps only bettered by Holland and the US. Paying up to about £2.75 for a 1st class signed for (remember there's £50.00 insurance included) isn't extortion and anything over that value should go special delivery at about £5.50 - 7.00.