Mail Franking - Is It Worth It?

[MikeJDS]

Does anyone here Frank their own mail?

I've looked into it a few times & each time have come to the conclusion that after running costs it just doesn't seem worth it.
A lot of the leasing firms seem to paint a pretty picture and try & hide most of the costs.
But I'm always never quite sure???

I appreciate it obviously depends on how much mail you handle etc.

Anyone into Franking - How does it work for you?

 

[donton]

Having a Royal Mail business account works out much better/cheaper. You're not paying for a lease/outright purchase on a franking machine, you're not paying for ink, or even annual maintenance plans.

Not sure what the minimum sending levels are on a Royal Mail account but all you need is a set of stamps and an ink pad to get started, they cost less than £20.

We had a franking machine and compared to a Royal Mail account it was a complete was of money.

 

[MikeJDS]

Thanks for your reply.
What service are you actually using?
I don't find the Royal Mail website that helpful as I find it sends me round in circles to re-hashed info without getting anywhere.
Where could I apply for this option?

I should of probably added that 80%+ of our mail is currently 'large Letters' & the rest being made up of small parcels.
We currently use the Drop&Go Service for the parcels which is more convenient but doesn't give any savings & has recently proved to be somewhat unreliable.

We do however spend X,XXX+ a month on our mail, so I would hope we were at a level where we should be able to save money rather than using stamps.

 

[donton]

We use Royal Mail's OBA, DMO and Tracked services. I don't know if you can still sign up for OBA or if they are on boarding people to DMO nowadays.

If I remember tomorrow I will introduce you to our account manager who should be able to set you up. PM me your email address.

We save up to 30 or 40% on over the counter prices. Due to the volumes we send there can also be specific deals available on some services. 90% of our items are 1st Class large letters, the rest are packets and specials.

If you spend X,xxx per month you should qualify for a daily collection with Royal Mail.

I started using OBA when we did less than 30 orders each day so there will definitely be savings for you once you sign up.

 

[MikeJDS]

Thanks for all your help.

 

[Skinner]

When I had a share in a supplement business which held stock, we switched from Royal Mail to DPD, they had much more favourable rates for packages, almost every thing were small bigger packages or over 2kg and their rates destroyed RM.

Their tracking service is insane. You get a text message at like 6pm the day before saying your package will be delivered tomorrow (Monday). Reply with 1 to change to Tuesday, 2 to change to Wednesday etc. Then about 8am the day of delivery you get a text which says "You driver Paul will be with you between 11:03 and 12:03, reply one to change to tomorrow, 2 to change to the day after, 3 to leave in your special place". You get an online tracking service which shows you EXACTLY where the van is from about 30 minutes before delivery.

You can leave notes for the driver to knock hard, or wait a little longer as its an elderly customer slow to get to the door, even leave a note for the driver to call you.

The service destroys RM. They weren't especially good on what RM call Large Envelopes, so I guess RM still has a place if most your packages are small and flat.

Just giving you another option

 

[MikeJDS]

Sounds like a good service.

Most of our mail isn't tracked.
At the moment we probably don't process enough parcels to warrant going with a courier.

I don't think anyone else apart from RM handles Large Letters - Do they?

 

[donton]

We send lots with DPD each week, but we also send thousands with Royal Mail - DPD can't get close on prices to Royal Mail's large letters.

I agree with Skinner, though, DPD's service is absolutely outstanding (in every single respect). But for large letters, you don't want to be spending £3 each + VAT to send them.

I know some of our competitors use Hermes for large letter sized goods, but I have no idea what their rates are like.

I also know that Whistl contacted me for a meeting - so we arranged one in advance (6 weeks or so ahead). The day rolled round and the lady never showed - it turned out someone had double booked her and she was at some show at the NEC. She was supposed to come back the week before last, but called me 10 mins after she should have arrived saying she'd be at least another hour (I told her not to bother). I've no idea what Whistl's rates are like, but if they can't even get to meetings on time with potential new customers...

 

[MikeJDS]

Although we have had recent issues with some packages sent through the Drop&Go service not being processed properly - I can't really complain with the service for the letters we send with the Royal Mail.

The majority of our 1st Class mail if posted before lunchtime actually arrives the Next morning. (very few go missing)
2nd Class postage usually the day after.

A speedy service certainly helps.

 

[spiderspider]

The thread title is for Franking, yet I think from reading your replies that franking is the last thing you want.

We used to have one about 5 years ago, from PB. Customer service back then was terrible. Only thing the franking helped with was not causing a queue at the post office. However, this then p**sed off the post mistress, as she wasn't getting her cut from the parcels we dropped off, so started making us wait for proof of sending on each one. This then caused the queue again..... Next nearest post office is 20 mins away on a good run.

Overall, it saved us next to nothing, was good as a gimmick, and we cut our ties as soon as we could.

 

[MikeJDS]

Pretty much sums up what I expected from most of those firms TBH.
I've spoke to PB on many occasions - They seem to have a very aggressive marketing strategy.

Just wanted to confirm it from someones experience really - So thanks for your reply.

 

[martin-s]

If you're just posting letters, have you considered CFHDocMail?

 

[MikeJDS]

I have never heard of them - Are they any good?

 

[martin-s]

Brilliant - and no more trips to the postbox. Just upload your letters and they print and post them for you - at less than the price of a stamp.

 

[MikeJDS]

Sounds like a good solution for mail shots etc.

I am shipping products not something I can pass on.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[martin-s]

Full API too - great for using DM as part of autoresponder sequences, etc.

 

[getmein]

Based on a spend of xxxx you'll be saving a least a couple of hundred a month with OBA. It's straight forward and I found the onboarding support to be very good.

The other option to consider is costco - they sell 1st class large stamps for about 5/6% below face value and you can pay with amex and collect some airmiles so for your spend you'll still be saving a bit of cash every month.

I think franking might have been a more compelling argument before OBA/DMO but you need to see how the various options fit within your workflow. But I'd certainly give one of RM options a whirl to see if it suits.