From 21st August 2006 Royal Mail's pricing structure is now based on the size of the mail piece as well as the weight. This is known as Pricing in Proportion (PiP).
Items will now be classed as either:
Category
Max Size (length x width)
Max Thickness
Max Weight
Letters
240mm x 165mm
5mm
100g
Large Letters
353mm x 250mm
25mm
750g
Packets
> 353mm, or > 250mm
> 25mm
depends on service
Whilst some items will increase in price, Royal Mail say that over 80% of mail will cost the same or less.
In the main items which are classed as letters will be cheaper, however items such as C4 envelopes under 60 grams which would previously been 22p, will now be classed as large letters and cost 33p. (Example based on 2nd class franked mail)
There are ways you may be able to avoid increased postage costs. An example of this is if you are posting A4 documents which could be folded to A5, then simply folding these and using a C5 envelope can actually save you money on your postage costs.
However it's not all bad news for those of you who post large letters. If you are posting large letters using Mailsort 3 1400 for example, then items between 72g and 750g should actually work out cheaper.
Many of our clients think they are going to have to reduce the size of their magazines to A5 to avoid increased postage costs, however this may not be the case.
To find out how PiP is going to affect your mailings please give us a call.
Advanced Mailing Solutions is a DMA Accredited Mailing House based in East Kilbride, Glasgow providing the complete range of direct mail and direct marketing services. Mailshot services include Mailing List procurement, address correction (PAF), deduplication, data suppression (MPS, TPS, FPS, Baby MPS, E-MPS, NCOA, Goneaways, USS), Print Broker, Print Management, Laser Printing, Inkjet Printing, Bulk Mail Savings including (Mailsort, Presstream, Walksort, Cleanmail), machine enclosing, hand enclosing, polywrapping, polybagging, response handling and order fulfilment. We undertake mailing services for clients in all cities here in Scotland (Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen, Inverness and Stirling), the UK (London, Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford, Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, Cardiff, Coventry, Leicester, Belfast, Nottingham, Newcastle, Kingston upon Hull, Plymouth, Stock-on-Trent, Wolverhampton and Derby) and Internationally
