Sending letters cheaper?

[ysidfa]

Bit of a strange question...
Me and a friend have recently started a small business venture, we have had a sticker printed and we want to send it out to customers. We have 60 stickers that will need sending to UK addresses. I was wondering if there was any other way of sending them out instead of using second class stamps at 50p each?
Selling them at £2 each to keep interest high we stand to make about £120. Take the price of production, £30, then take the price of the stamps, £30, leaves us with £60.
Debating buying second class stamps off ebay as theyre still being sold at the old price + postage (about £36 for 100). But my sensible side tells me its probably a con into buying used unfranked stamps..

anyone got any ideas?

Tom

 

[Ziggy122]

get a franking machine

Ziggy

 

[PickleGP]

Is this just a sweet deal price to get things running, or your standard price going forward?

You really should have thought this out and determined all your costs before setting the price, but to be honest your margin isn't that bad using second class..

Sales
£120

Cost of sales
£30 - production
£30 - postage
£5 - packing (guessing at the cost of envelopes and cover slips)

That still leaves you with about £55, or over 40% margin.


A franking machine is worth looking into if you're planning on taking the business much further. But you'll need to look into the costs very carefully. There will be a minimum number of postings/month for it to be cost effective.

 

[mad saint uden]

to be fair, with the cost of small packages via courier being so low, i am surprised there isn't another carrier for letters as the cost seems disproportionate to me.

 

[custard]

to be fair, with the cost of small packages via courier being so low, i am surprised there isn't another carrier for letters as the cost seems disproportionate to me.

well the fact there isnt one should give a clue to that one
You would need a company to do that for under 50p. wheres the profit?

 

[Ziggy122]

There is a cheaper way to post - but your customers might not like it....

you bung it in without a stamp - the reciever then has to pay the £1 admin + Cost of sending

Ziggy

 

[ysidfa]

Weve not set a solid cost yet, nothing is set in stone.
I looked at Franking machines and theres several companies offering them on free 30 day trials, but for a start the turn over isnt going to be anyway near enough to warrent having one. Stamps it is!
The price will probably rise to £2 + 50p delivery, that makes it seem cheap at £2 and most people wont be bothered by the 50p or better 49p delivery!
I recently found out that my next door neighbour, being the old fashioned git he is, bought 250 second class stamps before the price went up! So I might be able to send them for less than 50p each.... hmmmmm :yum:

 

[Stu DemonD]

I am a small business yet even I haven't gone down the franking machine route - yes, the postage is a lot cheaper but the monthly rental and lock in puts me off; I just don't post enough out.

Even wholesale, I can buy £30s worth of 2nd class stamps for £29.50

 

[Stu DemonD]

Why not buy the stamps in bulk through somewhere like Viking Direct - I am not sure if any cashback tracks for stamp purchases though, but if you link your Nectar Account to Viking, there are some good incentives to be had i.e. spend over £70 to get 2000 extra points. It soon adds up.

 

[PickleGP]

I recently found out that my next door neighbour.. <snip> .. bought 250 second class stamps before the price went up! So I might be able to send them for less than 50p each.... hmmmmm :yum:

Don't go building your pricing on a one-off postage deal! - but do use them while they're available to increase your margin..

If a stamp is 50p, how much is the envelope you put it on? Do you send just the sticker loose in the envelope or do you also put in either a compliment slip, business card or printed receipt?

At a guess, £2 + 55p p&p will probably cover the envelope and whatever else goes inside it. 5p difference doesn't sound like a lot, but it adds up. And don't forget to keep track of the envelopes and invoice/cover slip printing in the accounts. There will come a time (usually towards the end of January) when you're scrabbling around trying to remember as many expenses as possible..

 

[deeyup]

Costco sell stamps cheaper than face value, but the best savings are on 1st class, about 6%.

There's also on-line vendors selling discount stamps http://www.discountedstampsforpostage.co.uk/ being one of them.
I can't say I ever used them though so don't know how reliable they are.

I see the post office has introduced a new size of medium packet with a price rise to go with it.

light weight but bulky boxes I was sending a few years ago for about £1.10 are now over £5.

I had to squash a box the other day at the post office to get it under the dimension threshold to save myself £2.50.


Did you remember that guy off 4 rooms buying a shed load of stamps before the massive increase last year, and intending to make an easy profit from it? http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/4230671/Four-Rooms-star-Jeff-makes-250000-investment-in-stamps.html

 

[ysidfa]

Spoke to the sticker company this morning, they told me that if I set up a free business account, (no monthly fees, no minium order after the first, and cheaper range of products) I could get 103 stickers in a range of colours for £25, which drops the cost down to 24p a sticker, increasing my margins massively! I will be saving an extra 23p per sticker, so it has the effect of shaving 23p on each stamp I buy!
Thanks for the advice Stu DemonD, ill look into Viking!

Tom