PlumeBlu postage prices

[Colonelboom]

We had a post left on our Facebook page this morning by a customer who stated that our postage prices were 'beyond a joke' and so I thought it would be a good chance to post up something on here for all to see.

PlumeBlu only use recorded delivery whether that is large letter or small parcels. The reason for this is that in a month of using an unrecorded service to keep things cheap for customers we had a dozen parcels that apparently didn't arrive and despite giving proof of postage the inevitable dispute through PayPal meant we refunded the sale or replaced it again (with recorded post on the replacement) - this turned out VERY costly and also took our time away from dealing with running the business, making sure that orders went out quickly etc.

Since then we have only used recorded post and since September last year the total sum of parcels that have been claimed as not arriving has come to just one item - make of that what you will! We have had people claim that items have not arrived and checked their tracking number to discover it arrived just fine at which point the customer did not get back to us to claim otherwise.

Put short, there are loads of people who are honest and upstanding when it comes to buying from businesses but there are also those that will take advantage - we cannot afford to replace tons of orders every month for items claimed to not arrive and in order to keep service levels high ONLY offer first class recorded which is described on the checkout page.

The sticking point here is with Royal Mail, under 25mm package (ie one of our boxes) will hold quite a few 10ml bottles and will go for £2.65, once your item goes over 25mm though it is then small parcel territory and has a cost price before packaging of £4.30 for the even the lightest items. Special Delivery costs us £7.15 on low weight items so currently we lose 20p sending those as our rates have not been adjusted yet but from today they will be set to cost - again this is expensive but not something we have control over.

If there was a way to get 30mm high parcels out to people at £2.65 we would choose that, we can't though and are left with the options open to us.

The majority of our parcels arrive next day, often when customers order past 4pm we try and get them out the same day and the only way we can do that cheaper is to offer second class postage (which I am sure would get complaints about delivery speed in that case). For now though, we are only offering recorded post to protect ourselves and keep quality of service high but will only charge what it costs us and a little to cover the packaging costs too.

 

[Sassy]

Absolutely agree!

I would much rather pay a bit more postage for something I know I can track and trace and have security with than eave it to Mr Postie and his chums to get here.
It's security for me and you, everyones a winner.

 

[ElsaBubs]

Bumholes

 

[Colonelboom]

Bumholes

Thing is Sam, I have spoken to people on here before who genuinely thought vendors were overcharging for postage and were not aware of the cost of posting these days coupled with the new price in proportion system they use. If it were just weight based then £4.65 for a 30ml bottle would be profiteering but since they introduced the 25mm hight limit we are all bent over a barrel.

 

[ElsaBubs]

we are all bent over a barrel.

That's your favourite position though

but yeah, rm are rip off bastards and postage is expensive wherever you go. I know how much it all costs for selling stuff on the classies etc. bloody expensive.

 

[blademansw]

Seems fair enough. Its not your fault Royal Mail are a bunch of theiving chunts.

The only downside of course, if someone is ordering one cheap item, it makes the postage look expensive.

I do fully understand the position of using signed for though, every time I have sold anything on ebay, its RM Special Delivery to avoid any attempts at chargebacks etc.

 

[Dino]

Thing is Sam, I have spoken to people on here before who genuinely thought vendors were overcharging for postage and were not aware of the cost of posting these days coupled with the new price in proportion system they use. If it were just weight based then £4.65 for a 30ml bottle would be profiteering but since they introduced the 25mm hight limit we are all bent over a barrel.

I found that out earlier. I thought I'd give away some juice. A 30ml bottle thinking it would be something like a quid to send. It was £3.20 for a 'small parcel'. Takes the piss is does.

 

[Colonelboom]

Seems fair enough. Its not your fault Royal Mail are a bunch of theiving chunts.

The only downside of course, if someone is ordering one cheap item, it makes the postage look expensive.

I do fully understand the position of using signed for though, every time I have sold anything on ebay, its RM Special Delivery to avoid any attempts at chargebacks etc.

I have had people ordering single drip tips using the recorded option and wondered whether to introduce an under £3 value shipping which is unrecorded, the problem is again that having being bitten by dishonesty in the past I know that I can do a no quibble, no doubt refund when it is recorded and I can check for myself - it just makes things run smoother really.

Insisting on recorded is an unfortunate consequence but when you lose about £150 in stock (plus some re-sends and postage costs) in one month and then less than a tenner in nine months there is really only one way that makes sense for us. Even with proof of postage given PayPal insist on tracking numbers to fall on the side of the vendor.

I have even had PayPal refund someone who bought a deluxe ego kit off me worth about £30 and had claimed it hadn't arrived, I uploaded the receipt details within minutes and the tracking number clearly stating item was delivered the day after posting - PayPal still refunded the buyer for some unknown reason and no amount of arguing and escalation got my money back again which just sucked...

 

[Colonelboom]

I found that out earlier. I thought I'd give away some juice. A 30ml bottle thinking it would be something like a quid to send. It was £3.20 for a 'small parcel'. Takes the piss is does.

Was that Second Class recorded Dino or First Class unrecorded?

'tis a joke really, businesses have no option but RM for mail and their prices are so out of touch for the different services. I don't begrudge £2.34 (upwards, that is starting weight) for large letter recorded rate really. My main issue is the 25mm height limit that only seems to have been introduced to extract more money from people.

When I first started posting orders out my PO ladies would quibble when my boxes were snug through the large letter slot and tell me it should be small parcel, even 30ml bottles should be no hassle whatsoever to post on the cheap rate option. Another byproduct of this silliness is that pretty much every USB mains charger is small parcel so customers looking for a cheap starter kit that manages to go in a box then have to add £2 on top of postage as well as the charger which puts people off buying.

I digress though. I wanted to highlight that PlumeBlu and a great number of vendors who have to post every day are not just doubling postage prices to make more money but simply covering what they are charged and not exposing their business to fraudulent claims. It makes me a little sad that a customer has felt the need to leave a negative comment about postage prices but if the general public don't know what we are being charged it is hardly surprising.

 

[Dino]

1st class unrecorded. 2nd class is only like 30p cheaper and the first and last time I used that it took 6 days to get there.