Franking machines for postage

[Mark Clayton]

Hi - Just a bit fed up of queueing at the post office and was thinking about getting a franking machine. Does anyone use one for mug posting? What are your experiences of using it / how does it work? What are the savings and how much do you need to post out to make it pay.... sorry for all the questions....

[bms]

We went down this route a while back and wouldn't look back now. You'll pay a monthly subscription for the machine and the ink cartridge cost is jaw dropping when you need to replace it.

The maths are fairly straightforward to do to see if it is financially viable as you'll save money on your postage which can be used to offset the cost of the monthly rental. Even if the figures make it close, the savings in time and saving to queue at the Post Office may sway it in your favour.

You'll probably sign up for 12 months minimum and if your a low user then look into MyMail as this is a small unit that does the job brilliantly.

[Flash]

Hi Mark,

The two main competitors are Neopost & Pitney Bowes both will fight for your business!
They will rent you a machine and arrange your 'Licence' with Royal Mail.
You then run your Franked mail into the Post Office, this needs to be seperated (First Class, Second Class etc) in bags supplied by Royal Mail.

You will pay monthly rental on the machine plus you will be charged a fee to 'top-up' your postal credit. To avoid too many 'top-up fees' you are better off topping-up in big chunks!
Then you must pay for your 'conumables' ie. Ink Cartridges & Franking Labels.

Big savings can be made if you post large volumes. I think I currently save 15p on a Second Class Large Letter!

Phil

[Justin]

Can you not just download your postage from Royal Mail site and print onto labels? I've done this before, very useful. Still have to deliver to Post Office but far quicker.

[bms]

Hi Mark,

The two main competitors are Neopost & Pitney Bowes both will fight for your business!
They will rent you a machine and arrange your 'Licence' with Royal Mail.
You then run your Franked mail into the Post Office, this needs to be seperated (First Class, Second Class etc) in bags supplied by Royal Mail.

You will pay monthly rental on the machine plus you will be charged a fee to 'top-up' your postal credit. To avoid too many 'top-up fees' you are better off topping-up in big chunks!
Then you must pay for your 'conumables' ie. Ink Cartridges & Franking Labels.

Big savings can be made if you post large volumes. I think I currently save 15p on a Second Class Large Letter!

Phil

We don't have to take our franked mail to the post office. It gets put in the post box at the end of our road on the industrial estate. We are allowed 10 free top ups a year but are allowed to top up large amounts at a time so in a year we don't top up more than 10 times. Franking labels worked out about 0.5p each last time I bought them (from Ebay) and the ink cartridge lasts for at least 3000 impressions (then it is pricey for a new one, especially if you can't source red ink and top up yourself as the one we have is just a HP NO 45 cartridge with red ink in it) - ink cartridge costs £5 with black ink or £150 with red ink (and it has to be red ink for franking).

[bms]

Can you not just download your postage from Royal Mail site and print onto labels? I've done this before, very useful. Still have to deliver to Post Office but far quicker.

Yes we tried that as well. Takes time though and it wasn't the most user friendly interface in the world. If you have 20 or 30 postal items to do this can take a while as you have to type in the customers address details into the website and go through several pages to get a final postage print. Franking is significantly quicker but it all depends on how many items your sending each day.

[Flash]

We don't have to take our franked mail to the post office.

He is never going to get a wrapped mug in a post box slot:biggrin:
We whip our mail up to the local Post Office as it's only a 2 minute walk, but we don't queue

Phil

[John G]

I don't think its a standard post box Flash :rolleyes:

[Flash]

I don't think its a standard post box Flash :rolleyes:

Oh, I thought I had just discovered why so many mugs were damaged in the post:biggrin:

Phil

[John G]

just discovered why so many mugs were damaged in the post

It could be :biggrin: