Cost to produce and post a printed mug

[Lucifax]

Out of the last 400 parcels sent with each (we use RM and Hermes) RM 17 lost 2 Broken / Hermes 6 Lost 0 broken.

The biggest difference for us though is that of those 17 RM lost, they only compensated for 5, declaring "insufficient evidence" on the rest. (Despite us having proof of postage reciepts). Hermes on the other hand, being tracked, never quibble over a refund, without the hassle of us having to try to "prove" it's missing. Once it's on their system, they seem to accept it's their responsibility whereas RM do all they can to be evasive and time consuming.

We now use RM 1st class for anything up to large letter and international and Hermes for small parcel and bigger. We would use RM for everything though if their service was tracked as I much prefer the customer to collect from the post office rather than the courier leaving parcels in "safe places" if the customer isn't in. RM are missing a trick by not tracking for £2.75 on a small parcel.

Yeah, RM are a bit more expensive but MUCH more reliable, believe me.

Not really. For a tracked small parcel they are a lot more expensive and for standard small parcel you have virtually no chance of compensation if it goes missing. So really for sub £3 it's Hermes tracked and insured vs RM send and fingers crossed.

[AP Business Solutions]

Agree £4.45 inc postage and packaging is about right!

you should try parcel2go though as the delivery service is 10p cheaper and tracked and insured.
i ship up to 4 mugs for £2.75 and so far they have broke 2 but refunded the postage and retail price of the mug! RM only refund whole sale cost

[GoonerGary]

Out of the last 400 parcels sent with each (we use RM and Hermes) RM 17 lost 2 Broken / Hermes 6 Lost 0 broken.

.

Are you selling on eBay and Amazon by any chance?

[brightday83]

Out of the last 400 parcels sent with each (we use RM and Hermes) RM 17 lost 2 Broken / Hermes 6 Lost 0 broken.

The biggest difference for us though is that of those 17 RM lost, they only compensated for 5, declaring "insufficient evidence" on the rest. (Despite us having proof of postage reciepts). Hermes on the other hand, being tracked, never quibble over a refund, without the hassle of us having to try to "prove" it's missing. Once it's on their system, they seem to accept it's their responsibility whereas RM do all they can to be evasive and time consuming.

We now use RM 1st class for anything up to large letter and international and Hermes for small parcel and bigger. We would use RM for everything though if their service was tracked as I much prefer the customer to collect from the post office rather than the courier leaving parcels in "safe places" if the customer isn't in. RM are missing a trick by not tracking for £2.75 on a small parcel.

Not really. For a tracked small parcel they are a lot more expensive and for standard small parcel you have virtually no chance of compensation if it goes missing. So really for sub £3 it's Hermes tracked and insured vs RM send and fingers crossed.

Thanks this is really helpful!

So at least Hermes compensate if they cock-up, whereas Royal Mail don't? 17 lost parcels is pretty shocking! Do you think that customers sometimes 'pretend' not to receive them, to get a freebie? I've heard from friends who sell things on Ebay, that sometimes people do this to get free items. So it would be good to be insured from it.

[Lucifax]

Are you selling on eBay and Amazon by any chance?

Ebay and Etsy and our webby for wholesale as well as retail. We recently knocked Amazon on the head since it's now swamped with Chinese stolen artwork (including ours), knock offs and scammers stealing sellers accounts.

So at least Hermes compensate if they cock-up, whereas Royal Mail don't? 17 lost parcels is pretty shocking! Do you think that customers sometimes 'pretend' not to receive them, to get a freebie? I've heard from friends who sell things on Ebay, that sometimes people do this to get free items. So it would be good to be insured from it.

Well, RM are just really hard work and so time consuming to get anything out of and they'll say no without any aparrent logic or reason whereas Hermes can even be too keen to refund rather than take the time to sort it out..... which is ok actually as they pay full retail plus shipping so it's like a double sale. For example, we had a customer that they carded telling her which neighbors address they left it at, but they put her own address by mistake. It was frustrating for us as all they had to do was tell the delivery guy to go back and sort it out, but instead they insisted on refunding........ it's like explaining to children when there is a problem, no common sense at all but they seem more than happy to pay up regardless. We once queried a delivery that wasn't showing up on their system and they refunded it (£25) and when we checked with the customer, they had already recieved it. :redface:

I'm sure there are those who say they haven't recieved things, which is the one reason we like Hermes tracked. Give a customer a tracking number and they are unlikely to try it on. With the Post Office, make sure you get a proof of postage reciept for everything (ask for drop and go bags, then just leave the items with them and get all your tickets next time to save waiting ages).

One MASSIVE piece of advice, always make sure you send international orders recorded signed for with proof of postage. Especially the US. The trick out there is quite common to buy from UK knowing full well the seller is sending as cheeply as possible to be competitive and then claiming never recieved. It's rife on Etsy especially. We insist they pay Tracked and Signed which is expensive but they do pay it. Always worth checking parcels2go and parcelmonkey too for international prices, they sell unused cargo space for the couriers and RM, so are often cheeper than going direct although the same companies will be handling it. We always refund the customer any substantial excess delivery paid, which seems to be very appreciated.

[Skarekrow]

Well this has turned out to be a most interesting thread.

Thank you all very much. I feel a lot more confident going into this business now

Paul

[webtrekker]

I send everything RM Signed for. This costs me £2.85 + £1.10 = £3.95.

A mug sent by Hermes and signature obtained costs £2.75 + £1.00 = £3.75.

For the extra 20p I know who I'd rather trust with my parcel. The internet abounds with horror stories from Hermes (Google them if you don't believe me) and they are all true.

[pw66]

Royal Snail and Parcelfarce are a joke. Massive amount of staff, depots and delivery vans, yet they offer two half arsed services - 'Sooner or Later' & 'Better Late than Never'.

[brightday83]

Ebay and Etsy and our webby for wholesale as well as retail. We recently knocked Amazon on the head since it's now swamped with Chinese stolen artwork (including ours), knock offs and scammers stealing sellers accounts.



Well, RM are just really hard work and so time consuming to get anything out of and they'll say no without any aparrent logic or reason whereas Hermes can even be too keen to refund rather than take the time to sort it out..... which is ok actually as they pay full retail plus shipping so it's like a double sale. For example, we had a customer that they carded telling her which neighbors address they left it at, but they put her own address by mistake. It was frustrating for us as all they had to do was tell the delivery guy to go back and sort it out, but instead they insisted on refunding........ it's like explaining to children when there is a problem, no common sense at all but they seem more than happy to pay up regardless. We once queried a delivery that wasn't showing up on their system and they refunded it (£25) and when we checked with the customer, they had already recieved it. :redface:

I'm sure there are those who say they haven't recieved things, which is the one reason we like Hermes tracked. Give a customer a tracking number and they are unlikely to try it on. With the Post Office, make sure you get a proof of postage reciept for everything (ask for drop and go bags, then just leave the items with them and get all your tickets next time to save waiting ages).

One MASSIVE piece of advice, always make sure you send international orders recorded signed for with proof of postage. Especially the US. The trick out there is quite common to buy from UK knowing full well the seller is sending as cheeply as possible to be competitive and then claiming never recieved. It's rife on Etsy especially. We insist they pay Tracked and Signed which is expensive but they do pay it. Always worth checking parcels2go and parcelmonkey too for international prices, they sell unused cargo space for the couriers and RM, so are often cheeper than going direct although the same companies will be handling it. We always refund the customer any substantial excess delivery paid, which seems to be very appreciated.

Thanks Lucifax, this is a big help .

Do you find many of the parcels going through Hermes being broken though? As one of the posters has mentioned above? I have invested in smashproof mug boxes, and ontop of that I still use some bubblewrap.

How much is it for Hermes tracked postage? And do your customers not object, when other people's postage is cheaper? (£2.85 2nd class royal mail, or £3.35 1st class R.M. for mugs) Or is the extra postage cost included in the price of your products?

Thanks for the advice also about international postage .

[UK Printed Mugs]

DO NOT USE MYHERMES!! This isn't just a minor gripe but based on lots of experience both personally and from a business point of view. We finally pulled the plug from using them after the last THREE packages went AWOL. Even with tracking we were told they were lost and couldn't be found. They will not refund for personalised items we were told and would only refund if you have the original purchase receipt of the goods - which of course doesn't cover printed items. Although to be fair this includes most couriers anyway. We have had packages delivered damaged more times than I remember whereas a slightly more expensive courier (usually only +£1 more sometimes) such as Interlink Express or DPD have been perfect EVERY time. I'm sure we could start a whole new thread on couriers hey!