Postage Rates and Packaging Materials
Notes for BCRA staff by David Gibson
Click/Tap a link or scroll on down.
BCRA Pricing Rationale
We do not have to charge the customer the actual cost of postage and packaging
– what matters is that we make an acceptable overall surplus from the activity of providing
publications to customers. Charging the actual cost would require a complicated order form,
and we would need to know the weight of each individual item. Instead, we can get a broad
indication of the postage and packing by charging a handling charge and a postage per
item, based on the premise that customers usually order only one or two items.
Data updated on 24-Jul-2022
The data on this page is drawn from BCRA's master
file of postage rates which was updated from Royal Mail data at royal-mail-our-prices-april-2022-v2.pdf on 24-Jul-2022. The BCRA rates
are the current live figures from price_data/price_data.js, which
can be viewed as a table in the Javascript data
verification file.
Proposal; July 2022
David Gibson proposes ...
- Before the Gower book is published; increasing the UK handling for small items from
£1.00 to £1.50.
- Before the Gower book is published; increasing the UK postage for small items from 50p
to 70p per item.
- Decreasing the price of the older and tattier Cave Studies volumes to £2.50 to
offset the price increase above.
- We should also consider... Ending our special offer of zero postage on
large books shipped to the UK, and charging a handling charge of £4.00 and postage of
£1.00 per item.
The tables below, also suggest the following...
- Increasing the European item postage for large books from £7.00 to £8.00.
- Increasing the World handling charge for large books from £14.00 to
£18.00.
But those increases do not allow for the fact that the "post free" rates to the UK imply
some degree of benefit toall customers. Also, we have to consider whether to levy a charge
on EU postage to cope with customs arrangements. Probably best to leave overseas postage alone for
the time being.
Scroll down to see proposed
changes in detail.
Shipping Companies
Royal Mail,
Parcel 2 Go, Parcel
Hero
Packaging Materials
Recent purchases by David Gibson ...
| Item |
Supplier |
Item description (this may change over time) |
Each |
Ordered |
| Padded envelope for Cave Studies booklets |
Packaging Warehouse |
D/1 Mail Lite Bag 175 x 250mm (6 x 10") White (Boxed) Qty 100 |
£0.11
£0.14 |
17-Feb-2023
19-May-2020 |
| Plastic Envelope for periodicals |
Packaging Warehouse |
GC01 260mm x 300mm approx (10.2 x 11.8") Grey Polythene Mailing Bags. Pack of 1000
260 x 300mm (10.2 x 11.8") ECONOMY POLYTHENE MAILING BAGS - GC01 GREY Pack of 100 |
£0.068
£0.18
£0.12
£0.083
£0.089 |
08-Sep-2023
17-Feb-2023
19-May-2020
03-Mar-2021
27-Oct-2021 |
| A4 Book Mailers |
Kite Packaging |
book wrap mailer size 4 - 310x250x70mm - pack of 50 |
£0.80
£0.72 |
11-Apr-2023
07-Feb-2022 |
| Padded envelopes for A4 items |
Packaging Warehouse |
G/4 Mail Lite Bag 230 x 325mm (9 x 12") White (Boxed) Qty 50.
D Gibson is using these to ship Dales books. The paper bag is placed inside an
'ECONOMY POLYTHENE MAILING BAG' (see below), which is not quite long enough; then a second bag is
used to close the gap.
|
£0.27 |
28-Dec-2020 |
| A4 Book Mailers |
Raja Pack |
RBK44. Standard brown, panel wrap book boxes with an adhesive strip, 330x250mm.
(With delivery, these were expensive. Not recommended for future purchase). |
£2.24 |
16-Dec-2020 |
| |
|
300 X 350MM (11.8 X 13.7") ECONOMY POLYTHENE MAILING BAGS - GC05 GREY PACK OF 100 -
these are a better size for holding an A4 padded envelope (see note above on Dales books) |
£0.092 |
03-Mar-2021 |
| Mailers for Dales Book |
ReadyCase |
READY PAC 33X27 330mm x 270mm x 50mm ReadyCase is no longer trading to
retail |
£0.80 |
19-Mar-2018 |
Packaging Options
Everyone had their own preferences regarding how they pack items, and BCRA does not impose
any requirements on its staff. But, for info, this is how I pack the items I send...
| A5 Items |
Wrap a piece of paper around the bottom of the book (to protect the edges) then slide
into an A5 padded bag. |
|
| A4 Items |
Wrap a piece of paper around the bottom of the book (to protect the edges) then slide
into an A4 padded bag. Then either
- Place the padded bag inside a plastic envelope (260 x 300mm ) as far as it will
go, then stick the envelope flap to the bag. Then place a second envelope over the bag from the
other side and secure with parcel tape.
- Use a slightly larger plastic envelope (300 x 350mm)
|
|
| A4 multiple items |
Use a book mailer |
|
Royal Mail prices, stamps, customs labels
Second Class post: go to royalmail.com/sending/uk/2nd-class and
scroll down to the pull down section at Prices and compensation for Royal Mail 2nd
Class.
International Standard: go to
royalmail.com/sending/international/international-standard
and scroll down to the pull down section at Prices.
Surface Mail: go to
royalmail.com/sending/international/international-economy
and scroll down to the pull down section at Prices.
or see Current Postage Prices: royalmail.com/current-postage-prices.
Check postage zones at royalmail.com/world-zones.
Order stamps from Royal
Mail Shop. Remember to pay using BCRA credit card.
Print online postage at Click and Drop.
Note: you should open an account first, as it gives you many more options for managing the
postage, including the uploading of spreadsheets.
Customs Form: Click and Drop will provide you with a pre-completed customs form,
else go to
Customs
form CN22.
BCRA UK Postage Rates
Small books (Large Letter rates)
The rates shown below are the over-the-counter rates; online pricing might be slightly
different. A table also shows BCRA's current postage and handling charges. Also see
Shipping Charges / Discounts / Methods of Payment .
| Royal Mail Postage for UK items |
| Service |
Weight |
UK 2nd Class |
Online Discount |
| Large Letter |
Up to 100g |
1.05 |
|
| Large Letter |
Up to 250g |
1.65 |
|
| Large Letter |
Up to 500g |
2.15 |
|
| Large Letter |
Up to 750g |
2.70 |
|
| Small Parcel |
up to 2kg |
3.35 |
0.50 |
| Medium Parcel |
up to 10kg |
6.95 |
1.00 |
| Medium Parcel |
up to 20kg |
10.45 |
1.00 |
| BCRA Handling and Postage for Small Books |
| Item |
UK |
| Small books — Handling charge |
1.50 |
| Small books — Postage per item |
1.00 |
| Large books — Handling charge |
4.00 |
| Large books — Postage per item |
1.00 |
| Small books —Postage/handling cap |
4.00 |
The Cumbrian Ring book weighs 130g and the Gower book is expected to be 180g, although some
of the older Cave Studies books are less than 100g. On that basis we
could consider a) increasing the postage per item to 70p and the handling to £1.50 (to allow
for packing materials); and b) decreasing the price of some of the earlier Cave Studies volumes;
say to £2.50.
Large books (Parcel rates)
At present, shipping is free but that was largely as a 'special offer' whilst we were
selling the Dales books, in order that the advertised price was the actual price paid. The current
postage cost is
| Royal Mail postage examples for the BCRA Dales books |
| Item |
UK |
Online Discount |
| One copy of #1 or #2 (1–1.3kg) |
3.35 |
0.50 |
| Two books (> 2kg) |
6.95 |
1.00 |
| Four of each, 8 books, (up to 9.2kg) |
6.95 |
1.00 |
| Five of #1 or #2 (up to 6.5kg) |
6.95 |
1.00 |
As well as the above prices, the packaging materials could come to £1. If we wanted
to cover all the postage/packing cost or, at least, contribute significantly towards it,
we could specify a handling charge of £4.00 and postage of
£1.00 per item.
BCRA Overseas Postage Rates
Small books (Large Letter rates)
The rates shown below are the over-the-counter rates; online pricing might be slightly
different. A table also shows BCRA's current postage and handling charges. Also see
Shipping Charges / Discounts / Methods of Payment.
| Item : Zone |
E1 |
E2 |
E3 |
A1 |
A2 |
A3 |
Economy
(surface) |
| 250g |
4.25 |
4.25 |
4.25 |
5.70 |
6.80 |
5.85 |
3.20 |
| 500g |
5.25 |
5.25 |
5.25 |
8.00 |
9.85 |
8.30 |
4.60 |
| 750g |
6.25 |
6.25 |
6.25 |
10.65 |
13.55 |
8.30 |
5.30 |
This current post/packing rates are as follows. For Europe shipments, the current rates
have £1 added to the handling charge and £1/item added to the item charge, as a
precaution to cover complications in shipping and customs duty caused by our leaving
the EU. It probably is not necessary to alter these rates at the
moment.
| Current BCRA charges for small books |
| Item |
Europe
and Surface |
World |
| Handling charge |
4.00 |
4.00 |
| Item charge |
2.00 |
2.00 |
| that is... |
|
|
Handling plus one item < 250g.
Includes £2 'EU precaution' |
6.00
Target 6.25 |
6.00
Target 6.80 |
Handling plus two items < 250g.
Includes £3 'EU precaution' |
8.00
Target 7.25 |
8.00
Target 6.80 |
Handling plus three items < 500g.
Includes £4 'EU precaution' |
10.00
Target 9.25 |
10.00
Target 9.85 |
Handling plus four items < 500g.
Includes £5 'EU precaution' |
12.00
Target 10.25 |
12.00
Target 9.85 |
Large books (Parcel rates)
The rates shown below are the over-the-counter rates. The online discount is shown below in
brackets. A table also shows BCRA's current postage and handling charges. Also see
Shipping Charges / Discounts / Methods of Payment .
| Item : Zone |
E1 |
E2 |
E3 |
A1 |
A2 |
A3 |
Economy
(surface) |
| Dales volume 1, 1.25kg |
10.90
(0.70) |
11.40
(0.70) |
11.95
(0.70) |
19.85
(1.20) |
23.75
(1.30) |
26.45
(1.55) |
11.60 |
| Dales volume 2, 1.5kg |
10.90
(0.70) |
11.40
(0.70) |
13.05
(0.70) |
22.10
(1.20) |
26.85
(1.30) |
29.20
(1.55) |
12.85 |
| Both, 2.5kg |
15.20
(1.10) |
15.70
(0.90) |
16.85
(0.90) |
27.10
(1.40) |
33.25
(1.50) |
35.65
(1.55) |
17.25 |
The current post/packing rates are as follows. For Europe shipments, the current rates have
£2 added to the handling charge and £3/item added to the item charge, as a
precaution to cover complications in shipping and customs duty caused by our leaving
the EU. The new Europe Zones, and the new(ish) Zone 3 (USA) are complications, because our order
form does not allow for this distinction. Previously, we have subtracted the implicit UK
postage costs from the overseas rates, because UK postage was offered free.
We could increase the rates as shown below but, is it worth
it?
| Current BCRA charges for Large books |
| Item |
Europe
and Surface |
World |
| Handling charge |
8.00 |
14.00 |
| Item charge |
7.00 |
8.00 |
| that is... |
|
|
Handling plus one item.
Includes £5 'EU precaution' |
15.00
Target 16.40 |
22.00
Target 26.85 |
Handling plus two items.
Includes £8 'EU precaution' |
22.00
Target 23.70 |
30.00
Target 33.25 |
| Suggested new charges for large
items |
| Item |
EUR and Surface |
World |
| Handling charge |
no change |
18.00 |
| Item charge |
8.00 |
no change |
| that is... |
|
|
| Handling plus one item |
16.00 |
26.00 |
| Handling plus two items |
24.00 |
34.00 |
Postage to the EU (Background Notes) [October 2021]
Also see our public notice, Shipping to the European
Union.
Please note that in addition to the public BCRA policies listed in that notice, there is
another one, which we might wish to use for shipping subscription copies of our periodicals, or
for other small orders, which is simply to post and see what happens. Clearly the customer
then has the option of paying the duty (if he is asked) or rejecting the item. I assume that this
situation will settle down with time, when Royal Mail finally gets its act together.
Changes to our postage rates, to accommodate the new situation were made in 2021. The rates
were derived as follows...
- Large books, EU handling charge: Added £2 to cover any increase in shipping
fees that might result.
- Large books, EU postage per item: Added £3, being 20% VAT on a book worth
£15.
- Small Books, EU handing charge: Added £1 to cover any increase in shipping fees
that might result.
- Small Books, EU postage per item: Added £1, being 20% VAT on a book worth
£5.
- Small Books, ROW handing charge: Added £1 to match EU pricing.
Guidelines for Shipping to the EU [October 2021]
Also see our public notice, Shipping to the European
Union.
The information at parcel2go.com/international-shipping-hub
is clear and comprehensive.
Small Orders
If the customer's order weighs less than a kilogram then we probably cannot economically
ship it at the moment [Autumn 2021]. We need to make decisions on such orders on a case-by-case
basis. We can...
- Pay for a 1kg parcel shipment using a DDP carrier (see below) but this is not
economic
- Tell the customer that we cannot accept his order right now
- Send it as a personal item over-the-counter at a Post Office. If you do this,
- You should not say that you are a business, as that just complicates
things. If pressed, you could explain (truthfully) that you represent a small charity that is not
registered for VAT, and that you do not have an EORI or IOSS number.
- You should not declare the item as a gift - it is a sale. You should
declare its true value on the CN22 form
- You should contact the customer and make sure he is aware of our
notice Shipping to the European Union and, in particular,
that he might have to pay a fee to receive the shipment.
Heavier Orders
If the order is economical to send as a parcel then ...
- At the moment Royal Mail's Click and Drop service does not offer Delivery Duties
Paid for individuals without EORI and IOSS numbers. As soon as it does, this becomes an option
for us. Until then...
- Go to Parcel 2 Go. Select a carrier that offers
Delivery Duties Paid. It may refer to that as EU Shipping Taxes Paid, or Tax Paid
at Source.
- Start completing the form.
- You cannot say you are a business, because it will ask you for an EORI number, and we do
not have one.
- ...so state that you are an individual, not registered for VAT.
- If you say you are shipping a gift, it will not offer you the opportunity to pay the
tax, but will indicate that the recipient might be asked to pay any tax or duty that is due. Your
BCRA shipments are not gifts!
- ... so state that this is a sale.
- Complete the customs information. The VAT and a handling charge will be added to the fee
due.
- Print the address label and customs information. You need to sign all of the customs
documents and place them in an envelope attached to the parcel. Do not put them inside the
package!.
Subscriptions
None of the above helps us with the mailing of individual copies of Cave & Karst
Science or the CREG journal. This is because Royal Mail has not yet implemented a useable system
for letters, sent by companies that do not have an IOSS number. Hopefully this situation will
resolve itself soon.
Selling via Ebay
20-Feb-2023 David Gibson writes ...
I have set up some trial Ebay pages to investigate shipments into the EU. Ebay will collect
the customer's VAT and issue an IOSS number for the mailing, which should avoid the problems of EU
customers having to pay a customs handling charge. I have set this up on my personal Ebay account,
linking to my personal Royal Mail account. There are several reasons why this is a better
scheme.
- An official BCRA 'business' account might require documentation that we would find
difficult to provide.
- And also: Two-step authentication is not possible with a BCRA account because we do not
have a useable official BCRA phone number (our enquiry line at Great Hucklow goes to voicemail).
Linking a private phone to the account could be problematical (Suppose that person becomes
unavailable to co-operate with BCRA?)
- It would be difficult to duplicate BCRA's pricing structure on Ebay; and having a
different pricing structure might lead to adverse comments. Handling that correspondence would be
a needless waste of a volunteer's time. Hence it is better not to brand the site as an
official BCRA shop.
The salient points of the operation are as follows.
- Although the usual private seller account at Ebay can be enhanced by paying
£20/month for a 'shop' account, we do not need those additional facilities that an actual
'shop' provides.
- A 'shop' is not needed because the idea is not primarily to attract customers, it
is to provide a means for EU customers to order books when they have been specifically
directed to the sales page from our web site.
- I would buy stock from BCRA at the retailer discount, paying for postage myself and
retaining any surplus. (Thus avoiding the difficulty of trying to replicate BCRA's pricing
structure on Ebay; and also the necessity for BCRA to obtain accurate records of expenditure).
- Where stock is available to me for free (e.g. surplus destined for recycling) then I
would not go through the process of buying it off BCRA at the retailer discount.
Essentially, that means all stock apart from Print On Demand items.
Possible problems are as follows
- There are obvious complications if the stock has to be shipped via Katie. For this, I
would need to email her a valid postage label. Clearly she cannot just post over-the-counter
because that defeats the entire purpose of this rigmarole, i.e. to get an IOSS reference on the
postage label. Even for UK mailings, I should send her a label, or else she would end up charging
the postage to BCRA.
- If people mistake the Ebay pages for an official BCRA shop, that could lead to
difficulties in the event of a dispute with the customer.
- If I have to withdraw the service, BCRA will have to set up a replacement service and
find a new volunteer to operate it. Ideally this would need to be a volunteer who already has a
good knowledge of Ebay.
Initial Ebay Set-up
The table below shows my initial Ebay pricing structure.
The situation for CREG is slightly different to the sale of a general publication, because
existing subscribers are going to have to migrate to using Ebay. The pricing needs to
reflect that. Also, we cannot sell subscriptions via Ebay so the question arises of how we can
determine, in advance, how many EU customers we are likely to have for the CREG journal. The
answer might be to sell the subscribers an EU Discount Voucher for £8, which
entitles them to the usual online access and to a £2.00 discount on four paper issues. When
paying at Ebay they would click on the Make Offer button, and offer £1.00 for a
journal. The suggested rubric would be ...
If you have purchased an EU Discount Voucher from CREG, you can click the Make
Offer button and offer just £1.00 for up to four journals per year. However, if your
Ebay account name does not match the one you gave when you bought the voucher, the offer will be
rejected.
There are a couple of points to note...
- The Make Offer button cannot be used when there are multiple variations to
a listing.
- Discount codes would be easier with an official Ebay Shop, which gives sellers
additional facilities.
| Item: |
Current CREG Journal |
CREG back-issues |
Gower book |
Cave Studies
Not set up yet |
BCRA Review |
| Basic Price |
3.50 |
3.50 |
12.50 |
? |
3.50 |
| Weight |
100g |
100g |
220g |
? |
180g |
| Listing Variations? |
no |
yes |
no |
yes |
yes |
| Quantity discounts |
– |
– |
– |
? |
Buy 2 save 20%
Buy 3 save 30%
Buy 4 save 40% |
Make an Offer?
See bullets immediately above |
1.00
(EU Voucher Sub.) |
n/a |
No.
(i.e. no BCRA discount) |
n/a |
n/a |
| UK Postage |
1.50 |
1.50 |
2.50 |
? |
2.50 |
| UK Post Increment |
0.50 |
0.50 |
1.00 |
? |
1.00 |
| Overseas Postage |
3.25 |
3.25 |
4.50 |
? |
4.50 |
| Overseas Post Increment |
1.00 |
1.00 |
1.00 |
? |
1.00 |
| Source of Stock |
free to DG
(overs) |
free to DG
(overs) |
at retailer discount |
? |
free to DG
(overs) |
| Surplus to |
CREG |
CREG |
DG |
? |
DG |
Assembled Cave Studies info for Ebay
Typical Image URL /bookshop/cs-covers-ebay/cs20-ebay.jpg
| # |
Image |
Title |
Author |
Year |
Pages |
Size |
Weight |
Type |
ISBN |
| 20 |
 |
Exploring the Limestone Landscapes of the Cumbrian Ring |
Phillip Murphy |
2015 |
68 |
A5 |
130 |
POD |
978-0-900265-49-5 |
| 19 |
 |
Exploring the Limestone Landscapes of the Peak District |
Trevor Ford, John Gunn |
2010 |
64 |
A5 |
120 |
– |
978-0-900265-35-8 |
| 18 |
 |
Eli Simpson and the BSA |
David Judson |
2009 |
iv + 64 |
A4 |
180 ? |
POD |
0-900265-34-5 |
| 17 |
 |
The Grotte Casteret (Gruta Helada Casteret) |
David St-Pierre |
2007 |
iv + 48 |
A4 |
140 ? |
POD |
0-900265-32-9 |
| 16 |
 |
Essential Sources in Cave Science |
Graham Proudlove |
2006 |
vi + 70 |
Royal |
130 |
POD |
978-0-900265-51-1 |
| 15 |
 |
Exploring the Limestone Landscapes of the Three Peaks and Malham |
Phillip Murphy |
2005 |
64 |
A5 |
120 |
– |
0-900265-30-2 |
| 14 |
 |
Swildons 2 and 3 |
David Irwin |
2004 |
48 |
A5 |
90 ? |
– |
0-900265-29-9 |
| 13 |
 |
Exploring the Limestone Landscapes of Upper Wharfedale |
Phillip Murphy |
2003 |
48 |
A5 |
90 |
– |
0-900265-27-2 |
| 11 |
 |
Cave Surveying |
Anthony Day |
2002 |
40 |
A5 |
80 |
– |
0-900265-25-6 |
| 10 |
 |
A Dictionary of Karst and Caves |
David Lowe, Tony Waltham |
2002 |
40 |
A5 |
80 |
– |
0-900265-24-8 |
| 9 |
 |
Sediments in Caves |
Trevor Ford |
2001 |
32 |
A5 |
90 |
– |
0-900265-23-X |
| 8 |
 |
Walks around the Caves and Karst of the Mendip Hills |
Andy Farrant |
1999 |
40 |
A5 |
90 |
– |
0-900265-21-3 |
| 7 |
 |
Caves and Karst of the Brecon Beacons National Park |
Mike Simms |
1998 |
32 |
A5 |
60 |
POD |
0-900265-20-5 |
| 1 |
 |
Caves and Karst of the Yorkshire Dales: A Field Guide |
Tony Waltham, Martin Davies |
1987 |
32 |
A5 |
60 |
POD |
0-900265-04-3 |
