Royal Mail have announced price increases across a number of their products, including popular services Special Delivery, Large Letter 24 and Large Letter 48. These price changes will come into effect on 23rd March 2020.
In their recent announcement in regards to the price rise, Royal Mail have said “We know how challenging it can be for many companies keeping overheads to a minimum, so we have thought long and hard about these price changes. Rest assured we are committed to keeping prices as competitive as possible.”
“We understand that no one wants to pay more, but these price changes will help us continue to deliver the high level of service that is expected by you.”
Which Royal Mail postal services are changing in price?
Prices will be changing for the following Royal Mail products.
Parcel price changes
- Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed
- Royal Mail 24® and Royal Mail 48® Large Letters
- Royal Mail 24® and Royal Mail 48® Parcels
- Royal Mail 24® and Royal Mail 48® Non-barcoded Parcels
- Royal Mail 24® Non-barcoded Large Letter
- Royal Mail Advertising Mail Parcels
- Royal Mail Publishing Mail Parcels
Meter price changes
Price changes for Standard, SMART and Royal Mail Mailmark meter technology:
- Meter - Letters
- Meter - Large Letters
- Meter - Parcels
On Account price changes
Price changes for VAT exempt items posted via our Online Business Account:
- On Account - Barcoded Letters and Large Letters
- On Account - Non-barcoded Letters and Large Letters
- On Account - Parcel
International On Account and Meter price changes
Changes to International On Account and Meter prices:
- Letters, Large Letters, Parcels and 'Printed Paper'
- International Tracked & Signed, International Tracked and International Signed
- International Standard and International Economy services
Is there a way to avoid the Royal Mail March 2020 price increase?
While there isn’t a way to avoid the Royal Mail March price increase, if you use a service that has a stamp without a numerical value on (such as 1st Class or 2nd Class), you could purchase the stamps for these services before 23rd March 2020 and pay the current price for them. They will still be valid for use after the price increase.
Another great postage cost saving tip is to buy online through the Royal Mail Click & Drop service as the rates are cheaper than buying over the counter. Take a look here https://parcel.royalmail.com/
How much are the Royal Mail rates going up by?
The price increases vary across the services. To give you an idea of the price changes please see info on some of the most popular Royal Mail services affected below:
Royal Mail Standard 1st Class
- Letter (up to 100g) - increase by 6p to 76p
- Large Letter (up to 100g) - increase by 9p to £1.15
- Large Letter (up to 250g) - increase by 14p to £1.64
Royal Mail Standard 2nd Class
- Letter (up to 100g) - increase by 4p to 65p
- Large Letter (up to 100g) - increase by 5p to 88p
- Large Letter (up to 250g) - increase by 8p to £1.40
Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed 1pm
A 10p price increase will apply to all Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed 1pm services up to 1kg.
For example, currently for a parcel up to 100g with £500 compensation the price is £6.60. This will increase to £6.70 from 23rd March.
Head to royalmail.com/prices2020 to find full details of all the new prices