# Third party Royal Mail mailing services



## martint (Sep 14, 2011)

Hello all,

I am new to the forum and still in the UK. I am currently researching a possible move to the Costa Blanca region. I sell specialist collectibles through a webpage and also on Ebay. Continuing to support this activity is an important consideration in my planning. My questions relate to postal services in Spain. 

1. What is the general experience of using the Spanish postal service and would people generally consider it reliable,good value or otherwise, particularly for sending stuff back to the UK?

2. I have been reading about third party mail companys that air freight post daily to the UK for onward processing by Royal Mail. Easypost.es was one and Offex another one. I was wondering how these work and how expensive they are. As an example, I send a lot of small packet mail both within the UK and worldwide. Typical cost to me in the UK is 75p first class for a PIP carton (cd size under 100g) at the UK large letter rate. If I was to send these back to the UK from Spain using one of the these third party companys, how would the price compare?

3. I prepay postage with a royal mail account in the UK, effectively printing my own pre-paid labels. Can the mail be submitted to a third party mail point already prepaid for UK Royal Mail and then pay a fee for the easypost service, or do you have to have each and every package weighed etc as if in a post office? That would be a major pain for me

Any advice from expat ebayers or webtraders who send a lot of stuff out in the post would be much appreciated.

Cheers, Martin


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

martint said:


> Hello all,
> 
> I am new to the forum and still in the UK. I am currently researching a possible move to the Costa Blanca region. I sell specialist collectibles through a webpage and also on Ebay. Continuing to support this activity is an important consideration in my planning. My questions relate to postal services in Spain.
> 
> ...


hi & welcome

I can't help personally, but here's a recent similar discussion

http://www.expatforum.com/expats/spain-expat-forum-expats-living-spain/86869-postage-cost-sending.html


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## martint (Sep 14, 2011)

I corresonded with a nice chap who runs an easypost mailpoint. From what i can determine, all Royal Mail services would be about double the standard UK cost through them. 

This means that for UK mail and for lighter weight international mail, easypost is probably cheaper than domestic spanish postal services. However, from studying the Correos website, it seems heavier weight international mail may be cheaper through them. It will therefore be a case by case determination based on weight and destination. 

Also, it seems that you have to have everything franked at the easypost mailpoint, so you can't speed things up by pre paying any royal mail postage. I can live with this on my small volumes but it must be pain if you have a real business. I remain interested to hear previous experiences of other expat Ebayers with regard to postage issues?


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## ted111 (May 29, 2011)

I use offex. 
Look at their website offexspain.com 
You can look up agents in any area.
A first class large letter up to 50g would cost €1.75. Up to 100g would cost €1.80. Recorded would be €3.50


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## martint (Sep 14, 2011)

Thanks,
That looks very similar to the rates i was quoted for Easypost. Definitely looking like the way ahead for my ebaying activities. 

I also had a nice email from a manager at easypost's head office offering his contact details for further advice. This was wrapped up in an apology as i had mentioned to the mailpoint agent, that the main company had not answered my initial emailed enquiries. Now that sounds like better service than we get from most UK service industries!


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## VFR (Dec 23, 2009)

Parcel2go.com have some real good rates & I have used the service myself.


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## ted111 (May 29, 2011)

martint said:


> Thanks,
> That looks very similar to the rates i was quoted for Easypost. Definitely looking like the way ahead for my ebaying activities.
> 
> I also had a nice email from a manager at easypost's head office offering his contact details for further advice. This was wrapped up in an apology as i had mentioned to the mailpoint agent, that the main company had not answered my initial emailed enquiries. Now that sounds like better service than we get from most UK service industries!


Just check how many outgoing flights they have to the UK every week. I thought Easypost only flew post in once a week. I could be wrong but check. Offex have flights to the UK 3 times a week. In busy periods it's 4 times a week. As far as I know there are no courier flights at the weekend. 

Therefore, 1st class at a supposed '2-3 day delivery' isn't always true. If for example you left something on a Friday with an agent but had missed that days collection, it wouldn't be picked up to fly till Monday (presuming the courier you choose fly post out on a Monday- Offex do). It would go through Royal Mail Tuesday and if Royal Mail do their job properly, be delivered Wednesday. But normally now days you can add a day or two to that! I would always give a 5 day delivery date just in case. If it arrives earlier, great. If you can, I would also recommend recorded delivery and pass on the bill to the customer. You can check it's been delivered and signed for.


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