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Brexit and Postage Price Changes

Since my last update, quite a lot has happened, but not a lot has changed, if that makes any sense. Both my workshop location and, later, my home were placed into Tier 4. I have had no access to premises since the 18th of December, so have been unable to fulfil orders. Honestly, this has all started to get a bit old so I decided, for the first time since starting the business, to take a proper Christmas break. It’s been great, despite the limitations, as I’ve been able to spend lots of time with my wife & son.

Coming into 2021, and thanks to our lethargic and indecisive government, the COVID situation in the UK is worsening daily. I don’t expect to be out of Tier 4 any time soon. I don’t know what this will mean for premises access, so I have to ask that you bear with me. Once I know, I will post another update. I have some new products waiting, but I will hold them until I can be sure that I can ship them out!

OK. Brexit. Another shambles perpetrated by this government and their predecessors. I have made the changes to the store which seem necessary. I may have made errors, as the deal signed with the EU has barely had time for the ink to dry. Those of you in the EU may now find yourselves paying VAT when your orders pass through customs, as those in the rest of the world already do.

Royal Mail, who I use for most orders, have updated their prices for 2021. I haven’t updated my own charges for a long time, and I have identified where I need to raise them to meet the new prices and the cost of packaging etc. I have kept these increases to a minimum. I have also indentified a few places where I can make reductions – this is mostly due to the average weight of orders in certain situations being lower than I had accounted for previously. It is possible that I will lose a little money on shipping in some situations, but this solution seems to me to be the fairest one overall.

In addition, I have added a cheaper shipping tier for letters which will be used when orders only contain decal sheets. Free shipping thresholds for the UK and Europe remain at £35 and £50, respectively. These orders will be sent out in cardboard-backed envelopes.

Here’s a summary of the changes:

ZoneService20202021Change
UKRoyal Mail 1st Class (Letter)[£1.60]£1.00-£0.60
Royal Mail 1st Class (Large Letter)£1.60£1.80+£0.20
Royal Mail 1st Class (Bulky)£3.80£4.00+£0.20
Royal Mail 1st Class (V. Bulky)£6.00£5.00-£1.00
Special Delivery£7.50£7.50
Special Delivery (Bulky & V. Bulky)£10.00£10.00
EuropeStandard (Letter)[£3.00]£1.80-£1.20
Standard (L. Large Letter)£3.00£3.80+£0.80
Standard (Bulky)£6.00£7.00+£1.00
Tracked£12.00£12.00
Tracked (Bulky & V. Bulky)£12.00£12.00
World Zone 1Standard (Letter)[£4.00]£2.80-£1.20
Standard (L. Large Letter)£4.00£4.80+£0.80
Standard (Bulky)£10.00£9.00-£1.00
Standard (V. Bulky)£15.00£12.50-£2.50
Tracked£15.00£10.00-£5.00
Tracked (Bulky & V. Bulky)£15.00£17.50+£2.50
World Zone 2Standard (Letter)[£4.00]£2.80-£1.20
Standard (L. Large Letter)£4.00£4.80+£0.80
Standard (Bulky)£11.00£11.00
Standard (V. Bulky)£15.00£15.00
Tracked£16.00£10.00-£6.00
Tracked (Bulky & V. Bulky)£16.00£18.00+£2.00
World Zone 3Standard (Letter)[£4.00]£2.80-£1.20
Standard (L. Large Letter)£4.00£4.80+£0.80
Standard (Bulky)£10.00£11.00+£1.00
Standard (V. Bulky)£15.00£17.50+£2.50
Tracked£17.50£10.00-£7.50
Tracked (Bulky & V. Bulky)£17.50£17.50

Happy new year. Let’s hope 2021, despite all we know is yet to come, is a better year than 2020!

Thanks, Ben.

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