Stamp Price Postage Calculator Made Easy: Find Out How Much Your Business Could Save on Postage Costs

LONDON, ENGLAND, September 20, 2012 (Press-News.org) Calculating postal charges can be a lot easier than you may initially anticipate. Whilst Royal Mail has significantly increased their prices over the last three to four years, there is still the possibility of saving a great deal of money when sending large volumes of letters, small packages and other business-related goods through the postal system.

Compared to Royal Mail's 2007 UK postage rates, the price of a first class stamp has been subject to a 50% increase which means, you can currently expect to pay up to 60p for a first class stamp. View this infographic for more information on stamp price rises.

Likewise, the cost of a 2nd class stamp in 2007 was 24p, but this has now risen to 50p this year.

Prices for parcels have increased along similar lines to stamps, with many UK customers feeling the effects of such rises, as they struggle with rising household debt. But fortunately there is some good news for businesses, or those who send a higher volume of mail. Franking machines have seen a much lower increase in stamps prices and charges for letters under 100g, meaning that there is still a healthy amount of money to be saved when switching to a franking machine for all your mailroom needs.

Although the initial payment may be steep, when used regularly, franking machines can significantly reduce your postal overheads in a very short space of time, and the difference between the current and the former postage rates can level themselves out after just a few months of usage.

This postage calculator will help you to identify the core costs of your mailroom and how much money you can save.

Current costs of standard mail

1st class stamp: 60p
2nd class stamp: 50p

1st class large letter (up to 100g): 90p
2nd class large letter (up to 100g): 69p

Current cost of franked mail

1st class large letter (up to 110g): 44p
2nd class large letter (up to 100g): 31p

What this means for your business

The potential benefits of a franking machine to any small or medium-sized business are potentially vast. On average, a medium-sized business may send out roughly 15 letters per day. Given the price of 1st class stamps, the same business might spend roughly GBP30 per week on stamps, excluding weekends. With a franking machine there would be a total of GBP22 per week which was spent on postage. That is a saving of GBP8 in one week only.

Over a month, this saving would increase to roughly GBP240 if a franking machine was utilised for all the company's daily postage. This is a huge saving over a period of only 30 days, as the price for standard mail would total GBP900, compared to using a franking machine which would cost the company only around GBP660 per month.

When calculated over a year, the savings are vast. By these calculations, standard post would cost a company around GBP10,800 which is an incredibly large sum of money, compared to that of using a franking machine, which works out at GBP7,920! That is a total saving of GBP2,880.

Franking machines begin at around GBP1,000 to purchase, so you can automatically see that the saving made over a year would not only buy back the machine but leave the company with an extra profit of nearly GBP2,000.

Stamp Prices is a new site & blog about postal news, features and infographics. Hoping to engage with collectors, businesses, and other postal fans, the calculator is there to work out how much your item will be priced at.

Website: http://www.stamp-prices.co.uk