What is
Pricing in Proportion?
In
2007 the Royal Mail copied many other countries and changed the
way mail is charged for by introducing Pricing in Proportion
or PIP.
What is Pricing in
Proportion?.
It costs Royal Mail more to sort,
handle and deliver larger envelopes and items than they were
are currently charging customers to send. Large and irregular
shaped packages take up more space in postbags and vans and
cost more to handle. This meant that most light but bulky items
were priced below cost, whereas smaller,
heavier items were generally overpriced. So the Royal Mail
changed to Pricing in Proportion system to more accurately
reflect their costs.
Before all post needed to be weighed to
determine the postage rate. With pricing in proportion not only
the weight is required but also the size. This includes width,
length and thickness.
Letters Size Guide
The Letter size for Pricing in Proportion the item
needs to be less than 100-grams in weight no more than 5mm in
thickness and no more than 240mm x 165mm. Just a bit bigger
then a A5 or c5 envelope.
You
can get 3 x A4 sheets folded 2 times for a DL envelope in this
category or in a C5 envelope you can get 6 x A4 folded
once.
The
post that many people forget about pricing in Proportion is
when something is put into the envelope like a badge or pen
because this is enough to bring it up to the next level. People
have had problems with celebration cards Birthday etc in the
past because they for get to take the badge or something
similar into consideration. When you buy a birthday or
anniversary card look on the back and quite often their you
will see it tells you which postage you require.
If the item is bigger or over 100 grams
then this it becomes known as a large letter with regards pricing in
proportion.
Here it has to be less then 25mm thick
under 750 grams and no bigger than 353mm x 250mm.
Any
size after this in pricing in proportion it becomes a package
with a weight of less than 1000 grams for
2nd class or 4000 grams
1st class. You can go heavier in
1st class at a cost of £2.80 per
2Kg.
The ultimate Letter size guide has all
this information and more.
Here are some examples where it may get
confusing which postage to use.
Let’s say you have to send a glasses case to
someone because they forgot to take it with them
home.
It
weighs less than 100 grams but because it does not fit through
either slot in pricing in proportion it has to be sent as
a packet. The postage therefore would be £1.28
1st class or £1.08
2nd class.
Another example is a CD. This would go as a
Large letter again as it will not go through the small slot.
The postage would be 61p for 1st or 47p for second.
If
you have a Letter Price size guide from us please remember that
the letter or package
MUST FALL THROUGHT
THE SLOT FREELY. It will not be accepted by the Royal Mail if it “sticks
“at all at that price point.
If you are unsure
if it will be accepted at
that price point. I would suggest you put the higher
postage on.
If
the Royal Mail declines your mail for being the wrong size at
the price point you have used. They will charge the recipient
£1.10 plus the difference of your postage value and the next
postage value up at 2nd class.
So
for an example let’s suppose you put on an envelope a
1st class stamp. When it is sorted and does
not got through FREELY the slot for a letter size it is a Large
Letter. The price of a Large letter is 61p 1st and 47 2nd.The
Royal Mail will charge £1.10 plus the difference between a
1st class stamp and a
2nd class large stamp letter is 8p.
Therefore the recipient of your letter will have to pay £1.18.
i.e., 39p from 47p =8p plus £1.10 =£1.18
If
you have any query's or question . Please visit our Q and A or
E mail us qa@lettersizeguide.co.uk
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