P&P costs for online retailers

[westcountrywoman]

How much is too much?

Shopping online P&P costs from independent / smaller retailers have crept up significantly since last Xmas I think.

What do you think is reasonable for a smallish order (under £50) for things that would arrive with Royal Mail, such as clothing items, books, gifts etc. It's not unusual to see £4-£5 as the norm now. Does it put you off?

Weight and size matters more than cost of the item. It's £8 for a "medium box" through Royal Mail!

Yeah I know what you mean. I was looking at an item for about £4 just for a stocking filler. The p&p was £3.75. Almost doubling the cost. I didn’t order it.

A Quick Look on Royal Mail says for the smallest parcel it’s from £3.25 and that’s before the packaging costs.

I think the problem is so many bigger retails have in the past absorbed the cost (or more like added it to the cost of the product) that we have forgotten the cost involved in posting things.

RM is expensive.

We send most stuff through Evri. Its the same price up to a 1kg for anything larger than a "letter". (Our smallest box counts as a letter as its less than 2cm)

I struggle to justify more than a small sum for p and p if the items cheaper. I think its the downfall of small online businesses. As much as inwant to support them i cant justify spending say nearly £10 with delivery for an item that's £4.50.

I understand the cowt of royal mail. But why are they using royal mail? There are alternatives now.

Yes I understand that the postage costs are high and that's before the retailer factors in labour / packaging costs. So I'm not suggesting we're being ripped off, but more discussing at what point does the P&P cost become too much to consider proceeding with the purchase, especially from places where you're only spending a few quid on the thing you're buying. Like a PP said, it's a big problem for small retailers. They can't price fairly.

Postage is worked out on the size of the item not the value. £4 or £5 is about the same as travelling to a shop and parking or bus fare.

So yes if you want to get low value items delivered you have to pay. Or pay for Amazon prime if it works out cheaper over the year.

I won't order from places that charge for returns now that previously didn't,it's the first thing I look at when shopping on line.

I think they rely on people buying more ro make it worthwhile.

i usually work out that petrol, parking cost and the convenience to have it delivered home is work the cost.

but if I pay more than £3,50 for postage, I expect free returns.

We are paying £12 for delivery.

Furniture boards which we can't (or if we could we would struggle) to get into the car due to length. We save fuel and time driving 40 miles return to the store during whats predicted to be awful weather. If we went to the store we would probably pick up stuff we don't need too. It's a Saturday delivery so a few pounds more than in the week but it's suits us much better as we can do the work this Sunday.

Another time, another product, we might prefer to visit the store.

Postage value is often about more than just the delivery.