Should we be worried about the loss of Post offices with SD

[pulseofthedead]

So I live in the largest village in Cornwall that relies on a pop up post office twice a week. I plan the rest of the week around journeys to other post offices.

So I could have an easy life. Postie comes and gets it from me but I choose to use the PO for the communities sake…

The guy that runs the pop ups covering a number of villages that have lost their PO.

So am I right in assuming that if the PO only takes a QR code, they do not make much on that transaction…

My worry is that if they do not sell enough  postage’s, the footfall will get less and those pop ups will cease to exist…

Or am I worrying unnecessarily…

[rainbowtrax]

@tommystrezures do you want to pass comment?

[therenewalworkshopltd]

Unless things have changed, then the counter service won't make any/very little from postage bought on Ebay etc.

You need to buy it at the post office itself if you want to support it I'm afraid.

Which of course will be more expensive to pay for it.

Another reason why online postage is cheaper.  No third party....

[tommystrezures]

Thanks for the tag @rainbowtrax 

Op, firstly I commend you for supporting your local community in this way. I worked for our local post doing the outreach services or pop ups as you call them, until last week when our postmaster retired.

however you have every right to be worried. As should every user who uses and supports their local post office with simple delivery. The rates of remuneration are over 10 times less for the sub postmasters for parcel acceptance.

[pulseofthedead]

Thankyou. This is what I’m afraid of. Our village has a pop up twice a week for 3 hours and the next village, once a week for 2 hours.

our main Post office is a 16 mile round trip.

We have already had cuts to the service from the outreach provider as footfall was already diminishing. If they got less than I think 25 in 2 hours, it was cut to 1 hour.

I’m not worried about paying an extra whatever amount as long as we a save our PO. 
I think SD should be optional alongside using only tracked delivery of your choice.

I for one will not embrace it…

[fatbobfan]

RM are really killing them off, opinions sought please, apologies for adding to the OP's thread

Heres my dilema, I've bought over the counter for 20 years, didnt mind the small difference, but the small difference have been getting larger and larger to the point it cant be ignored. 2 actual PO little branches (side of a house) have closed (retirement) and now at a Convenience store PO.  Major PO operations with Car Tax etc disappeared years ago, thats a jaunt for the north of the Valley for all. 

This latest RM increase will amount to between £300/500 in a year saving if I stop using the Post Office counter. Its a chunk of change

My current thought for solution seems to be buying direct (RM not Ebay) and I understand the PO counter will get a processing fee.

Is this the best way of using the RM saving me money and giving to the Post Ofiice?

Alternatives?

[pulseofthedead]

My worry is even more PO disappearing and nowhere to even take your SD parcels.

To me this move with only purchasing postage this way will have a severe and detrimental effect on our smaller communities. 
Has EBay actually thought about this… No PO, nowhere to actually post a parcel…

@fatbobfan..Sorry but are there alternatives…not that I am aware except as you say buying it online

[therenewalworkshopltd]

To be fair, it's not really Royal Mail that are killing them off.

It's us and everyone else who doesn't use their services any more at the counters.

Over time all the things that they used to do are simply no longer there.

Buy a stamp, it's in your local shop.

Buy postage, it's easier online.

Collect your pension, it's paid into your bank.

The list goes on though, all the things that they used to do, are simply not required any more.

It's exactly why so many of the smaller PO's started selling cards/confectionary and so on, to prop up their income.

[pulseofthedead]

Yes maybe, but in more rural areas, they are also a bank. Businesses paying money in, getting change.Oldies drawing out their pensions. They like to use money… Even if you do buy your postage on line, you still have to have somewhere to post your parcels, plus returns.

I still use mine to pay some bills.

PO are still very crucial for small communities 

[therenewalworkshopltd]

I'm not saying that they aren't at all.

But that they are dying out and is generally because of the way that the world has changed.

To be fair though, most business once they reach a certain point, will not be using post offices.

It makes no logical sense to do so and they aren't setup to handle the quantities involved.

Even if I dropped my mail off at the local office, they wouldn't get paid for it, it's just a collection point.

Most don't even use cash these days.  Virtually all transactions now are card based.  And they have been talking for a while about removing cash completely.  It's not going to happen yet, but I can see a time when it will.  How many shops do you go into now, where it's card only?

[pulseofthedead]

I don’t know any shops yet that are card only. My son uses a card for everything he can, even if it’s for a can of pop…

i will always use cash when I can especially when it’s small businesses, mostly those in the secondhand world, car boot or antique fair….

[tommystrezures]

There are several interesting points being raised here by various posters, let me try and answer some of them.

Cash v Card - our local PO for example had a card and gift shop it was in some cases actually cheaper for us to accept card payments over what the Bank charged the business pay cash into. (Different subject I know)

However whilst we are on cash etc like @pulseofthedead we have no banks in our village so the post office was and still is crucial for business banking and customers for paying in/taking out money. Our nearest major town has seen RBS, Lloyds, Virgin close with Halifax to close in the near future. The banks have had it easy the last 5 or so years if you come in to the post office to pay cash in, the banks pay something like 12p for every thousand pounds we counted, so they have had it good too.

I do wonder if Post office have seen some of the short comings of Royal Mail coming, if you remember in the last Mail Distribution agreement, post office and royal mail struck a deal where the partnership is no longer exclusive. Local Po's now handle Dpd, DHL, Amazon and Evri (in places) We were always busy with dpd and Amazon in our branch as well as the plethora of marketplace sellers, myself included. posting items outbound with RM. I have always used part postage stamps I procure, but leave the last say 50p for the horizon label to be added to a parcel so the post office gets their full revenue. (it also provides the 16 digit code for delivery).

Royal Mail have struggled for years and in part they have been too late to the larger parcel market, where evri, yodel and all the other carriers have capitalised on. Its only been the last couple of years the price breaks for 2kg+ parcels have actually been reasonably ok.

As for SD, and this I hate as in post office and RM world it stands for Special Delivery, and simple delivery is far from special....

I deplore this latest initiative by ebay, i find it intrusive and controlling behaviour. I find it also disgusting that they appear oblivious to the fact that they could be the cause for thousands of job losses and post office closures within the UK they should be ashamed of themselves. The only winner in all of this will be ebay in terms of revenue streams. 

It will be interesting to see how the brand of ebay is going to be perceived prior to these actions of the past three months, in the coming ones. I don't mean just buyers and sellers on here. 

[pulseofthedead]

 Very interesting comments.

So the small villages people  want to send back their parcels to all those companies but how will they manage without a PO.

So my main branch is a 16 mike round trip. What if you  are reliant on delivery because you do not have a car. Many in my village don’t..

Yes I do think as well that EBay should be ashamed of themselves. All the money for them and none for anyone else and stuff the people and their jobs.. 

Come on EBay. Think about the knock on effect for all of us….

[therenewalworkshopltd]

You are aware that Royal Mail are putting in collection boxes here there and everywhere?

Just like Inpost and so on.

So you should still be able to drop off your returns and so on, without too many issues.

And the other side of it, if your sending a parcel, then you can get RM to collect it free of charge.

Whilst I sympathise with the plight of the local offices etc, I can understand why companies just want to use direct mail etc.  I mean if you look at the size of Ebay and the sheer volume of parcels that will end up going through simple delivery, they will have the cut the price to the bone.

I would be very surprised if Ebay are paying more than a pound for small parcel Tracked 48).

No matter what they charge directly to the customer etc.

If they put it through the post office, that cost would be tripled.

Companies such as Ebay are all about the bottom line.  Particularly so when they are American.

But you can't just blame the likes of Ebay for this.  It's been happening for a long time now, which is why they are all closing.

Just for ref, cashless shops are two a penny were I am, but I am city based.  🙂

Most people actually use their phones to pay with now and don't even bother with the cards.

[pulseofthedead]

According to my OH and friends. Apparently I’m a technophobe. But where will it all end. No banks, no PO. No shops,no cash,.staffless shops,,,. who will go to work. What are the people doing who all had jobs in those places

I do not shop online except for EBay and that is only for used items and packing. I dont even bank online. I even went to the train station to buy tickets for a journey….

[the-nutwood-collection]

The owner of the convenience store that has the PO where I post my parcels said that she received no remuneration for pre-stamped mail.  However, the volume of pre-stamped accepted counted as a plus point for the viability of keeping the PO open.

I assumed from this - maybe wrongly - that RM pays Post Office Limited a fee for handling this mail and, if the PO has a high volume of pre-stamped, they were valuable fee generators.

[forestfeline62]

Yes small independent post offices are on comission not a salary so this SD will finish them off the lady that owns our local PO is really stressed and upset she bought it 2 years ago to give her and her family a good life but now she is thinking she will have to close ,she has 3 staff too ,very sad, we like to support her as she is lovely and the service her and staff are very good at their job .Vinted works in the same way you or the buyer has to buy a label you can't just post your items and pay them there 

[forestfeline62]

I started using 24 /48 hour tracked with royal mail only an extra 20p from standard 24/48 and I was covered for up to £150 and was glad to be supporting the local independent post office ,but now with SD the PO won't be making any money as they are commision based not like the big PO that are salaried . This is a terrible situation vinted do SD too .

[tressygirl]

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@pulseofthedead wrote:

According to my OH and friends. Apparently I’m a technophobe. But where will it all end. No banks, no PO. No shops,no cash,.staffless shops,,,. who will go to work. What are the people doing who all had jobs in those places

I do not shop online except for EBay and that is only for used items and packing. I dont even bank online. I even went to the train station to buy tickets for a journey….

Oh my word if this was a mirror I'd be looking at myself!  I do all of the above.  My children despair that I still use a cheque book.

How about your phone @pulseofthedead ?  Can you beat mine?  Mine is a Nokia brick, receives no emails,  no emojis , because all I need my phone for , is to make a  all and receive / make texts!

Good to find my doppleganger ! 😊

As for not being able to use my lovely village PO! I will not be using SD, I cannot bring myself to bring parcels to these hard working peeps in my PO for them just to earn a few pence.  My selling days are very, very  sadly going to be  over on the 6th of April  . 

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[pulseofthedead]

lol. I did have a brick for many years, although I do have something fancier these days but rest assured, when I go on my train journey in June, I probably will be the only person looking out of the window…