[Carl2009]

Just heard this on Radio 4. The PO is trying to put up 2nd class stamps from 36p to 55p from April! I leave a SAE envelopes at around 30% of properties i'd guess, so this will hit me.

I accept PayPal, cash, cheque, bank trf but need to consider alternatives now, such as mailsort. I don't want to resort to collecting as I cover an area that is as much as 25 miles away from home. Any ideas?

How does Mailsort work for you?

Have you recently moved from stamping envelopes to leaving them blank and if so what was the impact on receiving payments? i.e. did it slow things down?

Should I consider phoning the night before for them to leave payment stuck on back door? If I do this now (for side gates etc.) I sometimes get a 'Not this month' and the profit from a couple of these a month would cover much of the proposed increase in cost of stamps.

How do you receive payment?

Cheers

Carl

[dazmond]

Put up your prices if your that worried about it!I'm putting a fair whack of mine up this April.problem solved.everything is goin up these days!

[Carl2009]

I put my prices up last year and want to do so every 2 years, rather than annually. Reason being I don't want to move, say, an £11 pm custie to £11.50, but to £12. By having a greater gap between price rises I risk losing less custies but over time the price rises even themselves out, so I don't lose. I waited 2 years from when I started in March 2009 and increased an average of 7.5% across the board in March / April 2011 and didn't lose 1 custie.

[carl stanton]

encourage them to pay by bank transfer more, relate the cost and time saving for them personally i:e not having to go post a letter, and that it is more safe that way (no bits of paper around with there bank details on) the better control of payment, and a good record of there payment

stopped sae years ago, these price rises were inevitable, all the best with your choice though

[Richard iSparkle]

I would suggest not leaving an SAE at all.  We just leave a card with the amount and our address on.  It'll cut your costs dramatically, and you've got the perfect excuse to change over, if customers complain just tell them about the price rises.

You'll end up making more profit this way! 

[Carl2009]

Older custies often don't have PC's / internet, so this is a problem for those custies. There again they tend to be in when i'm there, so getting paid is less of an issue. I might draft a letter encouraging bank transfers (over PayPal - 46p charge on £10 payment as i'm sure you're only too well aware).

Rich - I've made a bit of a point about the SAE with most custies when starting out, but am not opposed to dropping it. I'm going to work out what it costs in envelopes, sticky address lable and stamp and then put it in the mix. I might end up just dropping the stamp off my SAE's and pushing bank trfs.

[Dave.]

I don't leave an envelope so the price of postage will be met by the customer.  If the price does go up that much, it will be an ideal time for me to promote the online banking solution which is best for everyone, particularly me as no bank charges!

A few of the older generation will be the ones most affected, but quite a few of mine either drop money through my door when they're passing, or have an agreed hiding place for the cheque.

[stephen d]

I have never put stamps on . I just leave a self addressed envelope and have never had any issues although I do try and persuade customers to pay by bacs .This is much quicker & safer and from my point much easier to check as they use their address as the reference.

[Carl2009]

Mmh. I've just worked out that i've spent £224 on postage in 2010/11 and £108 so far in 2011/12 (and I still have over 200 stamps left and year end is 5th April 2012, so i'll easily see that out).

This averages as £166 per year on stamps (at .36 p per stamp thats 461 payments).
Labels costs me £18.90 per year
Envelopes £20.32 per year
Total: £205.22 per year

Cost of receiving a payment is therefore £205.22 / 461 payments = .45 pence per  payment.

New costs, post proposed increase will be: £299.26 / 461 payments = .65 pence per payment (assumng 55% rise in stamp cosy and 7% rise in cost of lables and envelopes)

That's only £94 per year, which I think I can live with for the cutomer convenience.

[carl stanton]

you can make a bank transfer by phone banking, or you could walk the bank and do it
or should i say they
for all them dont do Evil internet banking 
how do most bills get paid now? through the bank

[Carl2009]

Or I could encourage a standing order... This would also have the impact of reducing the 'not this month' custies as they'd know they were paying for it. I might offer no price rise in 2013 if they move to SO now... Genius

[colin purewater]

just dont put a stamp on it mate job done

[William McCafferty]

I always phone the night before, and yes you do get the occasional "not this time" but this is far outwayed by the side gate being unlocked, so the back can be done and i earn more.

if customers keep on doing the "not this time", well I just forget to phone them again, when they phone, I explain That I am a regular window cleaner, who needs to earn a weekly living and they are not my type of customer.

If you don't put a stamp on a envelope then you will be waiting forever for payment.

[Rogue Trader]

The answer is simple , dont leave a sae , we have never done this , if it is a service that the customer wants then they have to pay for it and they need to make the effort to pay , BACS or send a cheque. The water company dont leave a SAE. Can you imagine if the bank sent you an SAE every month for your mortgage payment , if you ask me leaving a SAE stinks of desperation , you should value your service more highly ,dont do it!!

[Perfect Windows]

Just heard this on Radio 4. The PO is trying to put up 2nd class stamps from 36p to 55p from April! I leave a SAE envelopes at around 30% of properties i'd guess, so this will hit me.

A look at www.royalmail.com/prices2012 suggests that they are looking for 31p, not 55p.  The 55p refers to the maximum to which they might be allowed to raise it in future, I believe.  Bit confusing, but I reckon that's closer to the truth.

Vin

[SB Cleaning]

I leave a envelope with my address printed on it, no stamps sod that!

I pay 9 quid for a 1000 envelopes so i can just about live with that.

[dazmond]

i always leave a sae with a stamp.it speeds up payment and its hardly a big expense in the great scheme of things!!