JOOI when did 1st class for a normal letter cost more than a 2nd class large letter? I couldn't find it in the embarrassing number of Royal Mail price guides I found cluttering up my hard disk.
2nd class don't have to be stored for a day or two.
The point about 2nd class is that it removes the need for the Royal Mail to have capacity for peak load, which is unused at non-peak times and so expensive.
In particular, in many areas (in the past, when post was used more) business deliveries/collections were Mon-Fri but a lot less on Saturday, so 2nd class mail could wait until the weekend.
2nd class is the mail the RM can delay if needed, it's probably loaded second onto all the vans. If there's space it'll go same day, if there isn't it can wait for the next day instead of a second van having to be provided.Owain
Indeed. Odd how people don't see the common thread with eg Economy 7 tariffs and cheaper off-peak rail travel.
And IIRC no coincidence that 1st and 2nd came in with automation which both (a) made it easier to manage and (b) wanted shot of the old Printer Paper Rate in unsealed envelopes that gummed up the sorting machines.
If that is accurate, explains things.
That?s mad.
And the other weirdness is the way China does it, with the dirt cheap postage with the parcel sitting in some immense warehouse somewhere for a month.
God knows what that is about.
And it cant be that it takes them that long to make it either given that with most of them you can pay more to get it much quicker.
There must surely be an element of artificial product differentiation (the printed paper rate more clearly so), enabling them to charge a higher price for those who need a reliable quick service while still getting business from those who don't want to pay so much. Generally round here the second class mail arrives just as quickly as the first .
I don't think it ever has done (BICBW). Last year it was 70p and 83p. This year it's 76p and 88p. So no chance of confusion there. It's the sender who gets the size wrong. It still doesn't explain the OP's problem.
Thanks for that.
From the web site today (if tbird doesnt c*ck up the format)
1st 2nd Size Weight up to and including Price Price Letter 100g 76 65Large Letter 100g 115 88 250g 164 140 500g 214 183
if there's sufficient for 2nd class postage, but not for 1st it should be delivered second class
the reverse is also true, sticking 2 2nd class stamps on a letter should be delivered as 1st class
Of course, whether the system is up to working all this out is questionable
that should not happen
tim
The color and labeling scheme of the stamps I see here, doesn't leave much room for interpretation.
Paul
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