I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that necks would have to rise in price to cover the increase in shipping costs because of Royal Mail changing their services.
A quick recap: Royal Mail have scrapped the Small Packet service and replaced it with a 3 tier Parcel service. The new size restrictions and change in wording specifying “cylindrical” packaging for longer parcels means that necks in rectangular boxes cannot ship with Royal Mail and must go with Parcelforce or another carrier at an increase of 90-125%
If the necks were shipped in tubes they could still classify as “medium parcel” under the new system. However, the tubes weigh considerably more than the boxes and take the weight over 1kg into the next weight band. As Royal Mail have scrapped all weight bands between 1KG and 2KG the price jumps 50% (on top of the 2013 50% price increase!). Add on the cost of the tubes and it is more expensive than UPS.
Any of these options would require an increase in the price of necks to cover the increased costs involved.
I would prefer to not have to increase my prices so I am currently trialling Hermes and Collect+ as carriers for neck orders. The prices are comparable with the old Royal Mail price, are fully tracked and insured but both services are quoted as 3-5 days.
So it may take a little longer to receive necks, but I can keep necks at the current price for now. I hope you agree that waiting a few days extra is worth it.
(I am planning to offer choices of express services with an upcharge if customers require it, but that requires some new software on the website and I am in the research stage.)
Finally, a hardware shipment is being prepared for dispatch so EZ Lok tuners will be back in stock very soon!
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