New UK Postal Prices Will Impact Online Businesses

Recent changes to postal prices in the UK will make online buinesses less competitive.

The UK's postal service the Royal Mail has today moved to a new pricing model. The model combines both weight and size to calculate the price of the postage.

Historically an item like a beach ball would have been cheap to post as it does not weight much. Now it will be significantly more expensive as the calculation will be made on size as well as weight.

The UK press has focussed on how this has confused many customers who are unsure of the different sizes. What they haven't really touched on is the impact on Online businesses who rely on the Royal Mail as an integral part of their business.

The Royal Mail claim that this is not an attempt to make more revenue but it is difficult to see what the purpose of the new model is if not to get more money from customers.

It will make buying items online less attractive as postage costs will be higher. To date postal regulation in the UK hasn't really had any impact and it is still pretty much the Royal Mail or nothing for most businesses.