Sending to London. Help?

[whisperwarrior23]

I am planning on sending an envelope with 4 photos (2 8x10 and 2 4x6) to the London area.

I am unsure on exactly how many IRCs to send with my request. Any help will be much appreciated

[EmmaSheree]

Send 2/3 per letter

[Bill73]

I am planning on sending an envelope with 4 photos (2 8x10 and 2 4x6) to the London area.

I am unsure on exactly how many IRCs to send with my request. Any help will be much appreciated

I am facing that same problem right now as well. For starters, weigh your letter at the USPS. Once you find the weight in ounces, convert it to grams. Then go to the Royal Mail website and use their postage calculator.

I did all of that, but am now waiting on Royal Mail to respond to my email letting me know how much postage can be received for one IRC. I think it's 87 pence worth of stamps, but that's just a guess on my part.

If that guess on my part is correct, then 2 IRCs is probably not going to be enough for your package. I plan on sending 2 8X10s to London as well, and when I calculated my postage, it came back at 2.38 pounds, or 3 IRCs.

[kimmylee]

I am planning on sending an envelope with 4 photos (2 8x10 and 2 4x6) to the London area.

I am unsure on exactly how many IRCs to send with my request. Any help will be much appreciated

I am facing that same problem right now as well. For starters, weigh your letter at the USPS. Once you find the weight in ounces, convert it to grams. Then go to the Royal Mail website and use their postage calculator.

I did all of that, but am now waiting on Royal Mail to respond to my email letting me know how much postage can be received for one IRC. I think it's 87 pence worth of stamps, but that's just a guess on my part.

If that guess on my part is correct, then 2 IRCs is probably not going to be enough for your package. I plan on sending 2 8X10s to London as well, and when I calculated my postage, it came back at 2.38 pounds, or 3 IRCs.

Actually I helped you out with that Since IRC's are worth the minimum amount for an airmal letter, and £0.87 is the cheapest airmail in the UK, that is how much they will be worth. I understand you'd want that confirmed though.

The Royal Mail page havsn't been updated since December 2011, and the prices went up in April 2012. So the rate of £0.76 is out of date as it rose to £0.87.

[Bill73]

I am planning on sending an envelope with 4 photos (2 8x10 and 2 4x6) to the London area.

I am unsure on exactly how many IRCs to send with my request. Any help will be much appreciated

I am facing that same problem right now as well. For starters, weigh your letter at the USPS. Once you find the weight in ounces, convert it to grams. Then go to the Royal Mail website and use their postage calculator.

I did all of that, but am now waiting on Royal Mail to respond to my email letting me know how much postage can be received for one IRC. I think it's 87 pence worth of stamps, but that's just a guess on my part.

If that guess on my part is correct, then 2 IRCs is probably not going to be enough for your package. I plan on sending 2 8X10s to London as well, and when I calculated my postage, it came back at 2.38 pounds, or 3 IRCs.

I can't remember if I asked you this before, but is a 9 inch by 12 inch envelope considered a letter or a small packet for international shipping purposes? I did the postage calculator on the Royal Mail site for a 60 gram letter being sent from the UK to the US, and it came back as costing 2.38 pounds. However, if I classified it as a small packet, the cost goes up to 3.3 pounds.

Actually I helped you out with that Since IRC's are worth the minimum amount for an airmal letter, and £0.87 is the cheapest airmail in the UK, that is how much they will be worth. I understand you'd want that confirmed though.

The Royal Mail page havsn't been updated since December 2011, and the prices went up in April 2012. So the rate of £0.76 is out of date as it rose to £0.87.

[Bill73]

I am planning on sending an envelope with 4 photos (2 8x10 and 2 4x6) to the London area.

I am unsure on exactly how many IRCs to send with my request. Any help will be much appreciated

I am facing that same problem right now as well. For starters, weigh your letter at the USPS. Once you find the weight in ounces, convert it to grams. Then go to the Royal Mail website and use their postage calculator.

I did all of that, but am now waiting on Royal Mail to respond to my email letting me know how much postage can be received for one IRC. I think it's 87 pence worth of stamps, but that's just a guess on my part.

If that guess on my part is correct, then 2 IRCs is probably not going to be enough for your package. I plan on sending 2 8X10s to London as well, and when I calculated my postage, it came back at 2.38 pounds, or 3 IRCs.

Actually I helped you out with that Since IRC's are worth the minimum amount for an airmal letter, and £0.87 is the cheapest airmail in the UK, that is how much they will be worth. I understand you'd want that confirmed though.

The Royal Mail page havsn't been updated since December 2011, and the prices went up in April 2012. So the rate of £0.76 is out of date as it rose to £0.87.

I can't remember if I asked you this before, but is a 9 inch by 12 inch envelope considered a letter or a small packet for international shipping purposes? I did the postage calculator on the Royal Mail site for a 60 gram letter being sent from the UK to the US, and it came back as costing 2.38 pounds. However, if I classified it as a small packet, the cost goes up to 3.3 pounds.

[kimmylee]

The rules are not crystal clear, in my opinion it all depends on the envelope- if it's a jiffy/padded bag/mail bag then it will be classed as a small packet.
A normal envelope would be letters rate.
Where a board-backed envelope fits I don't know.

[Bill73]

The rules are not crystal clear, in my opinion it all depends on the envelope- if it's a jiffy/padded bag/mail bag then it will be classed as a small packet.
A normal envelope would be letters rate.
Where a board-backed envelope fits I don't know.

I just got a response back from someone at the Royal Mail, and she said that an IRC can be redeemed for a 76 pence stamp. I thought it was an 87 pence stamp? Also, she said that my letter would be classified as a small packet.

[kimmylee]

Well I can only tell you what I have learned by practical experience with Royal Mail.

There is no £0.76 postage rate for airmail anymore since the price rises in April 2012. IRC's redeem for the minimum airmail rate and that rate is now £0.87 (see current prices pdf

In terms of today's UPU Convention, International reply coupons (IRC) are exchangeable in all member countries for the minimum postage of a priority item or an unregistered airmail letter sent to a foreign country.

Quoted from here.

It sounds like they are using their own out of date webpages to give people advice which does not surprise me.

I also do not see any reason why a regular 9x12 envelope would not be classed as letters frankly. How do they know you are not sending some flat A4 sheets of paper- which is most certainly letters!

I am satisfied my advice on IRC's is 100% correct but it is up to you what you decide to do. I already said the small packet rules can be blurry but if I had to decide which rate to send I would be happy it falls under letters.

If you would like to PM me with the exact wording of RM's response (and your message to them) I could try and help you unravel it.