Parcels are now priced on both size and weight - making them more expensive to post.

If you have posted a parcel via Royal Mail this week, you may have already realised the impact of a price increase that the postal service says "should be easier to understand and improve choice". Parcels are now priced on both size and weight, and unless a parcel is smaller than 35cm x 45cm x 8cm (with a few exceptions), it will count as a medium or large parcel. This means that the cost of some items will rise dramatically. A 900g parcel that would have cost £4.30 to send first class will now cost £5.65, unless you could squeeze it into the small-parcel dimensions, in which case the cost would fall. A 3kg parcel that would have cost £10.30 for first class has become a large parcel, because of the new weight limits, and the cost of posting it has increased in price by 47pc. Because of new width allowances, some parcels that were previously £2.60 to post are now £5.20. The increases have meant that even those who post parcels infrequently need to be aware of the costs and research alternatives. There has been an explosion in convenient courier services that can be cheaper than Royal Mail, depending on the size of the item you are posting.....Read more here