Alternatives to Royal Mail for Letters, Large Letters and Small Parcels
The main alternatives to Royal Mail for letters are The Direct Mail Company, UK Mail, Citipost Mail, Whistl, TNT and Digi-Mail – and for businesses posting in bulk, a mailing house alternative is guaranteed cheaper than stamps, franking and Mailmark franking. If your business regularly posts letters, large letters, promotional materials and small parcels, you’ll have noticed the steady rise in postal costs; Royal Mail is no longer the de facto postage service for the UK, and this article explains the alternatives and how the savings work. Please note: we only send mailings of 500 items and over – we do not send volumes under 500 (e.g. 1 letter or 50 letters). If you’re sending over 500 items in one mailing, get a quote quickly for sending your letters here >
| Quick Facts | Details |
|---|---|
| Minimum volume | 500 items per mailing (no exceptions) |
| Alternatives to Royal Mail | The Direct Mail Company, UK Mail, Citipost Mail, Whistl, TNT, Digi-Mail |
| Guarantee | Cheaper than stamps, franking and Mailmark franking |
| Collections | Same-day or next-day, one-off or daily, with no collection charge |
| Best-value sweet spot | 4,000+ second-class letters in one batch |
| Coverage | UK and international postage |
Why Is a Mailing House Cheaper Than Royal Mail?
Royal Mail has set prices and will not offer discounts no matter how many letters you send – but outsourcing your letter postage to a mailing house means taking advantage of its buying power. Due to the high volume of mail we send each year at The Direct Mail Company, we offer much lower postage costs than standard and franked bulk mail, and we can arrange a one-off or daily collection from your business with no collection charge. One honest caveat: we struggle to get good rates on first-class postage, because most first-class mail is next-day delivery – but if you send over 4,000 second-class letters in one batch, we can save you significant money. With Royal Mail increasing postage prices every year, customers come to us to cut costs, and we are proud to call ourselves the number one alternative to Royal Mail in the UK.
Alternatives to Royal Mail for Large Letters
We offer great savings on large letter postage too, using the same weight bands as Royal Mail:
| Large Letter Weight Band |
|---|
| 1g – 100g |
| 101g – 250g |
| 251g – 500g |
| 501g – 750g |
Above the 750g large letter rate, pricing automatically moves to small packet rates. We are probably the only provider in the UK apart from Royal Mail that caters for same-day and next-day collections of large letters – with the difference that you get a personalised service from a privately owned company that genuinely cares your letters get delivered. We offer UK and international rates for large letters, much cheaper than Royal Mail.
Alternatives to Royal Mail for Small Parcels
For small parcels, we offer same-day or next-day collections for regular or one-off mailings, with four service levels:
| Small Parcel Service | Tracking |
|---|---|
| Untracked postage | None – the quickest and easiest option |
| Partially tracked postage | Tracking at key points |
| Tracked postage | Full tracking |
| Tracked and signed-for postage | Full tracking plus signature on delivery |
The untracked service is simplest: we collect the parcels from your specified address, then frank and mail them. For tracked or signed-for services, we print the labels: you send us your data file through a secure service such as WeTransfer, and we print and apply the labels (or supply them for you to apply). Either way, with 500+ small, medium or large parcels to send, we are sure to save you significant money compared to Royal Mail.
How Does a Royal Mail Alternative Actually Work?
Using us as your Royal Mail alternative works in four steps:
- We collect your mail from your chosen address.
- We bring it to one of our three sortation depots and mailing houses, where your mail is sorted.
- Your mailing is consolidated with the millions of items we send per annum – which is what secures unbeatable postage prices.
- We hand the pre-sorted mail to Royal Mail, who give us cheaper rates because the sortation is already done – savings we pass straight to you. The Royal Mail posties still deliver your mail; we’ve simply taken a large part of the work out of the equation.
Alternatives to Royal Mail: Frequently Asked Questions
What are the alternatives to Royal Mail for sending letters?
The Direct Mail Company, UK Mail, Citipost Mail, Whistl, TNT and Digi-Mail all offer alternatives to Royal Mail for business letter postage.
How can an alternative be cheaper if Royal Mail still delivers the mail?
The alternative pre-sorts and consolidates your mail before handing it over, so Royal Mail has no sortation work to do – and returns that saving as a discounted rate, passed on to you.
Is there a minimum volume?
Yes – 500 items per mailing. We do not send volumes under 500.
Can I get cheaper first-class postage?
First-class rates are hard to beat because of next-day delivery, but sending over 4,000 second-class letters in one batch produces significant savings.
Do you handle parcels as well as letters?
Yes – small parcels with untracked, partially tracked, tracked, and tracked-and-signed-for options, plus large letters in the same weight bands Royal Mail uses.
How do I get a postage quote?
Call us on 0333 038 3797, email sales@thedirectmailcompany.co.uk, use the bulk postage calculator on our bulk postage page, or fill in your details below.
