Label printing - Is there an easier way

[Gillf]

Hi

I am going to feel really stupid if I have missed something here. Currently we download a copy of the invoice in word, we have to adjust the alignment because it is lost in the download and then we print the label from there. This is quite time consuming and with our volumes growing it would be good to know if there is a quicker/easier way to do this.:)

[paul]

Hi Gillf,

I and a number of others use an integrated label solution which prints the despatch note straight from the browser window. Search on the forum and you should find a thread on it. If not let me know.

Paul

[needundies]

For dispatch notes we simply print out on plain A4, fold to show the address and stick it in a "documents enclosed" transparent envelope.

Where you are doing a lot of orders it works out much cheaper than ordering integrated label paper!.

Andrew

[Gillf]

Hi

Thanks Paul and Andrew.

Gill

[Mike]

How much does it cost to use an A4 sheet of paper and a"Documents Enclosed" envelope? We pay less than 2p for the integrated label paper and I would have thought that a sticky backed transparent envelope would be considerably more.

I have to admit though that I haven't really researched it that much as the integrated labels are so convenient.

[petad]

We use the same method as Andrew - the plastic envelopes come in various sizes, but the smallest ones are fine for us, and cost about 3p each, so more than your label paper.

Pete

[Adva Trading]

Plastic envelopes are free from the Royal Mail if you have a PPI account.

[needundies]

Never knew about the free plastic "docs enclosed" envelopes from Royal Mail!!

We have had a PPI account for a couple of years now, will give them a call, thanks for the tip :)

[petad]

A real "Duh" moment from me...what is a PPI account, and what are the benefits?

Pete

[Adva Trading]

Printed Postage Impression.

1. It’s an account with the Royal Mail and pay once a month (Direct Debit).

2. You print the envelopes with the same stamp replacement you see on the statements you get from your bank (First or Second Class with your license number).

Pros:
It's a dodle: Recently you can manage it on line, and it takes less than 120 seconds to record about 30 orders.
Save time in the post office (For an extra few hundred a year, they come five times a week to collect the mail from your place).
Looks professional, and the buyer do not see the amount it cost you to post (as they do with Smart Stamps).
It is fast, as you complete the charging according to an average weight per parcels / envelops. If you are smart, it also saves you money.
You get a discount compare to regular stamps (or Smart Stamp) prices (it’s a lot of money if you are a big seller).
Cons: NONE.
HOWEVER: Will not be suitable for small sellers. They round each order (posting) for £5.00 minimum), and you need a certain amount of business to qualify (Not sure, but I think it was 5,000 orders per year when I started few years ago).

[petad]

Thanks for the comprehensive update Eran. We're not at the 5,000 order per year level yet (we wish), but it's good to know something that makes the process less painful exists (especially now they've moved our main Post Office into our local W H Smiths, and all the staff are on minimum wage...)

Regards

Pete

[little-linguist]

We're not at the 5,000 order per year level yet

I'm pretty sure that you don't have to send 5,000 items per year to qualify for a PPI account. I think that's just to use the Packetpost service (that's the service where the amount you pay depends on the average weight of your packets for the day). I think you can have a PPI account as long as you're spending over £5 day (or less but they charge you a minimum of £5 anyway) and you just pay the standard account tarriff for each item which is usually a little bit cheaper than the price you'd pay in a post office. The big plus is that for £280 /year, they'll come and collect the mail from your office / house / wherever you operate your business from. Certainly worth a phone call to Royal Mail to ask what they can do for you.

[needundies]

I am fairly sure the qualification threshold for PPI was 5000 packets when we joined up a couple of years back, may have changed though so worth asking.

Andy

[Adva Trading]

The £5.00 minimum order was introduced lattely, so mabe the minimum requirements have changed.

ALSO,

The official minimum number of orders (or £'s spent) was not really curved in stone at the time: I PROMISSED them I will make it within a year. I did not, but nobody really checked.

Anyway, I think that the (new) £5.00 minimum per order may be the way around it.

The above £5.00 minimum applies for Paper orders in a different way than the On-line orders:
Each type of posting (Domestic, abroad) is one paper page, and is each needs to be a minimum of £5.00.
HOWEVER, when you manage it on-line, all types of posting merged to one order, making a lot easier to achieve the minimum £5.00 per posting.

So it is importent for small sellers to use the on-line service from day one.

[Andy Kitchener]

we have had some software developed in excel. You dump the orders straight out of blue park order manager and print picking lists with all of the customer orders on labels with order number, sku, product name and qty on small labels and we use a seperate dymo label printer with large shipping labels for the postal addresses. When you use the print invoices section of blue park we simply copy and paste the addresses onto the shipping labels and it is done quickly. This mornings 20 orders were printed (invoices, 119 sku's on seperate picking labels and the 20 shipping labels) in under 5 minutes flat. Using the dymo label writer makes it a breeze

[TheWhiteSeal]

Hi there,

When it comes to label printing i would have to admit that i never really got on with my label printer. I spent more time messing around with the printer than printing out labels, it was a nightmare. In the end i decided to give up on the whole DIY approach and found a british labels company for all my label printing (http://www.selfadhesivelabels.com/label-printing.html) needs, they saved me so much hassle.

[Adva Trading]

Andy, you wrote:

"we have had some software developed in excel. You dump the orders straight out of blue park order manager and..."

Did you develope it, or is it from the shelve?

[Andy Kitchener]

I had it developed for us. It is a simple excel spreadsheet that you dump orders from order manager to an excel csv. You use the spreadsheet we had developed and it allows you to print one order (with one label per product line) and it prints the customer order number; part number; description (up to 2 lines of 30 characters) and the quantity. We use it for picking and it looks great from punters.

Cheap if you want it. We paid so it simply reduces our costs! ;-)

Andy