Can I put Franked Mail in a Postbox?

Can you put franked mail in a post box?

Yes, though if you want to put franked mail in a post box, you have to use Royal Mail-approved metered posting envelopes (also known as low-volume posting envelopes), where you can send up to 30 franked mail items.

For other items of franked mail – i.e. everything that can’t go in a low-volume posting envelope – you will have to use a business mail post box, a mail centre or visit a Post Office.

There are some Royal Mail parcel post boxes dotted around the UK, so if there’s one nearby and you have franked your parcels, you can use them.

Though please remember you can’t frank large letters as letters – or frank mail going to international locations as if they were being sent in the UK.

How to prepare franked items for post:

1. Letters

If you are sending letters, sort them into class, size and destination. Ensure the addresses face upwards and the franking mark is in the top right corner. Bundle your letters together using an elastic band. Once done, put them into the correct pouch (red pouches for 1^st Class, Green pouches for 2^nd Class and white pouches for international mail.

2. Parcels

Parcels should be prepared using mail bags. Separate items by class and put them into their respective bag (the bags will be marked either 1^st or 2^nd Class). There’s a maximum of 11kg per bag – so make sure not to go over!

3. Special Delivery Guaranteed and International tracking and signature services

If you have franked Special Delivery Guaranteed and International tracking and signature services mail, keep it separate from other mail. Make sure to label the bag or pouch you are using for this mail and seal it.

You can order trays and bags free of charge from Royal Mail.

Mistakes can lead to your mail being delayed, or lost, and Royal Mail will charge an admin fees or, plus if your mail was franked or packaged incorrectly (i.e. a 2^nd Class mail item in a 1^st Class postage bag), you will be charged the difference.

Where can you post franked mail?

You can post your franked mail at Post Office branches, Royal Mail Delivery offices and Mail Centres, and Business Post Boxes. If you are posting 30 letters or less, you can post your franked mail in normal post boxes if you are using metered posting envelopes/low-volume posting envelopes.

Alternatively, you can set up a business collection arrangement with Royal Mail – which is particularly good if you send large volumes of mail regularly and can’t take it to a Post Office branch.

With the business collection service, Royal Mail comes to you. You just select a time that suits you (or Royal Mail can assign one for you) and that’s it. You can have one-off collections or regularly weekday collections.

And if you spend more than £16,500 over a year with Royal Mail, you’ll qualify for free collection. Check out the price table below for more information and let us know if you want to arrange a collection service.

	Price per annum (exc. VAT)	Time of collection
Annual spend with Royal Mail less than £16,500
Weekday collection	£787	Allocated by Royal Mail
Timed weekday collection	£1,792	Chosen by you
Saturday collection	£246	Allocated by Royal Mail
Timed Saturday collection	£479	Chosen by you
Annual spend with Royal Mail more than £16,500
Weekday collection	FREE	Mutually agreed by Royal Mail and you
Single collection	£14.58 (one-off fee, exc. VAT)	Allocated by Royal Mail

That should hopefully cover everything you need to know about whether or not you can put franked mail in a post box, though if you’d like to know more about how franking could help save you time and money, please get in touch!