I was surprised to find out that you could make substantial savings by sending post to the USA from across the border using An Post:
Exchange rate used: 1 EUR = 0.80 GBP
Summary
- An Post Standard Post is substantially cheaper than Royal Mail Airmail for all scenarios above
- It is 75% cheaper on average for the Letter scenarios above
- A 100g letter is 78% (£2.58) cheaper to send via An Post
- It is 38% cheaper on average for the Packet scenarios above
- Both services aim to delivery within 5-7 days so it is a fair like for like comparison
- Royal Mail do offer a Surface Mail option which is only cheaper in the 100g Packet scenario above, however it is only 20 pence cheaper and by choosing the surface mail option it adds almost 5 weeks to the delivery time.
Obviously you can only take advantage of these savings if you live in Northern Ireland and either live close to the border or have reason to travel across the border. In many cases it probably would not be worth driving a significant distance to avail of this saving unless you had many items to post. Savings may also be possible to other international destinations.
Sources
- An Post Standard Post – refer to ‘Zone 4 – Rest of World’
- Royal Mail Airmail Prices – refer to ‘World Zone 1’
- Royal Mail Surface Mail Prices