Franking machine prices vary depending on the volume of post you want to send. There are a number of recommended manufacturers and suppliers of franking machine which you can find on the Royal Mail website but hopefully we’ve save you a bit of time and details what you need to know below.
The easiest way to get a whole market view on what a new franking machine will cost your business is to get multiple quotes for comparison. This can be time consuming and not all prices are published. At Business Quotes we have access to the best franking machine deals in the UK through our network of suppliers.
If you’re choosing to buy a franking machine outright you’ll need one that not only copes with your current volume but also your expected future volume. Generally, franking machines are classified into 3 types ; Low Volume, Medium Volume and High Volume.
The table below outlines what you can expect to pay if you chose to buy a franking machine. There are of course second hand machines available from specialists and well known online auctions websites, but we’d advise against this option as you’re more likely to inherit early wear problems.
| Items posted per day | Volume | Expect to pay |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 30 | Low volume | £995-£3,000 |
| 20 – 100 | Mid volume | £3,000 – £8,500 |
| 100-1000s | High volume | £8500 – £21,500+ |
It’s clear that prices vary massively, this is due to the varying levels of technology involved as well as automation levels. Investing in a franking machine will save your business money in the medium to long term and there are plenty of finance deals available if you have high volume requirements. If you compare purchase with rental you will get a better deal on the price of the machine by buying one, just not the service levels that come alongside many rental agreements. £1,000 looks like a large investment for low volume users but if you’re confident that your postage volume won’t decrease over the coming years it still represents a good investment, just a longer payback time.
There are several well known manufacturers of franking machines in the UK below we’ve listed the most popular models by volume size.
Most Popular Franking Machine, Low Volume
Most Popular Franking Machine, Medium Volume
Most Popular Franking Machine, High Volume
If buying a franking machine outright represents too much of a capital outlay for your business then franking machine rental is another option and the most popular. The advantages of franking machine rental, other than spreading the cost, is you normally get service/maintenance with your rental agreement. These extras aren’t exactly free and you will pay more for the machine over time than buying but you’ll have the convenience of less down time should your machine develop a fault or need updating. Finding franking machine repair men is not so easy, there’s only around 20 companies in the UK that can fix or update the software.
Again rental prices are calculated on usage, the table below illustrates what you can expect to pay on a monthly basis.
| Items posted per day | Volume | Monthly Rental Cost (excl. VAT) | Total Paid in Rent Over 3 Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 or less | Low volume | £20 – £30 | £720 – £1,080 |
| 20 – 100 | Mid-volumes | £40 – £50 | £1,440 – £1,800 |
| 30 – 500 | Mid / High volume | £50 – £80 | £1,800 – £2,880 |
| 500 – 1000s | High volume | £85-£400+ | £3,060-£14,400+ |
*Intended as representative figures only. Actual quotes will vary.
The whole point of getting a franking machine is to benefit from reduced mail costs. Regular postage costs are considerably more expensive compared to Royal Mail’s lowest franked service MailMark®. Below you’ll find savings per items based on Royal Mail prices at the time of writing which is December 2022.
| Royal Mail Service | Standard Price (£) | Franking Machine Prices (£) | Saving per item (£) | Saving per 100 items | Saving per 1000 items |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Class Standard Letter (up to 100g) | 0.95 | 0.84 | 0.11 | £11.00 | £110.00 |
| First Class Small Parcel (up to 1kg) | 4.45 | 3.95 | 0.50 | £50.00 | £500.00 |
| Second Class Standard Letter (up to 100g) | 0.68 | 0.60 | 0.08 | £8.00 | £80.00 |
| Second Class Small Parcel (up to 1kg) | 3.35 | 2.85 | 0.50 | £50.00 | £500 |
When calculating franking machine prices don’t forget that regardless of whether you buy or rent there are extra costs to consider.
If you’d like to save a lot of time getting prices from each provider, we can do this for you. There’s no charge for this service, we are paid a small commission for providers if you choose their service.
