Well, I didn't know this, and it may be useful to others!

GrannieBettie As I said above, there is a facility on the Post Office site, to obtain proof of postage.

I want to return an item to Asda and the store is over 20 miles away. I could go in the Collect Plus shop and hand it in free of charge, but am trying to avoid any shops at the moment. I think if I sent it by post I would have to pay, which I might do this time.

Camelot...your poor cat. . I'd never have got that on my cats without blood being spilled (mine).

Do you happen to know if you buy your postage this way it counts as confirmation of posting? I have often thought of using it but I needed confirmation of postage.

Re using Parceltogo, I have used this service for posting to France and it is so reliable especially with DPD.
With regard to give back box, it says safari can't find the server. This is a shame because we have lots of boxes we could use.

There is a 'get proof of postage' facility on the Post Office click and drop scheme.

Thanks to opener and all constructive contributors. Such a wealth of practical information here. I knew vaguely of this service but, now that I have in depth tips, I will give it my best shot. Anticipate introductory hiccups (that's me!!) but hope this will become my normal practice real soon. Great stuff. GN at its best.

The post office advertise this on TV.

Doodledog
Here is the coat I made for a friend's dachshund. It's being modelled by my cat who was not impressed.

And for an extra fee it will be collected from your door too....we have a drop box on one of the local trading estates so its out of the way

Another useful service I saw advertised yesterday. If you have a lot of Amazon boxes, they can be filled with donations for charity and a prepaid label printed and the boxes collected. This is all free of charge from www.givebackbox.uk

My hobby is Postcrossing which involves sending and receiving postcards from around the world. I like to send nice picture stamps on my postcards. I buy sets of stamps from Royal Mail online shop which also saves a trip to the Post Office.

I discovered this service just after Christmas and was so happy not to queue at p.o. They charged me just 70p on top of my postage and I think it was a bargain.

I had a parcel to return and not only could I sort out the postage at home but the postman also collected it. The systems, offers and options through the post office are getting better and better. So impressed.

Think I may have to make use of this soon. 5 post offices in my area have all closed in the past year. The only one left is located in a national newsagent in the shopping mall. Unfortunately the PO is located upstairs and the lift is constantly out of order. So much for a public service.

The only problem with this is that you do not have “proof of posting “. A problem if returning goods, selling or, if the parcel goes astray, claiming compensation. In these cases you still need to take it to the PO.
On the positive side, the postage is slightly cheaper and there are more postage options on the website.

Thank you... I had no idea. I’ll use this in future.

I only found out about this service when passing a very large post box,and i read the information on it.
A great idea.

This is called Click and Drop, I've been using it for a while now. If the package is too large for a post box you can drop it in what they now call a parcel box. In my area this is the same box I used to post my franked mail when I worked. If you haven't used these in the past they look like very large post boxes, might be one near you that you haven't noticed before.

At Christmas I sent parcels to USA for my daughter and family, I have discovered in the past with the Post Office that over a certain weight the prices shoots up quite considerably. So I tried Parcels2go which lists lots of different companies and their services, so it is easy to compare. I had 3 parcels to post of different shapes and weights. Each parcel individually would have cost approx £38, but they do a multiple offer and it cost me £68 for the three of them. Parcels were collected from my front door, and arrived with my daughter 3 days later. The Royal Mail appears on the list, plus all the big names and some I have never heard of.
Yesterday my husband had a parcel to post to UK, we weighed and measured it, due to be collected between 9 and 5.30 today, was collected at 8.45. Was again cheaper than Royal Mail and did not have to queue and get a nasty shock at the price.
It is just good to have options.
Even with postage stamps I order them with my Asda shop and get them delivered, just saves another trip out at the moment.

We’ve been using the Royal Mail website for all our parcels and letters since August. Weigh parcel on kitchen scales , fill in details on line , pay and print labels and give to our postman when he calls ,, fantastic service by RM ! We did our parcels for Australia this way and the choice of postage was good for under 2kgs , amazing what you can send for that weight.... hope RM continues this service when the pandemic is over ..

I've used this service a couple of times now and am about to use it again to send my grandaughter a couple of things I've knitted for her. If you pay an extra 57p Royal Mail will collect the parcel from your home.

I've used this several times during the pandemic, since the collect service started. You can use a kitchen scale, and little printers aren't very expensive now really. It's really easy to organise and print the labels, and the regular postie picks them up at the door. It's been a very useful thing for us as the nearest PO isn't close by and we haven't fancied going since covid. Only the normal postage charge plus 72p.

Thank you for the useful information I didn’t know this. Just incase you didn’t know, if the recipient doesn’t receive the package in time scale you expected Royal Mail are under huge pressure with sickness and people buying online that some parcels in some areas still haven’t been delivered from December.

You can do all your postage online, letters and parcels. Post office and independent couriers. I use Hermes and DHL a lot as they are much cheaper than Royal Mail and they give you an option for picking up the parcel from your house or go to a drop of point often much easier than queuing at the post office.

I sent several large parcels to Portugal before Christmas. One was delivered less than 24 hours later - door to door. Picked up by courier, cheaper than Royal Mail as well. You don’t need a printer as they can print it for you.

I also ordered my postage stamps along with my supermarket delivery, which was so easy.