Royal Mail - postal/packet costs

I'm frustrated and actually quite annoyed with Royal Mail.  Have you visited the barely understandable Royal Mail website recently?  All I wanted was to find out how much a small parcel (a book - the Scatterpoint compendium sold on eBay) would cost to send to Germany on Tuesday. It appears you now need a PhD to navigate the darn website and understand all the options. It is nearly as hard as trying to find a utilities tariff.

Having done a bit of eBay trading this last few weeks, I'm surprised how expensive it now is to send a small packet by post using Royal Mail or Parcel Force, even more so if sending it abroad. Unless I have misunderstood the incredibly confusing information on how to send a small packet to Germany, one weighing 760g costs an astounding £6.62. Go above 1kg and the rates are extortionate.

Thankfully we still have a helpful local post office staffed with people who try to sort this out for you. Not having receiving my doctorate yet, so unable to navigate the Royal Mail website, I'll have to ask the nice lady at the local PO for the price and a stamp.

Why can't we have a SIMPLE postage tariff based on weight and whether it has to go surface or by air? OK, add a few options if you want a guaranteed delivery.

Batteries by Royal Mail - some change to rules

Some changes are about to come into force which will affect what can be sent by Royal Mail.  It would appear that some rules are being relaxed whereas others are being made more strict and this could have an effect on sending certain items, such as lithium batteries, via Royal Mail. 

Steve G1KQH sent me this which he received from Battery Force, a battery supplier:

"From the 10th of January 2013 due to legislation outside our control, Battery Force will no longer be able to send Lithium batteries using Royal Mail Post. All Lithium batteries sent after this date, will have to go by courier. Using couriers will unfortunately increase the delivery charge for lithium batteries."
 

The Royal Mail website attempts to clarify the rules here:

http://www.royalmail.com/despatch-inward-mail-services/hints-and-tips/prohibited-goods

At the moment I'm not clear what the implications will be. It does sound a little like "job's worth" and health and safety gone mad although, like all such moves, the intention is good: to make the mail service safer.  But before long we will not be allowed to walk across a road because of the danger. 

How did we manage in years gone by?