Cheapest parcel courier?

[wolfdogstinkus]

Hi folks,

Just sold an item on epay but it is a bit heavier than expected, around 9kg at a guess.

What's the best/ cheapest way to send it?, it's within the U.K.

[alfagta]

try these guys, http://www.parcel2go.com/?gclid=CMHC5oLwuLYCFaHHtAod_hUAnw , i sent a pair of speakers for under £25 , floor standers filled with sand in their boxes , 64kg all in ,

[wolfdogstinkus]

Thanks alfagta, the cheapest they have is £4.99+ VAT on 3days+ which seems very good, the cheapest I could see on Royal mail was £10.

I am dreading going to post office only to be told it's going to cost £20+.

[Percymon]

www.parcelmonkey.co.uk also worth a look

www.collectplus.co.uk is OK if you're happy to drop item off at the collection point

[alfagta]

Thanks alfagta, the cheapest they have is £4.99+ VAT on 3days+ which seems very good, the cheapest I could see on Royal mail was £10.

I am dreading going to post office only to be told it's going to cost £20+.

stay away from royal mail, they have increased some prices by over 100% , something that cost £5 to ship a fortnight ago now costs £13 , only found out last week when i went to send a part for a turntable to a friend , apparently the new prices came into effect at the start of April.

[TWINSET]

The Post Office has just changed their parcel policy - the size of the package now plays a far more important part in the cost

You now have 'small' and 'medium' parcel sizes to consider

For instance, a 500g 'small' parcel is £3.00

A 500g 'medium' parcel is £5.65!

Here's how to tell what size parcel you got;

http://www.royalmail...-weight-formats

NOTE: 8cm is tallest a 'small' parcel can be

Although;

Exceptions apply

Parcels that do not exceed 16cm in length and 16cm in width and 16cm in depth can be sent as small parcels, provided the weight does not exceed 2kg.

Visit our shop to buy boxes this size.

Parcels greater in size than 61cm x 46cm x 46cm or heavier than 20kg can be sent using Parcelforce services which include tracking and are guaranteed.

Fun eh?

[wolfdogstinkus]

I think I might use Hermes UK, as provided in alfagta's link, £9.12 including VAT,if I drop it off at the local shop, or £9.42 if I have it collected from my house. has anyone used them?

That's on 10kg. 48cm x 33cm x 23cm

The cheapest quote on parcelforce is £13.27

[TWINSET]

The only one I know to avoid is Yodel - terrible reliability for collections, even Amazon have dropped them now

City Link have always been good as far as my parcels go, but never had any dealings with Hermes.

[wolfdogstinkus]

Parcel delivery within 3-5 working days throughout most of UK's mainland. Collection and Delivery are not guaranteed but currently enjoy a 96% success rate.

Collections are between 8am – 8pm.

This worries me a bit, what do they do with 4 out of every 100 parcels??, chuck them away, or keep them to themselves?

[LeeMutz]

I hate Royal Fail!

Luckily I have an account with Tuffnell's so can send anything any size up to 20 kg for £6.70 plus VAT and 23p per kilo thereafter

[alfagta]

hermes have been fine the two times i used them , shipped an amplifier to Cornwall and back without a hitch , dpd have been really good so far , never had an issue with them . city link too have been pretty good.

[Foxone]

Used to use p4d.co.uk but the prices rose recently (always was using cheapest option being citylink 24 - normally good service & at under £10, couldn't complain as it did include insurance and tracking - paypal requirement!)

Recently used parcelmonkey.co.uk - again can't complain as was similar service (citylink 24 again) all for under £10 and you can send upto 30KG on that price as long as the parcel is roughly 60x40x40 I think, or something similar.

I would never use hermes/yodel due to hearing how bad they are. But then I have used collectplus.co.uk as there is a shop just up the road from me offering the service and have used it to return goods for free to online shops before.

When you can send a large heavy parcel for about £4 that is tracked and insured then I thought it was a no brainer, certainly gets around the high price of the PO...... but then I found out the service uses yodel or hermes or both to deliver the parcels and that has had a bit of a knock on my ebay feedback due to a 3-5 day service dragging on a little and buyers getting a tad non amused!

If I was you I would use parcelmonkey.co.uk for a service that is tracked and will arrive on time. If money is tight and buyer can wait use collectplus.co.uk

.......What I find hard these days is that with paypal siding with a buyer unless you provide tracking info you will find that regards postage you are basically starting from a minimum of £3.65 most times and that can hurt a sale or in most cases after fees etc. really eat into any profit.... I find now a low value items just is not worth selling anymore... but hey that's another story!

Foxone

[Percymon]

Not had any issues with myhermes other than them failing to find my office for a delivery once. Bear in mind a lot of their delivery staff are just individuals in their own cars. Some are very careful, others almost look like they thrown all the parcels into their cars.

I sent the twin detonator and sand master using myhermes. No problems bit there were very well packed to be sure. When I sold the monster beetle I used city link, again packing very well. If you want insurance etc most places seem to work out about £9-10 for a complete car, still cheaper than RM. In fact parcelforce can be cheaper than RM nowadays!

[wolfdogstinkus]

Parcel arrived today, sent with Myhermes, £9.12 all in. Thanks for all the help folks, I would use them again, tracking was available for the whole delivery in stages.

11/04/2013 13:03 Signature From Customer 11/04/2013 09:26 Courier Received 11/04/2013 05:36 Out For Delivery To Courier 10/04/2013 13:34 Hub Sorter Receipt Scan 09/04/2013 13:38 Collected from ParcelShop 08/04/2013 23:14 Order Generated 08/04/2013 10:49 Customer Sent via ParcelShop

The quote is a bit mixed up but it gives you an idea.

[dyahipfakta]

Parcel to go is pretty good but wrap it very well. Yodel in particular are notorious for not taking terribly good care of packages. Eg throwing I phones over fences etc.