Reliable Courier Company

[HongKongphooey]

I like alot of people sell the odd item on ebay. I don't make much, just small things. Some of the items weigh over 2kg and its not viable to send them by parcelforce as their fees are high. People won't buy stuff obviously if the postal fees are high, and buyer collect limits you to the onlyl local buyers. Therefore I used Hermes firstly who proved unreliable (didn't pick up on 3 occasions) and more recently I post parcels, who have now let me down by not picking up yesterday. The result being I had to post the parcel by parcelforce at double the cost I advertised for postage, which I have incurred but I didn't want to let the buyer down as I had promised it would be there in a couple of days. As I only got £5 for my item, the postage has wiped out this sale and left me with a loss of £1.60!! 'I post parcels' promises next day delivery. Their nearest depot is 50 miles from me, so dropping it off at the depot isn't an option. They also don't have any phone contact, and haven't replied to 2 emails with an explanation as to why they didn't pick up or if I will get my money back. Does anyone know a reliable alternative to Royal mail/Parcelforce or I will have to give up selling the few iems I do

[boxtops]

I've never tried sending anything with them personally, but I am so impressed with DPD as a delivery service. They come exactly when they say they will, and they give you a tracking number so you know where your driver is.

I wouldn't touch Yodel with a long bargepole.

[Retrochic]

fI used Hermes until they let me down far too often then totally smashed 20 antique plates. I only use Royal mail now and have had no trouble since

[boxtops]

I agree with retro, I always use Royal Mail or Parcelforce for my eBay sales at the moment. If the buyer is willing to pay the postage, which they do, then the cost of the postage and packing is irrelevant, IMO.

[wolf63]

Try using this website

http://www.parcel2go.com

[Zacs-Master]

As someone who used to run a transport business, there will be lots of local couriers who will probably do it much cheaper than the big boys. They're a dedicated bunch and will be grateful for your business, especially if you tell them it will be repeat business.

[Buenchico]

Collect+ might be of interest to you. I sent a massive parcel with them (from Suffolk to Sheffield) just before Christmas, with no problems. Parcelforce would have charged me £16.40 to deliver that parcel. Collect+ charged £8.29.

To use their service you simply pay for your parcel label online, print it out, attach it to your package and drop it off at your nearest collection point (which, for me, is a local Co-op shop). I've entered several friend's postcodes (all across the country) into the Collect+ website and everyone of them seems to be within about a 5 minute walk of a collection point, so there's very good chance that you'll be near to one too.

The online tracking system is a lot better than Royal Mail's (which usually tells you little more than 'it's somewhere in the system'). You can see exactly when the package was accepted at the collection point, when it was collected from there, when it was processed at the local sorting depot (and again at the central processing point), when it was put onto the van in the delivery area and when it was delivered to the recipient.

I'll certainly use Collect+ again:
http://www.collectplus.co.uk/

[EDDIE51]

I use CollectPlus quite a lot never had a problem, plus the drop off point is just 25 yards from my door. A 5 kg parcel for under £7 and full tracking / insurance

[grasscarp]

I have nothing but praise for collect plus. Every item is trackable. However post office often cheap enough. Today posted 2 books in a parcel and it was £2.80 which I thought very reasonable. I have occasionally had no profit or even slight loss on eBay selling but it is rare.

[boxtops]

I'll certainly look at Collect + - their nearest collection point is 5 minutes from me.

[EDDIE51]

With collectplus you can have the parcel delivered to a collectplus drop off point near the buyers home. This has several advantages, it is cheaper, the shop are all open early till late 7 days a week, the buyer does not have to be at home. They get an email when the item is ready to collect, they just have to provide ID to pick it up.

[HongKongphooey]

collect+ sounds very interesting, I'll definately check it out, I'll have a look at DPD and parcel2go as well. Thanks for all your help guys.

[ToraToraTora]

sorry doesn't help but I use hermes and they have been excellent but they use locals to pick up/drop offso i guess you have unreliable hermes operators in your area.

[Hopkirk]

As a recipient of parcels I too will give an A star to DPD, but have no idea if they are expensive.

[boxtops]

Here's DPD's web page http://www.dpd.co.uk/content/product-services/interlink_direct_lp.jsp