Inland courier services

cheeky · Post by **cheeky** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 8:44 am

Topic moved - Site Admin.

I've lost the details of the one I used to use and they were great. What a pain!

Has anyone got any other recommendation where they pick-up and deliver door to door?

Thank you.

ilovemyjukebox · Post by **ilovemyjukebox** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 1:47 pm

I've used shiply.com a few times without any problems.

jimmycowman · Post by **jimmycowman** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 3:45 pm

People say bad about Parcel Force but I've always been lucky with them so far.

badpenny · Post by **badpenny** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 5:20 pm

Ahh ... good old Parcel Farce

I've had an allwin smashed by them, it looked as if a fork lift truck had been driven over it. It was superbly packed in a wooden sarcophagus.

Then they delivered a cast iron sovereign changer which had obviously been thrown onto the floor as they'd managed to crack off its corners. That one was embalmed in thick polystyrene before being bubble wrapped and encased in a box of tight wood wool.

Needless to say they came up with a thousand reasons why they couldn't possibly have been their fault.

Lesson learnt, never used them again.

grabber · Post by **grabber** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 5:35 pm

Hi
If you go on to ebay and do a search for couriers lots of them pop up.

treefrog · Post by **treefrog** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 8:56 pm

The other well known bidding shipping site to shiply.comis uship.com/uk

These sites have a rating system, like ebay to help select quality delivery people. They are a lot cheaper than going direct to a company as so many look for jobs on a route they are taking.

terry · Post by **terry** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 9:27 pm

I always use www.interparcel.com. Even their cheapest service is superb!

raj · Post by **raj** » Thu Jun 24, 2010 7:01 pm

I have used JC Couriers a number of times, who I found through Shiply & they have been very reliable and reasonably priced.... 07833737285

cheeky · Post by **cheeky** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 7:25 pm

Thank you for all the replies. Does anyone know the weight of a Sega Lite-up bandit (Mad Money) type?

treefrog · Post by **treefrog** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 9:10 pm

I always estimated the average bandit to be around 50kg, but I suspect this applies to machines like half and hi tops....seeing the machine malc won a Bonanza Star, the seller had weighed it at 160lb almost 73kg....no wonder my back has gone

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

cheeky · Post by **cheeky** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 9:48 pm

Thank you. I accurately weighed a Sega Continental and it weighed exactly 60Kg. I would have thought a Sega Lite-Up would be less, so 50Kg seems a fair estimate.

I actually carried the Continental and when I put it down I thought I was having a heart attack!

cheeky · Post by **cheeky** » Sun Jul 04, 2010 4:24 pm

Well I did use Interparcel and it was a good service. A Sega Lite-Up weighs exactly 65kg and a Continential 70kg (I got that one wrong)!
Thanks again.......

coppinpr · Post by **coppinpr** » Sun Aug 07, 2011 8:22 pm

Topic moved - Site Admin.

I don't know if many people on the site have tried the Shiply courier auction service but I've had a lot of success with it and thought it might be of interest to those who don't know about it.

For those who don't know how it works, it is in fact a reverse auction site for courier services. You enter the start and finish post codes for a pick up plus the aprox weight/size of the item and couriers then bid to be the lowest price on offer.
If it is an ebay item, the site adds the photo from ebay so the couriers can see what they have to move. You can accept any bid at any time or simply don't go for any of them. Once you accept a bid you pay a small fee to Shiply and a deposit to the courier (through Shiply). The courier then makes contact with the two parties and makes the pick up and delivery. After delivery, you get a paypal bill for the balance of the courier amount.

I have heard of people having problems but I never have and I think there are a few tips to help make sure the system works.
1. As far as items on Ebay go, ask for bids as soon as you see the item you intend to bid on. This gives plenty of time for bids to come in; if you fail to win the item then no problem, you are not obligated to accept any bids. This gives you time to ask questions and factor the courier charge into your buying budget.
2.Don't pick the lowest bid just because it's the lowest; a courier with over 100 good feedbacks is better than a man with van and no feedbacks.
3. Take note of any good courier you use; next time you need a pickup ask for bids on Shiply then call your man and ask him if he will match the lowest bid. He will, as he will not then have to pay a fee to Shiply and you get a courier you know.

My latest use of the system is a good example. I had 6 days to get bids in, the first was £58 (Ashby to London),10 bids came in over the week, often with earlier bidders lowering their bid. I had time to ask lots of questions of the bidders about packing, timing etc. When I had won the item, I picked the second lowest bid because the guy had 240 feedbacks. The bid was just £38 and was in fact from the very first guy who started at £58! The courier made contact with the pick up party, collected on time and delivered to me within two days. I paid the bill, all parties happy!

The system works if A. you give yourself plenty of time and B you don't get greedy.

A spin off of the system is that if you advertise the shiply service on any item you sell on ebay you get a £1 payment at once and a small % of the accepted bid!
Take a look at Shiply.co.uk.

special when lit · Post by **special when lit** » Mon Aug 08, 2011 2:34 pm

Only used it once, but found it very good. Man & van delivered a Coke machine from Brighton to Derby for £25.
Even helped me bring it into the house.

grabber · Post by **grabber** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 8:49 am

Hi, last night I put an advert on Shipley couriers.com to collect and deliver an allwin from Derby to East London. The best quote so far is £37, cheaper than Parcel Force but not as cheap as the coke machine deliver to Derby.

pennymachines · Post by **pennymachines** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 9:14 am

You may get some better quotes over the next few days. I did well with a large item a while ago but two small machines within 50 miles of each other worked out cheaper to collect myself.

coppinpr · Post by **coppinpr** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 10:55 am

My guess is you will get the price down to about £33 from a good courier with loads of feedbacks, I think even £38 is very cheap these days; petrol and time are expensive.

grabber · Post by **grabber** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 8:22 pm

Hi, just taken a price of £27 but I had to pay Shipley £5.99,
so total was £32.99.
I'll let you know what happens with the delivery.

coppinpr · Post by **coppinpr** » Tue Aug 16, 2011 5:38 pm

Well, I was only a penny out

grabber · Post by **grabber** » Tue Aug 16, 2011 5:48 pm

The machine is being picked up and delivered tomorrow. Does anyone know how much the same service would cost with Parcel Force?

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