Posting sold items to Europe, some advice please

[reddwarf4ever]

I am selling some CD32 stuff and have enquiries from France Italy etc...

would prefer to to have the package signed for but think that would be expensive

whats the cheapest safest way to post packages 1-2kg to Europe ?

thanks

 

[Harrison]

Royal mail international tracked and signed service. You can add insurance to the shipping too. You can get a price from the royal mail website. I've used the service a few times without any problems.

To check against other service prices look at parcel2go.com as they will list most company prices. Again I've used them a lot but other courier services are getting more expensive these days. Parcel force, DHL, ups and fed ex are all good. Avoid the cheap couriers such as Hermes for international.

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[reddwarf4ever]

Hi
yes the couriers are more expensive than Royal Mail for overseas..

found Royal Mail small parcel ( shoebox size ) is £10.15 insured for £50 tracked and signed for, cheapest I could find

 

[wmsteele]

For some European destinations Royal Mails tracking ends at the point the package leaves the UK!

 

[Arnie]

Avoid the cheap couriers such as Hermes for international.

Avoid Hermes for anything Amiga. Any Electrical item (or part of) isn't covered on their insurance.

 

[reddwarf4ever]

Yes I had heard that, they pass it over to the local delivery company....
thanks will need to check this first, they do a low cost unsigned untracked up to £20 compensation...for £5.50 for 500g I think....not much good though really....

 

[Bryce]

Don't use Royal Mail "Tracked and Signed" to Germany, they don't track it on the German side. I've had several cases of the parcel just being left at the nearest GLS depot and the guy in the depot had signed for it, so the Internet tracker showed it as delivered. I (as the receiver) never got notice of it being there either.
The most reliable from the UK seems to be Parcels2Go, no idea if they are cheap though.

Bryce.

 

[reddwarf4ever]

parcel2go was more expensive...

thank you

 

[-Acid-]

It all depends on the size and weight if couriers are cheaper than Royal Mail. Generally anything under 10kg is probably going to be cheaper with the Royal Mail if the package isn't too big. I too do not use Royal Mail to send items tracked and signed for internationally as most of the time they stop being tracked the instant they leave the UK and then if there's a problem it's up to the other end to fix it as you are sat in another country. I much prefer couriers and pay the £1 extra or whatever it is to get it signed for then at least someone at the address has to sign for it not some random at a delivery depot.

 

[Templar]

For some European destinations Royal Mails tracking ends at the point the package leaves the UK!

In Greece though it works. Of course when the package leaves the UK, you have to track it via your national post office tracking service.

 

[Harrison]

@Acid. You have obviously used the wrong RM service then. You have to read the descriptions carefully because some international services offer only tracking until it leaves the UK, then a confirmation signiture upon delivery, whereas other services do offer full end to end tracking.

It is worth mentioning, as others has said, that all RM services are posted via each country's mail service, so once it leaves the UK it will be handled by that country's mail service. Unless you use one of RMs Parcel Force services, then it is handled end to end.

I've shipped parcels via RM and Parcel Force to German, Italy and Greece with no issues and full tracking.

Some of the other couriers are becoming very expensive for international shipping now so it is worth checking every one for the best deal via parcel2go.com. However when you find a good price on there also visit the courier's own site and get another quote just to check, as sometimes it can be cheaper going direct to them.

But whatever service and courier you use always insure it for the full value and always use a tracked and signed for service. And finally always make the buyer pay for the item via PayPal with fees. This will protect the sale and the tracked and insured shipping gives you a paper trail and evidence of the item being shipped if any PayPal dispute, parcel damage, or non delivery occurs.

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[limboy777]

I always found using parcel2go and parcelmonkey to be cheaper than RM? I do tend to insure everythings though so maybe thats the reason.

The only time RM seem to be cheaper is if sending small packets or a single box game or something similiar. Big packages are cheaper by courier. I wouldnt use Hermes though!