What postage to pay?

[Merlin5]

I've got this piece of vintage gear, a spring reverb unit that is shaped like a long drainpipe. Someone from a gear forum, and who is in Denmark wants to buy it from me and is prepared to pay over £400 for it, probably £420, plus postage. I've just been to the post office and got prices but am unsure what I should pay. I had in mind, as perhaps he did, that it might come to around £30 to £40, but it's quite a bit more.

£41.22 parcelforce, untracked and unsigned. Covers up to £100. To cover up to £500 it's £1.80 for the first additional £100 then £4.50 for each subsequent £100. So total would be £41.22 + £15.30 = £56.52 to Denmark.

£56.82 parcelforce, trackable and signed for. Covers up to £100. To cover up to £500 it's £1.80 for the first additional £100 then £4.50 for each subsequent £100. So total would be £56.82 + £15.30 = £72.12 to Denmark.

I don't know how much he's prepared to pay for postage on top. Obviously I'll have to put these costs to him. From my point of view, the cheaper unsigned for/untrackable option would still cover me for £500 if for instance it didn't arrive, or even if he received it and then said he didn't.

Just paying £41.22 with up to £100 cover and no additional cover, hmm, that's a bit risky.

What would you recommend I do, what should I suggest to him?

 

[rhysduck]

You could alwasy tell him what the price for postage is and see what he says

Edit: yes it's vey risky not covering it to it's full value. Don't be a numpty and do that.

 

[Merlin5]

You could alwasy tell him what the price for postage is and see what he says

I know, but if he says he only wants to pay £41.22 without the additional amount to insure the item fully, then I'm stuffed if it goes missing and he wants his money back, no? Surely minimum price needs to include the additional £500 cover?

Edit: yes it's vey risky not covering it to it's full value. Don't be a numpty and do that.

Right, so i'll only suggest either price which includes the insurance.

 

[chanjy]

If you are worried about price for a signed for service you could try getting a quote off a different courier?

 

[Merlin5]

If you are worried about price for a signed for service you could try getting a quote off a different courier?

Sure. Is there any particular courier you would recommend that is reliable and perhaps cheaper than parcelforce? DHL, parcel2go?

 

[FurryLemon]

You're making 400+ on this sell, just swallow the extra cost if he isn't willing to pay. It's less then 20 quid extra for piece of mind.

 

[Breeze]

Sure. Is there any particular courier you would recommend that is reliable and perhaps cheaper than parcelforce? DHL, parcel2go?

Use ParcelMonkey. It'll still go by ParcelForce and save you money in the process.

 

[mattyprice4004]

Parcel2Go aren't a courier, they're a broker.
Plenty of options on there to Denmark, but you'll need to measure and weigh it.

 

[Ironic Namesake]

I don't rate ParcelForce very highly, especially for international.

Best bet would be http://wedelivertheworld.co.uk/ using DHL Express, should arrive next day too. Used them lots of times in the past for business (not anymore, have own accounts)

What kind of weight / volumetric weight is it?

 

[Janesy B]

I've used interpacel and parcel2go, TNT gave me really good pricing for continental Europe.

I wouldn't use Parcelforce.

 

[Jim99]

You really ought to check Parcel2Go etc, RM is going to be very expensive.

 

[Merlin5]

Thanks, lots of good suggestions. Need some help on my poor maths though.

The post office weighed it at 5.62Kg including the cylindrical box. On parcel2go it asks for length, width and height in cm. I measured it at 121cm length and 14cm diameter for width but it wants me to fill in the height box too.

I think it's almost worth more than my filthy car

 

[Socaddict]

then put in a 14cm height too.

 

[Vanquish-Storm]

£20 with DPD through myparceldelivery

Edit: Infact even parcelforce is cheaper through myparceldelivery than the postoffice

 

[Merlin5]

I'll try myparceldelivery.

Through parcel2go, I ticked the box that says 'Fully protect your parcel from loss or damage for just £25.00 exc VAT'. TNT is £80, so too expensive. But DPD economy and parcelforce euro priority drop shop say 'From £37' and I see no mention if it's signed for and tracked or not. There's no phone numbers either on any of these courier servies own websites that I can find to have a chat directly.

 

[Vanquish-Storm]

http://www.myparceldelivery.com/hub/contact-us

I only know they are decent because we use them at work

Might be a bit late to ring now not sure what time they pack up.

 

[Merlin5]

http://www.myparceldelivery.com/hub/contact-us

I only know they are decent because we use them at work

Might be a bit late to ring now not sure what time they pack up.

I'll ring them tomorrow.You're right, DPD is coming out at £19.99 and says fully tracked and signature, but I can't see any information about cost of adding protection. It wants me to fill in the person's address in Denmark, which I don't have yet, before I can continue. Certainly looking like the total will be a lot cheaper than Parcelforce though!

 

[div0]

You're making 400+ on this sell, just swallow the extra cost if he isn't willing to pay. It's less then 20 quid extra for piece of mind.

This.

If he says he'd pay for standard delivery @ £40 or whatever it is, then I would personally swallow the extra £30-40 to send it tracked and valued appropriately.

If you're not prepared to pay the extra then tell him that he needs to cover that level of shipping or you're not prepared to sell.

What ever you do, I wouldn't ship it untracked or under-valued.

 

[shadow_boxer]

...I wouldn't use Parcelforce.

This. Nothing but bad experiences with these clowns.

 

[mattyprice4004]

Thanks, lots of good suggestions. Need some help on my poor maths though.

The post office weighed it at 5.62Kg including the cylindrical box. On parcel2go it asks for length, width and height in cm. I measured it at 121cm length and 14cm diameter for width but it wants me to fill in the height box too.

I think it's almost worth more than my filthy car

I'm going to be the first to say it, but surely it's common sense that if its circular, the height and width are the same?

If you left height as zero, you'd have a 2D object.