tom1946 Posted March 31, 2011 Posted March 31, 2011 This is to do with shipping costs to Europe from the UK. a lot of the time I get asked for a shipping quote to France or Spain or Poland or wherever and the buyer often says 'you should be able to ship that for £25 fully insured to here'. So out of politeness I do the rounds of the companies and very often the cheapest I can get is £68 insured for £50! I don't know where they get these daft quotes from and when I ask them to arrange their own shipping my inbox goes very quiet. I have to say that not everyone does this, it's just a few. So come on guys, get real with the shipping Quote
markstuk Posted March 31, 2011 Posted March 31, 2011 I think the difference is that in Europe they get a pretty good rate to other european countries including the UK whereas we get scr**ed as it's seen as somewhere strange... Also they get better weight bands as well.. For instance the Post office have to deliver 30 KG packages from Europe, whereas they appear to have a 15KG limit for UK packages... Why not get the folks in europe to arrange the courier to pick up from you? Quote
Lozz196 Posted March 31, 2011 Posted March 31, 2011 I`m in the process of sending a bass to Denmark, and its approx £60 via www.parcel2go.com, including insurance up to £650. Def worth a look. Quote
Beedster Posted March 31, 2011 Posted March 31, 2011 [quote name='markstuk' post='1183195' date='Mar 31 2011, 12:15 PM']I think the difference is that in Europe they get a pretty good rate to other european countries including the UK whereas we get scr**ed[/quote] Yep Quote
Clarky Posted March 31, 2011 Posted March 31, 2011 I have sold basses to BC'ers in Finland and Italy and in each case it was £60-70 on the cheapest service I could find (via Interparcels' website) Quote
matski Posted March 31, 2011 Posted March 31, 2011 [quote name='tom1946' post='1183180' date='Mar 31 2011, 12:05 PM']So out of politeness I do the rounds of the companies and very often the cheapest I can get is £68 insured for £50![/quote] DHL, right? They are usually the most competitive on price. I've investigated how much it would cost to arrange a pickup in the UK from Europe, and was told it would be much more expensive than if the seller in the UK were to arrange the shipping. Actually only last week I enquired with DHL how much it would cost to ship a bass to the UK fully insured (value ± £1500) and was quoted roughly £125, so I'm not sure where people have got £25 from. Quote
Bilbo Posted March 31, 2011 Posted March 31, 2011 I go through Parcel Monkey and the last £350 amp I sent to France cost £40 inc insurance. The buyer paid the shipping costs in advance. Worked for me. Quote
Gust0o Posted March 31, 2011 Posted March 31, 2011 [quote name='markstuk' post='1183195' date='Mar 31 2011, 12:15 PM']Why not get the folks in europe to arrange the courier to pick up from you?[/quote] This was where my head was going, in response. Sure, I think some misunderstand how awful the UK can be for shipping; some, I'm sure, are just trying it on, That said, if they think they can get cheaper, let them organise their own. De-risks the process for you! Quote
mojobass Posted March 31, 2011 Posted March 31, 2011 ive shipped two basses recently one to finland and one to italy, i use parcel2go or interparcel and both times was around £55 (£500 insurance) which i dint think was bad, but when i asked parcelfarce they wanted around £80!!! its rediculous, surely theres not that much more administration/paperwork involved and for god sake its only going on a plane with thousands of other parcels!!! it needs to be cheaper!!! Quote
icastle Posted March 31, 2011 Posted March 31, 2011 Only a guess, but perhaps the prices that people are claiming the goods can be sent for are coming from large retail sites who pay a reduced shipping and insurance fee because they're shipping stuff in bulk on a regular basis? Quote
farmer61 Posted March 31, 2011 Posted March 31, 2011 Shipped a bass to Italy insured for £500 for less than £25 throught Interparcel.com Quote
pete.young Posted March 31, 2011 Posted March 31, 2011 [quote name='Lozz196' post='1183205' date='Mar 31 2011, 12:23 PM']I`m in the process of sending a bass to Denmark, and its approx £60 via www.parcel2go.com, including insurance up to £650. Def worth a look.[/quote] Parcel2go is a Parcelforce reseller. There are many threads already on this site explaining that Parcelforce won't insure any instrument for more than 200 quid, even if you pay the excess. I'd be inclined to use someone else. Having been burned on overseas shipping charges and the exchange rate in the past, I won't be selling anything outside the UK anytime soon. Quote
Lozz196 Posted March 31, 2011 Posted March 31, 2011 I won`t be using the Parcelfarce option Pete, it will be the DHL option, thanks for the heads-up though, much appreciated. I sent a bass to Greece at start of this year, using Parcelfarce (via Parcel2go), and it was not the best of experiences/services to be had, shall we say. Never again. Will have a look at Interparcel though, may save my buyer some money, which I`m sure he`ll be grateful for. Quote
tom1946 Posted March 31, 2011 Author Posted March 31, 2011 [quote name='markstuk' post='1183195' date='Mar 31 2011, 12:15 PM']I think the difference is that in Europe they get a pretty good rate to other european countries including the UK whereas we get scr**ed as it's seen as somewhere strange... Also they get better weight bands as well.. For instance the Post office have to deliver 30 KG packages from Europe, whereas they appear to have a 15KG limit for UK packages... Why not get the folks in europe to arrange the courier to pick up from you?[/quote] I have if you read my post again, it just goes quiet at their end when I suggest that. Julian, I don't know where you got that £25 quote from? or was it tongue in cheek? Northern Ireland isn't cheap either. Quote
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