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Hi
Its over a year since my first Shipping Methods post. And with the latest round of industrial action from our postal workers I turned my attention again to finding an alternative. I am evaluating a company called Secure DX (Formerly SMS) which stood for Secure Mail Services. The government use them for delivering passports. http://www.thedx.co.uk/ourservices/secure/
£3.85 for next day delivery - UK mainland, a few very northerly Scotland exceptions. Secure trackable and signed for. Weight up to 1kg.
Now I am waiting for answers to do with size of parcel... although most of ours are small parcel (as defined by the PO), some are an odd shape... long and thin for corsets for instance. As Secure DX supply the mailing bags this was one area that needed to be clarified.
If final questions are answered by SDX to our satisfaction then we may have found an alternative.
Does anyone have any experience of them?
Cheers
Gill
Luxxa - French Romantic Lingerie. (http://www.ever-so-sexy.com/luxxa-lingerie.html)
mikeyred
11-08-2009, 14:50
nope.... but looking forward to your feedback....;)
Not used them but this sounds great, will depend on the sizes they can do and I assume they come and pick up
Looking forward to your feedback on this
Not used them but this sounds great, will depend on the sizes they can do and I assume they come and pick up
Looking forward to your feedback on this
Just had answers to my additional questions.
Here's the info:
1. In order to have the benefit of collection and delivery from your office you must send 6 Secure DX a day. (This is really low - I was surprised.)
2. We supply two Secure DX tamper event pouches: Standard Regular Width: 370mm Width: 460mm Depth: 270mm Depth: 325mm Lip: 50mm Lip: 55mm Both are free of charge with purchase of the secure DX labels. (This is probably ok for 90% of our products - I shall have to check the length of our corsets. And of course offers another small cost saving as we won't have to buy mailer bags for the products sent via Secure DX.)
3. Cost inc VAT is £4.42, which is £2.28 cheaper than Royal Mail special delivery at £6.70. (It's actually cheaper because there is no VAT to reclaim on postage)
5. DX GUARANTEES NO STRIKES!! We close for Christmas on the 25- 28 December and the 1st January. (And that as far as we are concerned is the best of all)
I will give them a go and so expect some more feedback.
Cheers
Gill
Silk & Satin Nightdresses. (http://www.ever-so-sexy.com/nightwear.html)
Hi Gill,
This sounds very interesting and the prices do look very competitive.
Hope it goes well and please let us know how you get on with them.
Hi Dave,
I will keep everyone updated on this... an alternative to the RM and their strikes would be great... I really hope I have found one. They sent through their hard copy info today, using their own system so I got to see the delivery in action and see one of the mailing bags. The mailing bag is a normal plastic heavy duty grey bag... covered with their name etc. Not a problem for me as my customers prefer the wrapping not to give away the contents.... it might be an issue if anyone wants their brand on the wrapping.
Bye for now
Gill
Luxury Lingerie Online (http://www.ever-so-sexy.com)
retinaganshi
20-08-2009, 10:34
You could try www.parcel2ship.co.uk (http://www.parcel2ship.co.uk), I always use them and they're great!!
You could try www.parcel2ship.co.uk (http://www.parcel2ship.co.uk), I always use them and they're great!!
Hi
Thanks for the suggestion but they are not good for our product. The majority is 0.5Kg or less, though sometimes quite bulky, so still a parcel but off the scale at the bottom end for most (if not all) couriers. If they were truly reliable Royal Mail would be best because our parcels are what they call small packet. But I am fed up of being held to ransome by people who seem to be determined to destroy the business they work for and I am damned sure they are not going to damage my business :mad: (sorry rant over). I just get so wound up when I think of RM workers going on strike. That said the last strike seemed to have no affect at all on my deliveries. Don't know if I was just lucky or if the strike failed to get full support from the workers - if the latter, well done those workers.
Cheers
Gill
Silk Lingerie (http://www.ever-so-sexy.com)
Hi,
We started using APC a month ago. The Nottingham depot is only 15mins down the road from us and we deal direct with them rather than a head office call centre, this has worked very well for us. All parcel bookings are done over the net.
So far we have had no problems, we can probably find a bit cheaper elsewhere, but have no 'history' at the moment, so once we have built the volumes up more we can negotiate a bit.
I like the fact that they are local though, we have the sales womens mobile number if things go wrong and she's willing to come out and train the staff up to use the booking system.
Perhaps the cheapest isn't always the best way!!
Neil
Hi all
DX Secure Update. Our local sorting office was on strike today so imagine how glad I am that I signed up with DX Secure. For our product it really works well. And so far I have absolutely no complaints.
Bye for now
Gill
www.ever-so-sexy.com
There is no real alternative to Royal Mail on services and prices, that's why they are losing so much money and the mail workers can hold them to ransom for whatever excuse they can think up.
We send out 20 odd thousand packages a year by Royal Mail and probably lose 50 or so, I think a lot of those are not in fact lost but stolen by multiple tenancy people (should that be flat dwellers?) or E-bayers on the make.
Lots of our sales are under £10 so we cannot use any other method than RM packet at £1.20-£1.60 as all our prices are including free delivery, we are this week starting RM Tracked for all higher value and multi-occupancy addresses at a rate of £2.69 up to 5kgs!! at least if they are stuck in RM pile up, we'll know where!!
Hi,
A further more detailed update on DX Secure for those it will suit. Weight limit 1KG. Cost £3.85 plus VAT per packet. Really big parcels would be a problem as they were set up originally for document transfer but we have sent 43cm x 33cm x 11cm without a problem. You need to be sending more than 1300 parcels a year to get a collection. But if you have fewer parcels than that you can take your parcels to the local collection point. Delivery is next working day signed for. There are about 6 Scottish post codes they don't cover. It is easy to set up and our initial cost was the cost of 100 shipments eg £385 plus VAT - no contract or ongoing commitment as you can use the mailing products as and when you want.
Gill
www.ever-so-sexy.com
Luxury Lingerie Online
roobyroo
29-09-2009, 11:46
Just like Prezzies Plus, most of our orders are £10-£20 and we offer free UK delivery, so it's not really feasible to use anything other than Royal Mail at the moment (even though they can be a pain in the backside at times). For higher value orders we always send via Royal Mail Signed For delivery, at least there's last chance of the order going missing or a customer trying to pull a fast one.
For overseas orders we usually just use Airmail, again if it's a high value order then we use Royal Mail International Signed For, the price of this is a joke though as the parcel is only track-able up until the exit of the UK. If it goes missing after that there's not a lot you can do.
Just like Prezzies Plus, most of our orders are £10-£20 and we offer free UK delivery, so it's not really feasible to use anything other than Royal Mail at the moment (even though they can be a pain in the backside at times). For higher value orders we always send via Royal Mail Signed For delivery, at least there's last chance of the order going missing or a customer trying to pull a fast one.
For overseas orders we usually just use Airmail, again if it's a high value order then we use Royal Mail International Signed For, the price of this is a joke though as the parcel is only track-able up until the exit of the UK. If it goes missing after that there's not a lot you can do.
Ditto in every respect :)
A further more detailed update on DX Secure for those it will suit. Weight limit 1KG.
Thanks for the info Gill. A 1 Kg limit is a problem for us, however.
Pete
For overseas orders we usually just use Airmail, again if it's a high value order then we use Royal Mail International Signed For, the price of this is a joke though as the parcel is only track-able up until the exit of the UK. If it goes missing after that there's not a lot you can do.
Have you thought of using Airsure? We use it as the first choice on our international shipments. Its not available everywhere - I think it is in 30 countries and that includes USA, Canada, Brazil, Norway and a large part of Europe. It is trackable right through to delivery, faster than International Signed for and though it costs a bit more I think it is worth it. Its a real blessing. I had a customer in Spain saying their parcel had not arrived and telling me the Spanish post office said it was not trackable and not possible to arrive in the time frame we had quoted blah de blah...all I had to do was take screen print of the Correos tracking system result which showed it had arrived and inside the time quoted and send it to him to sort the matter out. Saves a lot of time, frustation and money.
Gill
www.ever-so-sexy.com
Lola Luna G Strings - French Sexy Lingerie at its best.
The problem is that Royal Mail Signed For means absolutely nothing! the packets are just sent by 1st or 2nd class, not tracked until the last leg and the postman is then supposed to get a signature, our postman never does, just signs himself and puts the mail thru the box!
The problem is that Royal Mail Signed For means absolutely nothing! the packets are just sent by 1st or 2nd class, not tracked until the last leg and the postman is then supposed to get a signature, our postman never does, just signs himself and puts the mail thru the box!
Which is why, when we used the RM for UK deliveries we only ever went for Special Delivery on the orders where the value warranted it. The rest went normal 1st class with proof of posting. Now of course all the UK orders go with Secure DX and they are tracked through to delivery and the delivery is next working day from dispatch - this is a real USP at the moment within our market. Getting back to the international options - Airsure is not a signed for option - just trackable and recorded delivery which we have found over time is more beneficial than the International Signed for.
Gill
www.ever-so-sexy.com
French Undies Online
needundies
30-09-2009, 21:32
Following the ongoing issues with Royal Mail we too have had a look at Secure DX, but it does not price in very well for us. We calculated we would be paying an additional £1.50 ex VAT per parcel to move to what is primarily a Next Day Delivery service when we do not offer Next Day as a standard service. It would add £1000's to our costs per month which we couldn't really pass on to our customers.
We are having a meeting with the Home Delivery Network people next week, we wil see how they cost in for us, I will let you know :)
We are having a meeting with the Home Delivery Network people next week, we wil see how they cost in for us, I will let you know :)
I've used Home Delivery Network for a client in the past. They don't like to deliver to business addresses, Saturday's are very expensive and they can tend to loose things - sounds a bit like RM then!!
Let us know how you get on with them
needundies
01-10-2009, 10:02
That sounds encouraging :eek:
Did they charge you more for the same level of incompetence as RM?
roobyroo
08-10-2009, 09:49
I've just heard that Amazon are looking to desert Royal Mail and are looking for other delivery services due to Royal Mail threatening a Christmas strike. This is quite worrying if it's true :-s
Amazon ditched Royal Mail a long time ago for most deliveries they use TNT who deliver to the last leg (Royal Mail local sorting office) for the final delivery.
Amazon ditched Royal Mail a long time ago for most deliveries they use TNT who deliver to the last leg (Royal Mail local sorting office) for the final delivery.
Perhaps they are now looking to replace the last leg???
Gill
Luxury Nightdresses (http://www.ever-so-sexy.com/coemi-fine-nightwear.html)
No wonder it's so slow if they only have one leg each
Sorry couldn't resist!;)
roobyroo
08-10-2009, 11:51
Not sure, but this is what i read in guardian.co.uk http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/oct/07/royal-mail-amazon-postal-strikes
Hi again
(NicJ... I resisted the temptation to make a joke about the last leg dropping off etc... but you made me giggle!)
As for the Guardian article... it looks fairly conclusive. I had a quick peek at the HDN site and this is a clip:
"If you despatch circa 100 items a week under 25kg and would like to discuss how we can work together."
Not for us because we are lower volumes than that so we will stick with Secure DX which is ok for 80% of our shipments. Offshore/international and certain Scottish post codes remain a problem. And if the national strike goes ahead, which is looking increasingly more likely, then we will have to go on a case by case basis for the orders that can't go Secure DX. All I can say is that I am really pleased we set up with them when we did.
Bye for now
Gill
Luxury Lingerie Online (http://www.ever-so-sexy.com)
Hi again,
I have just had a wild thought! :eek:
Would there be a practical way for BP members to form a co-operative courier/delivery service purchasing group, taking into account our mass buying power, so that we could as a group talk to the big players in the distribution industry. Now Rich will probably hate me for this.... but could it be an add on to the BP system. Get your site with BP and join in the delivery network. Go on tell me I am mad! I don't mind.
Cheers
Insanely Beautiful Lingerie. (http://www.ever-so-sexy.com)
And if the national strike goes ahead, which is looking increasingly more likely
Just been announced on the radio that Royal Mail have voted for a national strike. This will cause problems for not just for those of us who rely on them for deliveries but the receiving of invoices and cheques and the knock on effect this will have with cashflow.
Why do these things always happen as christmas approaches which is the busiest time of the year for many small companies. :mad:
Hi Dave,
It does not endear me to the postal workers.... it is such a selfish (and given the fragile state of the economy not to mention the post office itself) foolish action. :mad:
Gill
Me again - just read the BBC News at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8296660.stm
It seems there is 10 days for the RM managers to come up with a solution to stop the strike. I would not bank on them succeeding but it does give other businesses time to bring into action a survival plan if they have not already done so.
Gill
needundies
08-10-2009, 19:41
Update on HDN.
They came along to see us on wednesday (two of them!) to assess the business and get a feel for our requirements. They are coming back in tomorrow to discuss the pricing structure they can offer us.
They have discussed the possibility of a three month trial so that we can assess their performance, so if the pricing is right I am fairly sure we will give them a go.
If they are competitive, looks like RM is going to lose my £100,000+ contract, well done RM. :p
No company is going to stop my customers getting their undies!
I will keep you informed of progress.
needundies
10-10-2009, 19:05
Well the guys at HDN said all the right things and we have given them a 3 months trial to assess their service.
The price/packet up to 2Kg works out the same as the Royal Mail Tracked service which we were about to go with prior to the announcement of the proposed strike action.
Pros as far as we can tell:
- The packet can be tracked on the HDN Website virtually in real time.
- 2 re-attempts at delivery.
- No consumable costs and Zebra printer supplied free of charge.
- Packet size allowed is reasonably large, about the size of a standard microwave as an example.
- A company SLA can be drafted to ensure standards are monitored and met.
- Timed collection at no extra charge.
Cons:
- Delivery to Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Northern Ireland and the Scottish Islands incur extra charges, we will maintain our RM service for these :D
It now takes about a fortnight to set up the service, probably just in time for the strikes to start! So fingers crossed we can maintain a decent level of service, we are pretty sick and tired of chasing up parcels, re-sending parcels, refunding orders and replying to emails about the current RM Service, goodness knows what it will be like when the proper industrial action kicks in!
By the way the guy that came to see us on Friday to finalise costings, said that his local office had received 80 enquiry calls immediately following the outcome of the CWU ballot.
I will let you know how we get on.
powertoolworld
10-10-2009, 21:23
We have just been in contact with UPS this week and have been offered £3.99 +vat for any UK parcels upto 30kg if you send 120+ parcels a week.
Unfortunately this does not include domestic deliveries only business. This is a new offer just released (or so they say).
I have a meeting with them this week so I will keep you all informed.
Not sure whether i'd use them but if the strike causes complete chaos, then this looks interesting:
http://www.collectplus.co.uk/
Based on HDN
Neil
Latest postal strike dates are confirmed as starting on the 22nd October
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8309447.stm
Can't wait
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