Shipping Methods

[Gillf]

Hi,

I'd like to take views on different methods of shipment.

We use Royal Mail and post worldwide using International Signed for or Airsure for abroad and 1st class post - proof of posting (for goods valued under £32) and Special Delivery for the more expensive products and where a customer has requested (and paid for) Express. With the exception of the Express we do not charge UK customers. And our shipping charges for international customers is not the true cost, instead they are set at a level that subsidises the true cost to a level that makes the cost to us approximately equal to a UK customer.

Lingerie (our product) is generally quite light - so weight is not an issue. But as some items are high value, security is an issue as is the time it takes to deliver. Plus we suffered a bit during the postal strike last year and we are finding an increasing number of items going missing. Mrs Postman Pat must be enjoying her new undies! - So we'd be grateful for your input as we review other possibilities.

Any thoughts on alternatives to Royal Mail?

Thanks

Gillf
www.ever-so-sexy.com (http://www.ever-so-sexy.com)

[little-linguist]

It's difficult. We too have loads of stuff go missing. That said, I'm not sure it's always the post to blame - I know we've had some dishonest customers claim that their stuff was lost when we later found evidence that they'd received it. The only way round this is to use Recorded but I don't really think it's worth the extra money. Sadly customers know that if they don't sign for it then they can't prove they've received it and will try to fiddle you.

Bearing in mind the fact that your items are so light to post, I don't think there would be much of an alternative to Royal Mail. We use a courier for our more valuable and heavy parcels (Parcelforce - £5.90 per parcel on a 48 hour service, any parcel up to 30kg). However, at this price, it would bump your postage costs up loads. We mainly sell heavy books so the courier is a good deal for us. Perhaps someone else might have a better idea?

[Jelly]

Hi

We use a combination of post office and Courier. We charge for delivery on all our orders.

We signed up with a courier during the postal strikes. We have had several parcels "go missing" over the last couple of months via the post office. Several of these have now been returned to us as Royal Mail had actually attempted delivery but either didn't leave a card or the customer just didn't bother going to collect it.

We use interlink express, they gave us a price based upon a weeks level of the parcels at the time we signed up. We have recently renegotiated the rates as we greatly exceed the original figures.

The main reason we signed up with Interlink was that their depot is located on the same trade park as us, so the depot will accept parcels from me up until 6pm. All the other couriers collect at around 2:30-3:00 which is when I am on the school run and also would reduce our cut off time for next day deliveries.

Interlink also offer an email notification and text notification service. Where they email or text the cusotmer prior to delivery to make sure that it is convenient and if its not the customer can rearrange by email or text.

We have only had one problem in approx 1 year of using them.

The post office works out cheaper for parcels under 2kg but most of ours are over and the the post office is cheaper for overseas on under 2kg parcels as well.


Karen

[Dave]

Gill,

In my previous employment we used to use Interlink for UK deliveries but found they were becoming very expensive compared to other carriers.

We changed to Fastway and found the cheapest solution for us was to pre-pay and buy 100 tickets @ £2.95 each & 100 tickets @ £4.95 each

Rules are one ticket per parcel.

The £2.95 tickets covers your local region which for us was postcodes DE, LE & CV and they pick up am and deliver same day pm or pickup pm and deliver next day am.

The £4.95 tickets covers other Fastway regions for next day delivery.

However, Fastway do not cover all the uk so we used Interlink as a backup.

Just noticed you are based in Cornwall which is a region not yet covered by Fastway but hopefully this post maybe of interest for others!

I think at the moment you will have to stay with Postman Pat.

[Jelly]

Dave


Is the £4.95 ex vat and are there any restrictions on size/weight for that price?


Thanks
Karen

p.s. Just trying to work out if I've got a good deal with interlink!

[Dave]

Dave


Is the £4.95 ex vat and are there any restrictions on size/weight for that price?


Thanks
Karen

p.s. Just trying to work out if I've got a good deal with interlink!


Hi Karen,

The prices are exclusive of vat.

Maximum weight of parcel must not exceed 25kg and must be of a size where the driver is capable of lifting himself.

[Jelly]

Thanks Dave

My Interlink price up to 5kg works out slightly cheaper @ £4.65+VAT
but I pay £5.50+VAT for over 5kg up to 30kg.

Also Interlink still fly to Northern Ireland so that rate is £12.00. I sent loads to Northern Ireland (currently via the post office).

If anyone else knows of cheaper couriers, please let me know.

Thanks
Karen

[Gillf]

Hi Dave,

Fastway seems really good value - what a shame they are not in Cornwall.

Thanks

Gill
www.ever-so-sexy.com (http://www.ever-so-sexy.com)
Luxury & Designer Lingerie Online

[Bumps & Beyond]

Hi Dave

I am really interested in this Fastway Company do you have any contact details? Do thye have a minimum size that they carry?

Thanks

Julie

[Dave]

Hi Dave

I am really interested in this Fastway Company do you have any contact details? Do thye have a minimum size that they carry?

Thanks

Julie

Hi Julie,

I don't think there is a minimum size. As I said previously you would have to pre-pay and buy 100 tickets at a time. If I remember correctly you can buy smaller books but they work out more expensive.

Contact details can be found here
www.fastwaycouriers.co.uk (http://www.fastwaycouriers.co.uk)

[Bumps & Beyond]

Thanks Dave

[Jonathan Read]

We have had to find ways to handle a wide variety of parcel sizes from jiffy envelopes to pallets. For IDW (Irregular Dimension & Weight) i.e. fence posts etc., Nightfreight is very accomodating, if expensive - there's even a 2 person delivery service for furniture etc.

Other than that we have found an internet broker www.parcel2go.com (http://www.parcel2go.com) which offers a whole host of options using one account. You can either pay as you go or load your account and call off as you need.

I hope this helps.

P.S. We're always looking for alternatives!

Jonathan Read

[retinaganshi]

You could try http://www.parcel2ship.co.uk, they're great, cheap and efficient!

[Adam]

Reading this makes me happy that we have our own delivery fleet. as for small items we have used the post office and dont seem to get issues with them.

we also use TNT for larger items.

[Robin]

I have used Fastway. Our local Franchise guy is really good but guy in region next to me is not so good according to people I know who tried them.
Never had a problem with them.
Very good value for strange size items I send out sometimes and very fast on admin as just stick a label on it, phone them up and they come and get it.

[Soundbite]

I would recommend getting a PPI account with Royal Mail if you send items less that 1 kg. Royal mail are very cheap. I have sent out thousands of items and only 1 went missing.

Their non recorded service is reliable but I would advise this for items under £30 value. Their recorded method is also good and Royal mail will send you a book which you would put the recorded stickers into.

If you send out lots of thems I would also recommend you pay for collections which costs around £5 per week. With this you can get the royal mail cages and the driver will collect the cage daily. Its much better than those small grey sacks.

I have used varous couriers. Nightfreight smashed 90% of the products I sent. They only lasted 1 week. I then used Business Post who were good. They did have their bad moments and they just don't have the systems in place to deal with certain situations. A lot of the deliveries made by Business Post were late. According to my customers their drivers had the habbit of not leaving cards through the door.Their drivers were not employed by business post and work on the basis that for every delivery made they would get paid X amount. I suppose the drivers would say they visited the address when in fact they didn't just to get paid. I left Business Post when they told me their customer service landline phones were not working. I asked if they had mobiles available in situations like this and they said no. They obviously do not think ahead. They also damaged lots of items.

I then opened an account with UPS and I now know how a courier service should be run. They are the best company I have ever delt with. Very efficient and they have never delivered late. This enabled my to get on with the business and not deal with customer complaints. I can safely say they have not lost me any customers or damaged any items. They are expensive but knowing I have not lost a customer means they are worth every penny.

If you are looking for a courier based on price UPS are not the cheapest but they give you peace of mind. Their web based systems are advanced by keeping your customers informed of their delivery status by email.

[little-linguist]

I will sing the praises of Parcelforce for courier parcels (we use them for parcels heavier than 2kg and / or more valuable than about £50).

We've used them for over 3 years now, sending several thousand parcels a year and have never had anything damaged or lost and only a very small handful of late deliveries (all due to reasons that can't be helped like when it snowed / lorry breakdowns). Their shipping system is very easy - for UK parcels it's the same price up to 30kg so you don't need to weigh / measure each parcel.


I picked them based on our experience of them as a customer at the delivery end - most of the major couriers deliver to us several times a week and many deliver parcels in shocking condition (squashed / wet) or are late.