Sold my the Sat Nav from my old bike to a fellow GS rider in the Emerald Isle - packed up all the bits in its original box and then in another box. PO wanted 56 quid to deliver it over the Irish Sea (Parcel Force)...Total weight was just over 2.1Kg. Top tip from the girl behind the counter was to try and get it down below the 2.00Kg threshold where the price went down to a manageable 16 quid. Trouble is the site I sold it on is a gentlemanly place were stuff is sold P&P included.
I'd packed everything including two multilingual manuals - one of them (which didn't have English) weighed a phenomenal 1/2 a kilo !!!!
Having removed excess packaging managed to get it down another 1/2 kilo....damn sight cheaper now less than a tenner apparently. Another lesson learnt.
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A parcel of two medium-size and one small book arrived here today from my son in England. Cost him nearly nine quid. I feel quite guilty.
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Time for a new Kindle, Mike?
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Nah...
I really, really like books - the whole is house is insulated with them. And they don't need re-charging.
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You need to watch the value of stuff sent from abroad as well.
IIRC customs aren't interested if its declared value's less than eighteen quid.
I received a parcel from NZ. The sender had declared the value at thirty quid. It cost me a good few more before I could receive it!
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The Autel OBD sensor I bought from HongKong was declared as a gift.. (UK price > £80) No duty.
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Some electronic items like lap-tops do not attract duty although they do attract VAT.
Useful list here:
tinyurl.com/hovo7
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>>
>> IIRC customs aren't interested if its declared value's less than eighteen quid.
>>
I read somewhere that the declared value cut-off is to be reduced to 15 quid!
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Cost 15.01 to send by airmail and re-packaged (chucking the 1/2 kilo foreign language manual helped no end). No mention of the customs declaration when I posted (which in retrospect is odd) - I had toyed with the idea of taking it myself and having a day out in Dublin, bearing in mind it's closer to here than Manchester...
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Hope you included the RAM mount. Dont want bad feedback do you :-))
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It's not fleabay - it's a far more gentlemanly site. He had his own mount !
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RP,
No customs declaration required on small packets to EU countries.
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Thanks FWG - a relief that !
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SWMBO's been shopping round for a 30-metre retractable garden hose contraption. Turns out that it's made in Birmingham. Costs a hundred quid in the NZ shops, but she's found it on Amazon for 87 quid including 4-day shipping from the UK..! It must weigh 10Kg so that's cheap postage I'd say! Pays to shop around as always.
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The same guy is interested in the Top Box off the bike now - I may gently discourage him, it would cost an arm and several legs to send !
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Not worth a trip across the water?
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Unfortunately, the public and small businesses are getting screwed big time by the various carriers. I ship everything DHL, but they know how to charge - Volume or weight, whichever is the greater, fuel surcharge, big city surcharge, call the customer for directions surcharge, even 'off the main drag' surcharge.
I buy quite a bit of stuff from RS in england. Spend more than £50 and it's free next day DHL to Sweden for under 30kg. If a private punter or small business wanted to send 30kg from England to Sweden it would cost an absolute fortune. I know RS aren't the cheapest supplier, but their profit on £50 isn't great, so they must be getting the shipping for pennies.
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...they must be getting the shipping for pennies...
A friend's wife works for one of the big shipping companies.
She's at the end of the distribution chain.
The work involves collecting a load of parcels from a local distribution depot and delivering each one to the recipient.
She's self-employed and gets something like 50p or a £1 parcel.
The work suits her, she enjoys driving and getting out and about, but I don't think anyone would do it just for the money.
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>>>Unfortunately, the public and small businesses are getting screwed big time by the various carriers
Not if you use a parcel agency like Interparcel. I can sent a 30kg package around 2ftx2ftx3ft for £7.50 to most of the UK with them. They collect from me, deliver next day, there are no surcharges and I can online track at home. I think that's a bargain.
Often it seems it's the businesses trying to uplift these prices that are attempting the ripoff... I've frequently had a company I'm buying from quote delivery of £30 for a similar package *because it's so heavy*.
Last edited by: Fenlander on Wed 12 Oct 11 at 08:52
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Unfortunately the 3 big carriers here, DHL, UPS, and Schenker have such a hold on the market that no agencies can geta foo in the door. They (the carriers) simply refuse to do business with them by charging such a high fee for collecting from an address other than the invoice address, that any savings gained from volume are lost in other areas. There is also very little competition between the big guys, as it's easier and more profitable just to keep the status quo.
The view on competition here is why reduce prices and markup, as the competition will do the same, and with the same limited 'pot' to draw from, all they're doing is reducing profit all round. Although, of course, the customer gains.
If you ask the pizza guy in town why he doesn't offer delivery, he'll tell you it will increase his costs. He may get a little more business, but then his competitor will also offer delivey, so his edge is lost. And unless there is a reasonable increase in the total number of pizzas sold, which is unlikely, all they're done is reduce their profits.
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Interesting Dave... is Sweden one big cartel across all business then?
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The costs of shipment are a significant feature of my business.
I use DHL all the time for business shipments and you have to be aware that they use a different factor to calculate volume to most of the normal airfreight shippers.
Most use L x W X H divided by 6000
DHL divide by 5000, it makes a significant difference to cost when you are shipping the amount which we do to the middle east but if the customer has a helicopter on the ground or a rig on shutdown , such cost extra is insignificant..
I also buy for business from RS . We spend between £50 to £100 K per year with them and I have visited and toured their HQ in Corby which is a very impressive , massive place, probably the largest warehouse I have ever been in and fully automated .
DHL have their own operation set up within the RS warehouse along with a couple of the othe large courier operations.
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Just to agree with Fenlander, parcel2go is another excellent option. £6.50 + VAT for 48 hour delivery by DHL. No specified pick up time.
I really resent buying things and being told that the shipping is £25 and being charged extra for heavier parcels.
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>> >> IIRC customs aren't interested if its declared value's less than eighteen quid.
>> >>
>> I read somewhere that the declared value cut-off is to be reduced to 15 quid!
>>
Spot on
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-jersey-15274208
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Weigh before you post ! - Mike Hannon
