Courier/man & van for mattress: B'ham - Cambridge

emcwill

Hi there, I've just bought a kingsize mattress on eBay (200cm x 150cm x 21cm) but it's in Birmingham and I'm in Cambridge. The OH has a bad back and with little ones to deal with I don't want to hire a van myself. I've tried removals firms but even those that say things like 'small removals', 'single item no problem' etc in their ads all make 'ooooh, not my my while going all that way for one item', or 'have to charge same as a normal house move so you'd be looking at £300' type noises.

I got one quote from a guy in Bedford for £75, which I thought excellent but then he realised his van was too small.

The next best so far is £115 but surely I could get someone to do it for less. Ideally I suppose I need someone who wants something shifted from Cambridge to Birmingham to split the cost with!

Anyone any recommendations I'd be really grateful :beer:

Thanks!

Savvy_Sue

Could be worth seeing if there is a 'proper' removals firm who are doing a removal from C to B, who would be willing to bring it back from B to C. At this time of year I'd have thought there might be quite a few relocations (end of the academic year) although it depends how soon your seller wants it gone!

Having said that, you might find that £115 is the best you can do.

Tim_Deegan

Just one question. Why did you buy a mattress from someone who doesn't deliver??

emcwill

Tim_Deegan wrote: »

Just one question. Why did you buy a mattress from someone who doesn't deliver??

Because I bought it 2nd hand on eBay and I don't blame them: if I were flogging a mattress I'd want the buyer to sort collection out too!

Anyway, I have since followed the advice in the courier cost-cutting article and found someone on eBay who'll do it for £35-40. Bargain! :j

Tim_Deegan

emcwill wrote: »

Because I bought it 2nd hand on eBay and I don't blame them: if I were flogging a mattress I'd want the buyer to sort collection out too!

Anyway, I have since followed the advice in the courier cost-cutting article and found someone on eBay who'll do it for £35-40. Bargain! :j

Who is it that you are going to try?

emcwill

It's a chap called Steven Blaydon.

Tim_Deegan

emcwill wrote: »

It's a chap called Steven Blaydon.

I presume he is a man with a van?

Has he actually given you a quote yet?

The reason I ask is because we charge £35 to deliver our own king size mattresses, and don't make any profit on that.

Biggles

I can only echo the question, "Why??".

You'd have done better to buy one locally and pay more for it. You will probably even find one on Freecycle.

Is it too late to call the sale off?

emmy05

ive seen lots of these items pass through my freecycling groups .......

emcwill

Biggles wrote: »

I can only echo the question, "Why??".

You'd have done better to buy one locally and pay more for it. You will probably even find one on Freecycle.

Is it too late to call the sale off?

No way I'm calling the sale off!

I think I've done amazingly well to get a mattress worth £300-400 (Silentnight Miracoil luxury ortho) that's had only a fortnight of use because one partner didn't like it (and I know we will because we've slept on ones like this before) for £52.55. There was nothing coming up like this locally and to buy new I would have had to pay a lot more for it. We were given a kingsize bed frame free from a friend who was moving so even factoring in the £35-£40 collection charge, I'm getting a whole bed with nearly-new mattress for under £100. What's not to like?! (Especially given that the OH who suffers from a bad back and I are currently squeezed into a double with a rubbish mattress we bought 12 years ago!

These things may come up on Freecycle if you wait long enough but my OH has spent the last week with severe back pain and needs a suppportive mattress, and we're struggling to store the headboard for the new bed and didn't want to shell out a few hundred right now.

The reason this guy is so cheap is that he does a lot of journeys doing this kind of work around the Midlands and East Anglia so he doesn't need to charge me for the entire return journey as he'll combine it with other collection/delivery jobs.

I'll report back if I have any problems as it's good to be able to recommend people to the MSE community or else warn off the cowboys, but so far I'm really pleased with the deal all round.

Tim_Deegan

emcwill wrote: »

No way I'm calling the sale off!

I think I've done amazingly well to get a mattress worth £300-400 (Silentnight Miracoil luxury ortho) that's had only a fortnight of use because one partner didn't like it (and I know we will because we've slept on ones like this before) for £52.55. There was nothing coming up like this locally and to buy new I would have had to pay a lot more for it. We were given a kingsize bed frame free from a friend who was moving so even factoring in the £35-£40 collection charge, I'm getting a whole bed with nearly-new mattress for under £100. What's not to like?! (Especially given that the OH who suffers from a bad back and I are currently squeezed into a double with a rubbish mattress we bought 12 years ago!

These things may come up on Freecycle if you wait long enough but my OH has spent the last week with severe back pain and needs a suppportive mattress, and we're struggling to store the headboard for the new bed and didn't want to shell out a few hundred right now.

The reason this guy is so cheap is that he does a lot of journeys doing this kind of work around the Midlands and East Anglia so he doesn't need to charge me for the entire return journey as he'll combine it with other collection/delivery jobs.

I'll report back if I have any problems as it's good to be able to recommend people to the MSE community or else warn off the cowboys, but so far I'm really pleased with the deal all round.

It sounds like you have done really well on the delivery price then. However, don't expect the mattress to last anywhere near as long as the last one. i personally wouldn't pay £100 for it, but if it lasts a year, then it's probably worth it.