Anyone ever use M-bags for sending books home?

pcg2001

Hi,
I am a student and need to send to Portugal several books that I no longer use. I know there is a thning called M-Bag which is a bag used for shipping several books at the same time up to 11 kgs, and I would love to know if someone has ever used this option. I tried searching on the royal mail website and was unsucessful, but for example the german post has that: http://www.deutschepost.de/dpag?tab=1&skin=hi&check=yes&lang=de_EN&xmlFile=899
According to the deutsche post 11kgs (whihc I think is the limit in the UK) would cost 27.50 euro, about 18£. This seems fairly cheap...
There seems also to be a even cheaper option just for books...
Anyone got any clue? I would hate to go to my local post office with mere speculations... (they are not very nice there, nor helpful). Thanks.

pcg2001

Sorry to bump this, but in case someone searches M-Bag on this thread, they will come up with this unanswered question and I just wanted to share how I solved this problem.

By chance I recently read on Martin's weekly email about intermediaries for courier services and decided to try them out. These intermediaries sell left-over capacity from UPS and others at a very low price. Here is the discussion:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=639333

I used Pharos international to send up to 30 kgs box to Portugal for £25, including insurance. UPS collected it. This was a huge saving for the standard service. I used a double carton box which cost me £4, but I was not really shopping around for bargains or trying to get a bulk diso!!!!. You can always re-use boxes, but mine was damaged on transportation, so if it is very heavy extra precaution needs to be taken.

You kook the service with pharos, book the day, pay by credit card. The price is fixed up to 30 kgs. Unfortunately you cannot dispach suitcases, just boxes.

Ups comes to collect the box. They give you a form to fill. There you need to mention Pharos is paying. otherwise you pay full price.

Hope this helps someone.

lilysgarden

Never heard of M-bags I'm afraid! But I have been sending stuff to a friend in South Africa that she had to leave with me when she went home as she was so far over the weight allowance for her luggage! So I can tell you how I've found it cheaper although I've no idea if there's a cheaper way.

The first option is to send them in small packages that weigh 2kg or less each. Best this I found was to buy big padded envelopes and fill those up to the weight limit. If the package is a weird shape or size, or goes over 2kg, the price doubles straigh away. Most the staff in my post office have been really helpful though and warning me before I queue if the package is a weird enough shape for me to be charged the higher rate!

Second option, is to post it through the post office but ask for it to be sent by sea instead. This is at least half the price again! Problem is, it can take up to about 6-8 weeks for your package to arrive, and it isn't insured. Whichever you go for really depends on how fast you want it there and how worried you are that it'll get destroyed on the way!

Nikki xx