Cheap Parcel Delivery - official discussion

Mateylott39 · 22 May 2020 at 10:52AM

Have used Hermes for years but recently my regular guy retired and now collection is ver erratic

wookie6 · 2 June 2020 at 10:51PM

I've narrowed it down to parcel2go (cheapest), interparcel (mid priced) and senditnow (highest priced) that all have the ParcelForce Euro Priority service quoted (only service I can use as I have no printer available at the moment), however I can't decide which to go with (all have enough bad reviews to make you worry).

Who would you go with out of the 3 above?

soolin · 3 June 2020 at 8:47AM

wookie6 said:

I've narrowed it down to parcel2go (cheapest), interparcel (mid priced) and senditnow (highest priced) that all have the ParcelForce Euro Priority service quoted (only service I can use as I have no printer available at the moment), however I can't decide which to go with (all have enough bad reviews to make you worry).

Who would you go with out of the 3 above?

Just make sure you read the terms and conditions of these brokers as if there is a problem you will have to deal with them and not the courier you use. Many brokers also have restrictions on goods being carried that do not match the couriers own website as well, so check the restrictions before you buy.

Fellwalker · 11 June 2020 at 12:28PM

Just found out that eBay delivery services have ALL been increased from 9 June 2020. Significant price hike in the 1-2kg range. For example Hermes drop-off was £2.85 up to 2kg "small". It is now £2.90 up to 1kg, and £4.36 for 1-2kg.
That is a HUGE hit. I have not had any advice from eBay, but luckily a friend who is new to this looked at prices and rang me.
To cover the eBay and PayPal fees you have to calculate a postage cost that allows for 10% + 2.9%, so with packaging, at least an extra 15%! Either that goes in the item price, or as a real postage charge of £5!
Using Parcel2Go, my long time alternative, it is slightly cheaper at £2.80 for 0-1kg and £4.20 for 1-2k. Yet eBay claim they are working for their sellers, and have the gall to have a help page entitled "Why are eBay Delivery rates so cheap?".
I had thought that Parcel delivery companies were doing well as more people were buying on line and not through the high street.

soolin · 11 June 2020 at 12:32PM

Fellwalker said:

Just found out that eBay delivery services have ALL been increased from 9 June 2020. Significant price hike in the 1-2kg range. For example Hermes drop-off was £2.85 up to 2kg "small". It is now £2.90 up to 1kg, and £4.36 for 1-2kg.
That is a HUGE hit. I have not had any advice from eBay, but luckily a friend who is new to this looked at prices and rang me.
To cover the eBay and PayPal fees you have to calculate a postage cost that allows for 10% + 2.9%, so with packaging, at least an extra 15%! Either that goes in the item price, or as a real postage charge of £5!
Using Parcel2Go, my long time alternative, it is slightly cheaper at £2.80 for 0-1kg and £4.20 for 1-2k. Yet eBay claim they are working for their sellers, and have the gall to have a help page entitled "Why are eBay Delivery rates so cheap?".
I had thought that Parcel delivery companies were doing well as more people were buying on line and not through the high street.

I’ve never found the eBay prices to be particularly competitive, every now and then there will be a great bargain, but it is often short lived. I’m surprised that MyHermes have pulled away so far from RM pricing, a small parcel with RM 2nd class is still only £3.

Fellwalker · 11 June 2020 at 5:59PM

soolin said:

Fellwalker said:

Just found out that eBay delivery services have ALL been increased from 9 June 2020. Significant price hike in the 1-2kg range. For example Hermes drop-off was £2.85 up to 2kg "small". It is now £2.90 up to 1kg, and £4.36 for 1-2kg.
That is a HUGE hit. I have not had any advice from eBay, but luckily a friend who is new to this looked at prices and rang me.
To cover the eBay and PayPal fees you have to calculate a postage cost that allows for 10% + 2.9%, so with packaging, at least an extra 15%! Either that goes in the item price, or as a real postage charge of £5!
Using Parcel2Go, my long time alternative, it is slightly cheaper at £2.80 for 0-1kg and £4.20 for 1-2k. Yet eBay claim they are working for their sellers, and have the gall to have a help page entitled "Why are eBay Delivery rates so cheap?".
I had thought that Parcel delivery companies were doing well as more people were buying on line and not through the high street.

I’ve never found the eBay prices to be particularly competitive, every now and then there will be a great bargain, but it is often short lived. I’m surprised that MyHermes have pulled away so far from RM pricing, a small parcel with RM 2nd class is still only £3.

eBay prices have been reasonable, and far easier than linking to another site and importing data. RM is difficult to get to to drop off - and that £2.95 price is not covered by the ebay refund policy, and my experience is that if they go missing, forget it. Signed for is £3.95, and even then it only gets recorded on delivery so if it doesn't get delivered, they have no way of finding where it is.
Today, got this email from Parcel2Go:-

"As a previous Hermes customer, we wanted to let you know that as of today, Hermes are no longer offering their Small and Medium parcel delivery services.
They are still offering weight-based pricing services, including Hermes Postable for smaller items, which are all available on the Parcel2Go website.
The services have been removed from our website today. Any existing orders already placed will be processed as normal."

soolin · 11 June 2020 at 6:33PM

Fellwalker said:

soolin said:

Fellwalker said:

Just found out that eBay delivery services have ALL been increased from 9 June 2020. Significant price hike in the 1-2kg range. For example Hermes drop-off was £2.85 up to 2kg "small". It is now £2.90 up to 1kg, and £4.36 for 1-2kg.
That is a HUGE hit. I have not had any advice from eBay, but luckily a friend who is new to this looked at prices and rang me.
To cover the eBay and PayPal fees you have to calculate a postage cost that allows for 10% + 2.9%, so with packaging, at least an extra 15%! Either that goes in the item price, or as a real postage charge of £5!
Using Parcel2Go, my long time alternative, it is slightly cheaper at £2.80 for 0-1kg and £4.20 for 1-2k. Yet eBay claim they are working for their sellers, and have the gall to have a help page entitled "Why are eBay Delivery rates so cheap?".
I had thought that Parcel delivery companies were doing well as more people were buying on line and not through the high street.

I’ve never found the eBay prices to be particularly competitive, every now and then there will be a great bargain, but it is often short lived. I’m surprised that MyHermes have pulled away so far from RM pricing, a small parcel with RM 2nd class is still only £3.

eBay prices have been reasonable, and far easier than linking to another site and importing data. RM is difficult to get to to drop off - and that £2.95 price is not covered by the ebay refund policy, and my experience is that if they go missing, forget it. Signed for is £3.95, and even then it only gets recorded on delivery so if it doesn't get delivered, they have no way of finding where it is.
Today, got this email from Parcel2Go:-
"As a previous Hermes customer, we wanted to let you know that as of today, Hermes are no longer offering their Small and Medium parcel delivery services.
They are still offering weight-based pricing services, including Hermes Postable for smaller items, which are all available on the Parcel2Go website.
The services have been removed from our website today. Any existing orders already placed will be processed as normal."

RM have basically the same compensation rules as MyHermes and in fact are usually easier to deal with. If you looking for protection then all that matters is proof of delivery, so it is rarely worth paying extra for tracking unless item goes over £20 and you need more insured cover. Even MyHermes charge more for insured cover after the £20 limit.

Dalkirst · 14 July 2020 at 3:09PM

How you can recommend ParcelHero is beyond me. I started to use them as you gave the code and recommended them but i've had 4 failed pick-up's from Parcelforce booked through these people.UPS have been great they turn up on time early but parcelforce

gaffer32 · 2 December 2020 at 11:20AM

Re: latest article on parcel delivery. As a business user I found Interparcel the most useful company to use for larger parcels. They compare all the major couriers and you choose the most appropriate. Luckily we have local drop off points for several including UPS, DHL and Hermes which saves money. More recently selling on Ebay I use either RM via Ebay or Ebay Paclink (usually Hermes). This provides more tracking information and so far I have had no lost, delayed or damaged parcels. Obviously due to the volume handled there will always be instances of problems and vociferous complaints, but how many satisfied customers voice their satisfaction?