Hermes or Royal Mail

powertron

What's the general consensus on here of the two services.

Pricewise:

Hermes cost me £2.79
Royal Mail cost me £2.95

At the moment I use Royal Mail but seriously considering switching all my parcels to Hermes.

Problem with Hermes, no local branch collection which might prove to be an issue if the buyer is never at home.

emmbrook

I've personally always found Hermes fine on the occasions I use them and our local delivery driver is great. As with all companies I guess the issue is more how good they are when things go wrong. I'm sure you will get many stories, but question is whether Royal Mail are any better.

You could get your Royal Mail price down by about 20 - 30% by buying bulk stamps from a dealer on eBay. Like here: https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/100-pounds-face-value-of-stamps-unused/232796450276?hash=item3633bfede4:g:QgcAAOSwiCRUfKdB

Browntoa

I always use Hermes , one parcel stolen in Deptford (whole van as it goes) all others delivered no issues .

Refund easily received for stolen one.

Also easy to email buyers with return slip if needed

LadyDee

Never had a problem with either, but prefer Hermes due to the convenience of collection, and queues in the PO - especially since they've moved into WHSmiths which is totally inconvenient. Car journey, parking charges, only to queue up for 15 mins while they faff around, just to post a small parcel.

custardy

Reality is both have plus/minuses and from the buyers point of view its down to the local service standards of both carriers.

mrcol1000

My Hermes. Apart from the odd hiccup you can see where it is and make a guess of when it will be delivered. Since moving over everything but large letters to My Hermes, I rarely get a INR claim and when I do it is won or My Hermes compensate me. Far better than the black hole that Royal Mail items fall into with the odd occasional signal of where it might be but fingers crossed it will reemerge eventually.

Not having an alternative collection point is a potential problem but most of their couriers know where to leave the parcel and in 2018 most people can deal with a courier leaving a parcel somewhere or with someone if they are not in.

kangoora

I use Hermes for small parcels under £20 value with no extra paid for POD = £2.79.

I also use hermes for small parcels up to circa £30 with POD = £3.59

But..... I use Royal Mail Signed For small parcels circa £30 - £50 value because they are insured for up to £50 as standard.

I can't remember the exact cut-off but it's around £30 value where the cost of the Hermes extra insurance (they only insure up to £25 value as standard) makes sending a small parcel with them cost more than the £3.85 charged by RM.

Easy decision for me though, my local post office is in the shop next door to my local Hermes drop-off shop. It might be different if it was a few miles between them.

Ms_Chocaholic

I predominantly use Hermes for my parcels and I have had no problems and they are delivered promptly.

zerog

I use RM as I buy old stamps (genuinely unused, not stuff that was used and peeled off!!) on ebay / car boot sales etc for around 20% off so your £2.95 becomes £2.36

Also with the last Amex/Post Office offer I stocked up on hundreds of stamps at 50% off