I notice quite a few comments about items being 'too far away', generally because the courier cost is expected to make the purchase price too high, for that particular buyer.
Amusingly (my view) I sometimes get a feel of the potential buyer hinting that a seller contribution to the courier cost might encourage the purchase. I suppose no harm in trying, but in my view the cost of collection is really down to the purchaser.
Anyway, I spotted a blog entry which highlighted two points, that for medium weight parcels Parcel Force were not expensive, AND that they could amalgamate separate parcels into a Consignment, reducing the overall cost.
Written by a Blogger living in Sheffield; the Newhaven mentioned is on the south cost, slightly East of Brighton. I have edited the post slightly to obscure personal details, while maintaining the writers original point, that Post Office Parcel Post does have a satisfactory role to play in our lives.
August 2022.
Sending a letter feels really expensive these days, at 95p for first class and 68p for second (it's so long since I've bought stamps that I had to look that up).
Sending a parcel, on the other hand, feels like stunningly good value.
I've been to and from Newhaven a few times this year, and am delighted to be travelling by train again rather than by car. For me, it's far less hassle and less stress (yes, things can still go wrong occasionally, but at least it's someone else's job to sort it out). It's even considerably cheaper these days. The only downside is that I can't bring so much stuff with me.
Last time I was down, in early June, I went on a charity shop rampage, and then went and bought some fabric too. No way could I carry all that back on the train, so I parcelled it up and posted it to myself - and it was there waiting for me when I got back.
This time, I had my Volvo lights - which had already each made its respective journey by post - to bring back to Sheffield.
I also had something considerably heavier.
The entire engine hand-start mechanism on the narrow-boat, weighing in at nearly 15 kg.
For reasons I can't recall, this ended up back in Newhaven after we took it off in 2010 to replace the shaft and bearings for the cooling fan, and never put it back on (I only found one person who could actually hand start the engine anyway). I now need to get it back to Sheffield.
We discussed whether it was worth Jim driving it up, but clearly that would be a very expensive hassle. Could we possibly post it? The Royal Mail website says that a medium (not even a large!) parcel can weight up to 20 kg, and its blue plastic box certainly came in under the maximum dimensions. So I packed it all up carefully, and parcelled it up in heavy duty polythene and gaffer tape so it looked like a proper parcel ...
Then we wondered how to get it to the post office, a ten minute walk away. A wheelbarrow was considered until Jim had a lightning-bolt moment and realised we could take it by car, as the town centre car park is right by the Post Office.
I still had a sneaking feeling that surely this couldn't be possible and we'd be told to take it away again, but the young woman behind the counter (there wasn't even a queue!) couldn't have been more cheerful and helpful. I had the two parcels with the lights as well, and she said that as they were all going to the same address, they could go as 'a consignment' for £11.95 the lot. Just leave them with her ...
When I got back to Sheffield yesterday they were all waiting for me.
250 miles in 48 hours for under 12 quid. I call that terrific value.
One of my less favourite activities is queuing in a Post Office, so I also think it's utterly brilliant that when I'm sending a parcel I can weigh it, pay for the postage online, and the postman will collect the parcel from my house!
Blog entry Ends.
I hope this is of interest and use to some people.
Regards.
Author
Topic: Post Office Parcel Force (Read 500 times)
