Are postage brokers always the cheapest?

[Richpoole]

Hi,

I'm sure most of you are aware of parcel comparison websites. Now I'm curious if they always give you the best price.

I am doing some calculations here and I've basically just been using their quotes as gospel, however I will hopefully be sending out many parcels (and getting them back,but I'm assuming it costs the same either way), thus I was curious about how I'd be able to work out bulk postage costs, if those websites don't give me the best picture.

Thanks

 

[StevensOnln1]

If you're sending sufficient volume you'll be able to get better prices by opening an account directly with one of the carriers.

 

[Richpoole]

If you're sending sufficient volume you'll be able to get better prices by opening an account directly with one of the carriers.

Thanks. I thought that might be the case, but

How much is "enough"?
What sort of rates ought I expect ?

I need to get a general answer these questions , but I'm unsure how

 

[Bill1954]

Contact several couriers and tell them your expected amount of parcels per month both in and out, they will only be too happy to give you a quote.

 

[Parcelhub]

Completely depends on your volumes. Some 'brokers' specialise in ad-hoc shipments, whereas others specialise in high volume despatches from a single location.

 

[bharris]

When i have tried using the parcel comparison sites i have always found it cheaper to go direct with the proposed courier. Also its not just price you need to have a level of service that is acceptable e.g. delays, lost and damaged parcels and also how easy it is to sort out an issue when something happens. From bitter experience after trying a lot of the main courier companies the only one i had problems (6 out of 10 parcels) was ipostparcels/UKMail and trying to resolve them is a complete nightmare. So its not just price (i now use Interlink Express who have pretty much matched UKMail's prices with no problems at all).
When trying to get a price from the courier companies be optimistic without going crazy in your volumes.
I cant really comment on any other couriers customer service as all the other companies had no issues.

Also look at the destinations of your parcels as Scotland, Northern Ireland etc. can have a huge price increase. They also have a fuel surcharge and some a Admin fee.

As Parcelhub said above some require a daily collection and others you can just call when you need a courier collection. The daily collection couriers tend to charge if they turn up and you do not have a parcel (sometimes more than the price of sending a parcel) so be careful when comparing

Good luck

 

[Richpoole]

Hello
Thanks for the advice. I thought I'd have to end up ringing around but I thought I'd ask just in case there was an easier way to work this out.

Thanks again.