Definition of "Mainland UK" please
- Thread starter GVL
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What about the Isle of Man, the Isle of Wight, the Isle of Lundy, ....? For sure, they are not part of Great Britain, because that's the name of an island within the British Isles. Does mainland equal Great Britain, or does it also include the islands off Great Britain (excluding Northern Ireland)?England, Scotland, Wales is the 'mainland' of the UK.
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Mainland means anywhere you can get to from say London without having to cross water (which puts the price of any kind of postage/shipping/courier up).
So NI is excluded, as are all islands including Isle of Wight etc.
I've fallen foul of this before in the case of NI which costs a lot more to ship to by any method except the Royal Mail.
So NI is excluded, as are all islands including Isle of Wight etc.
I've fallen foul of this before in the case of NI which costs a lot more to ship to by any method except the Royal Mail.
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I can assure you that the Isle of Wight is part of the UK Mainland for the post-office. Its the non-subsidised couriers that don't count it as mainland uk. If you ship with say UBS or TNT, certainly with an independent there maybe a surcharge to normal posting fees. With Royal mail and Parcel force the charges remain the same as anywhere else in the country.
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B
bigmouth241
Interesting thread! Been having quite a time with suppliers recently, wanting to charge £40 & up to deliver to NI - yet when I try their courier (DHL) I can get it next-day for £20 - hmmmm!!
Seriously considering sending my own couriers in to collect orders from GB Mainland suppliers (England, Scotland & Wales - as defined by Royal Snail)
Maybe we should all club together & start a consortium offering cheap courier rates to NI...
Seriously considering sending my own couriers in to collect orders from GB Mainland suppliers (England, Scotland & Wales - as defined by Royal Snail)
Maybe we should all club together & start a consortium offering cheap courier rates to NI...
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Understand the question as I've fallen foul of this often,
but once you get over yourself, there are deals to be had. What bugs me is the "FREE" delivery to the UK - which is obviously built into the price somewhere, but NI delivery is charged not as a fair reflection of the difference, but as a complete new charge!!
Today, I discovered I could get the same parcel moved from UK to NI for £16.50 rather than £22, if I used the local branch of that courier rather than my local branch??
Same van picking up, same van dropping off, but pay more if you buy it from one place not another?
Anyway, much will depend on the volume you're doing, or if you just have to pay it because its a one off.
Like everything in life, people pay different prices for most things based on different criteria,; cup of coffee at the roadside £0.50; cup of coffee at a premium franchise £4.75.
Isn't that life and business?
SO; do what you must do, get over it and get on with it!!
Regards
but once you get over yourself, there are deals to be had. What bugs me is the "FREE" delivery to the UK - which is obviously built into the price somewhere, but NI delivery is charged not as a fair reflection of the difference, but as a complete new charge!!
Today, I discovered I could get the same parcel moved from UK to NI for £16.50 rather than £22, if I used the local branch of that courier rather than my local branch??
Same van picking up, same van dropping off, but pay more if you buy it from one place not another?
Anyway, much will depend on the volume you're doing, or if you just have to pay it because its a one off.
Like everything in life, people pay different prices for most things based on different criteria,; cup of coffee at the roadside £0.50; cup of coffee at a premium franchise £4.75.
Isn't that life and business?
SO; do what you must do, get over it and get on with it!!
Regards
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I collect a lot of my own parcels, using Citylink. If I collect, by ordering via local branch, it can be up to half the price of my suppliers sending the same parcel out.
NI has always had this problem, and if possible, it is normally cheaper for us to send the courier in to collect than for the mainland supplier to send it out.
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You got me there on a technicality.
It shows that in the general consensus, when discussing UK and delivery, what is understood as Mainland UK is (most parts of) the island that comprises, England, Scotland and Wales. NI, Scottish Highlands, Channel Islands are the main exclusions to this.
Carriage is going to cost you more when shipping to or from there.
You can all come out of your bomb shelters now, the threat of war is removed.
Regards
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C
Charles Thomas
I agree with bigmouths idea, but my rationale is to avoid confusion where one business is paying £22 and another £16.50, Obviously , it would benefit all of NI to be paying the £16.50.
So how many would be willing to join together to help bridge what is the most expensive channel (per mile) in the world. I read somewhere it costs as much to send a case of wine from across the Irish Sea to here as it costs to ship from Chile to the largest geographical island in the British Isles.
Any takers for a co-operative?
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For info we run 3 different on line stores shipping out a pretty high volume of orders. During the life of the company we've swapped carriers a few times to drive the price down and to try and offer customer in NI, Highlands and Islands of Scotland and Channel Islands a fair deal on shipment.
For standard postal deliveries we don't charge a premium as the core cost to us is the same but where a courier service is requested or required (weight, guaranteed time delivery etc.) we levy a surcharge of £10 which is purely a reflection of the additional cost to us from ParcelForce for any service overwater or the what they define as the "Highlands and Islands".
Another impact on the customer (which I guess is understandable) is that for some regions the service is not "next day" but 48hrs. I wish is could be a flat rate for all as it would make our lives easier in terms of the customer offering
For standard postal deliveries we don't charge a premium as the core cost to us is the same but where a courier service is requested or required (weight, guaranteed time delivery etc.) we levy a surcharge of £10 which is purely a reflection of the additional cost to us from ParcelForce for any service overwater or the what they define as the "Highlands and Islands".
Another impact on the customer (which I guess is understandable) is that for some regions the service is not "next day" but 48hrs. I wish is could be a flat rate for all as it would make our lives easier in terms of the customer offering
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The mainland includes England Scotland and Wales although some couriers charge more for the highlands of scotland (which are normally very sparce and it can be a 10 mile drive along a single road to deliver one parcel which is obviously not cost effective that is why there are Highlands of Scotland surcharges.
All the scottish offshore islands and channel islands are more expensive because it costs carriers more sometimes a lot more to deliver there in terms of fuel/lorry on ship costs etc. This then is of course passed on as surcharges.
Royal Mail I believe don't charge anymore as they see the UK as the UK and thats it one price for all (it seems so anyway) especially as it was owned by the UK government before it became privatised and so they charge the service the same as anywhere else. Royal Mail are well known for this and make considerable losses in delivering parcels for nothing- perhaps why they're always: getting pay cuts, pension stopping, having strikes, government bailouts etc
All the scottish offshore islands and channel islands are more expensive because it costs carriers more sometimes a lot more to deliver there in terms of fuel/lorry on ship costs etc. This then is of course passed on as surcharges.
Royal Mail I believe don't charge anymore as they see the UK as the UK and thats it one price for all (it seems so anyway) especially as it was owned by the UK government before it became privatised and so they charge the service the same as anywhere else. Royal Mail are well known for this and make considerable losses in delivering parcels for nothing- perhaps why they're always: getting pay cuts, pension stopping, having strikes, government bailouts etc
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I agree!
Fed up of extortionate postal costs to NI. TNT are one of my enemies.
Also for me I consider "Mainland" to be a large bit of land. If a ship was in distress near Northern Irish waters it would ask for help from the mainland
I think its only fair that we should be returned the favour. Especially if that ship in distress was carrying haulage.
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Hi,
I stumbled across this thread while I was searching for help on this very topic. It's gone a bit stale but I feel compelled to respond...
Here's an unescapable fact: the British passport clearly states that the United Kingdom is: "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".
It's right on the front of the passport.
Therefore, to exclude Northern Ireland from the definition of Mainland UK is a nonsense! The UK is not part of Mainland Europe - Europe still exists if you discount the UK. However, the UK ceases to exist if you discount Northern Ireland.
What retailers and couriers probably really mean is "mainland Great Britain".
Since it's a simple change to swap "UK" to "GB" when displaying delivery costs to the "mainland", how about we start a campaign to have this done on all UK web sites that currently have it wrong??
Who's with me?
R
I stumbled across this thread while I was searching for help on this very topic. It's gone a bit stale but I feel compelled to respond...
Here's an unescapable fact: the British passport clearly states that the United Kingdom is: "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".
It's right on the front of the passport.
Therefore, to exclude Northern Ireland from the definition of Mainland UK is a nonsense! The UK is not part of Mainland Europe - Europe still exists if you discount the UK. However, the UK ceases to exist if you discount Northern Ireland.
What retailers and couriers probably really mean is "mainland Great Britain".
Since it's a simple change to swap "UK" to "GB" when displaying delivery costs to the "mainland", how about we start a campaign to have this done on all UK web sites that currently have it wrong??
Who's with me?
R
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In NI, we refer to the rest of the UK as "The Mainland." What amazes me is the sheer amount of English people who don't know that Belfast is in the UK. Is the geography of your own country actually taught? No offense, but it's not until you spell out the name of the country on the passport that a light bulb switches on somewhere.
It is simply a scam to charge such an extortionate amount of money for a tiny stretch of water. London to Liverpool is the same price why not Stranraer to Belfast? Perhaps one day they will build that land bridge across the water.
It is simply a scam to charge such an extortionate amount of money for a tiny stretch of water. London to Liverpool is the same price why not Stranraer to Belfast? Perhaps one day they will build that land bridge across the water.
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D
Deleted member 89739
Like some others perhaps I found this forum after puzzling over the whole mainland issue too and wanting to be sure before I won a high priced Ebay item.
But the point I did want to throw into the mix was to tell how a few years ago, I went to order a particular calligraphy pen from a supplier in England (I live in Belfast) at a cost of £4.25 and nearly fell off my chair when I got to the checkout to discover they were applying a £25 charge to deliver it to me!!!! Needless to say, I dropped the item rather rapidly and went off to Ebay where I got it for an even lower price and a sensible Royal Mail postage. When I enquired of the previous supplier could they not do this, they said no, that all their mail went via courier so I can only assume I hit the wrong type of business to look for the item (but it was particularly hard to find at that time) as they presumably didn't deal in small orders too often.
It was a huge wakeup call and I also got so angry about it that I made a lot of calls to many sources to enquire if there was no way of overcoming it, but it appeared not. It just frustrates me that it's allowable really for companies to charge a flat fee regardless of the weight of the items ordered - just makes them a ton of profit I would imagine many times.
Anyway - appreciate the opportunity to vent - all I wanted to do LOL!
PS - Bode - FULLY agree with you as I've continually had to state that fact to numerous English suppliers myself - ridiculous really given the Troubles but perhaps some think that Tony Blair really did sell us out to the IRA
But the point I did want to throw into the mix was to tell how a few years ago, I went to order a particular calligraphy pen from a supplier in England (I live in Belfast) at a cost of £4.25 and nearly fell off my chair when I got to the checkout to discover they were applying a £25 charge to deliver it to me!!!! Needless to say, I dropped the item rather rapidly and went off to Ebay where I got it for an even lower price and a sensible Royal Mail postage. When I enquired of the previous supplier could they not do this, they said no, that all their mail went via courier so I can only assume I hit the wrong type of business to look for the item (but it was particularly hard to find at that time) as they presumably didn't deal in small orders too often.
It was a huge wakeup call and I also got so angry about it that I made a lot of calls to many sources to enquire if there was no way of overcoming it, but it appeared not. It just frustrates me that it's allowable really for companies to charge a flat fee regardless of the weight of the items ordered - just makes them a ton of profit I would imagine many times.
Anyway - appreciate the opportunity to vent - all I wanted to do LOL!
PS - Bode - FULLY agree with you as I've continually had to state that fact to numerous English suppliers myself - ridiculous really given the Troubles but perhaps some think that Tony Blair really did sell us out to the IRA
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M
matt.chatterley
I'm pretty sure they do.
Although the Channel Islands are NOT part of the UK (we are part of GB though), we often run into extra postage charges, etc for not being part of the "Mainland".
It's England, Wales, Scotland - as you said - excluding some of the outer reaches of the latter, and is generally a designation used in delivery/postal terms.
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The cost of shipping goods across the North channel is a pain, but are there inexpensive ways of doing it?
I have often thought of buying a wholesale lot from ebay, but the extra costs of getting it shipped across from GB has put me off. Does anybody have any ideas as to how it can be done cheaply?
Also has anybody ever had the idea of offering a service say of delivering Belfast to London twice a week in a lorry or van?
I have often thought of buying a wholesale lot from ebay, but the extra costs of getting it shipped across from GB has put me off. Does anybody have any ideas as to how it can be done cheaply?
Also has anybody ever had the idea of offering a service say of delivering Belfast to London twice a week in a lorry or van?
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Myhermes is hard to beat if your delivery isn't urgent.
Flat Rate, and currently no difference to or from NI.
Post Office/Royal Mail also doesn't seem to make a difference between the one (albeit it large) island and the associated political territory of the other. (No Political statement intended !!)
Most courier companies when moving an item FROM mainland quote ridiculous charges. Shop around, get it collected by your choice of courier and pay half your initial quoted rate
[half -for the purposes of this document means - often a lot less, not necessarily 50%, divided by 2, 1/2 or half ]
Flat Rate, and currently no difference to or from NI.
Post Office/Royal Mail also doesn't seem to make a difference between the one (albeit it large) island and the associated political territory of the other. (No Political statement intended !!)
Most courier companies when moving an item FROM mainland quote ridiculous charges. Shop around, get it collected by your choice of courier and pay half your initial quoted rate
[half -for the purposes of this document means - often a lot less, not necessarily 50%, divided by 2, 1/2 or half
]
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