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Also try the courier discounting platforms such as World Options, Parcel2Go and Interparcel etc. These platforms offer multiple choice of all the well known couriers as well as some smaller lesser known operations and give you the opportunity of comparing prices on any given delivery at a discounted price and for small companies this means you can get rates similar to medium to large companies going direct to the big couriers.
Hope this helps.
Kind regards
Barbara
Hope this helps.
Kind regards
Barbara
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I have used numerous couriers so will detail my experiences to help you out.
MyHermes - my local courier is brilliant, messages me on facebook when I have a parcle el coming and will leave it safe when I'm out. Unfortunately, unless I parcelled my items in 700 layers of bubble wrap, over 50% of my parcels were damaged.
DPDLocal - Started out fantastic, next day delivery and collected from my home. Then they changed the cost/size ratio meaning that I would have pay triple to have my parcels collected. Luckily I could drop them off at Sainsburys where DPD would collect. I gave up with them after 2 occasions where it was over 3 weeks before they collected, even though I paid for a next day service.
DX - Tried them once but they won't collect a parcel unless I'm there to sign it over to them. This doesn't work for me as my workshop is in the garden so I couldn't see them arrive, and the guy who picked up had a small car that was packed to the rafters so I wasn't confident about damages.
Yodel - I fell out with them when my local courier went on holiday and his round wasn't covered. I had a fair few damages but have now worked out that as well as bubble wrap on my items, I also bubble wrap the box I put them in and put 'fragile' tape on.Touch wood, I haven't had a damaged item for a few months so will stick with them.
With reference to the cheap sites such as Parcel2Go, I found these so infuriating to deal with when something goes wrong. The live chat agents have no ability to do anything other than re-book a collection which you can do yourself. Yes they may be slightly cheaper but every time I send with Yodel, I get 10% off.
I think ultimately, it will come down to a combination of things but if I can offer one piece of advice - double the amount of bubble wrap that you think you will need, it costs pennies but could save pounds.
MyHermes - my local courier is brilliant, messages me on facebook when I have a parcle el coming and will leave it safe when I'm out. Unfortunately, unless I parcelled my items in 700 layers of bubble wrap, over 50% of my parcels were damaged.
DPDLocal - Started out fantastic, next day delivery and collected from my home. Then they changed the cost/size ratio meaning that I would have pay triple to have my parcels collected. Luckily I could drop them off at Sainsburys where DPD would collect. I gave up with them after 2 occasions where it was over 3 weeks before they collected, even though I paid for a next day service.
DX - Tried them once but they won't collect a parcel unless I'm there to sign it over to them. This doesn't work for me as my workshop is in the garden so I couldn't see them arrive, and the guy who picked up had a small car that was packed to the rafters so I wasn't confident about damages.
Yodel - I fell out with them when my local courier went on holiday and his round wasn't covered. I had a fair few damages but have now worked out that as well as bubble wrap on my items, I also bubble wrap the box I put them in and put 'fragile' tape on.Touch wood, I haven't had a damaged item for a few months so will stick with them.
With reference to the cheap sites such as Parcel2Go, I found these so infuriating to deal with when something goes wrong. The live chat agents have no ability to do anything other than re-book a collection which you can do yourself. Yes they may be slightly cheaper but every time I send with Yodel, I get 10% off.
I think ultimately, it will come down to a combination of things but if I can offer one piece of advice - double the amount of bubble wrap that you think you will need, it costs pennies but could save pounds.
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Good morning James .
There are a few things to take into consideration .
1) Is price at the end of the day they are all the same and do the same thing I don't feel one can out preform the other . They are all good at different things but not brilliant at anything .So your first thing should be the price if your freight is what we call normal
2) Accessibility to customer service If you have a problem you want them to get it sorted and you want to get in touch with a human APC offer the best customer service as you always go through to the local depot
3) Collection times Not everybody is concerned about this but should you negotiated a late collection time you can offer a later cut off time for your customers to order
4) ease of processing If you process a lot of consignments in the afternoon you want the booking and labelling system to be spot on I like UK mail for this .
5) You want the company to represent your business in a positive way UPS are untouchable They always look the part and their staff are well trained
6) International This is worth thinking about should your customers be overseas I recommend the obvious FEDEX !
Do not use the reseller or discounting platforms They are perfect for smaller senders with low output but you don't need a company that will not be able to sort out your problems because they have sub contracted to work to one of the big companies > if something goes missing they wont be able to find it as they wont even have it !
There are a few things to take into consideration .
1) Is price at the end of the day they are all the same and do the same thing I don't feel one can out preform the other . They are all good at different things but not brilliant at anything .So your first thing should be the price if your freight is what we call normal
2) Accessibility to customer service If you have a problem you want them to get it sorted and you want to get in touch with a human APC offer the best customer service as you always go through to the local depot
3) Collection times Not everybody is concerned about this but should you negotiated a late collection time you can offer a later cut off time for your customers to order
4) ease of processing If you process a lot of consignments in the afternoon you want the booking and labelling system to be spot on I like UK mail for this .
5) You want the company to represent your business in a positive way UPS are untouchable They always look the part and their staff are well trained
6) International This is worth thinking about should your customers be overseas I recommend the obvious FEDEX !
Do not use the reseller or discounting platforms They are perfect for smaller senders with low output but you don't need a company that will not be able to sort out your problems because they have sub contracted to work to one of the big companies > if something goes missing they wont be able to find it as they wont even have it !
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Which would then make my parcels larger and put them into the next pricing bracket with the courier and as I won’t put my prices up, this would just eat my profit.
I’ve ordered two lots of things from companies that use UK Mail, both have been lost! But I do agree that booking and labelling is spot on.
Sadly for me, I can’t justify the extra £5 to use UPS at the moment but I would if I could.
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Hello Scott
As harsh at it sounds I have come to the conclusion after a lifetime in this game that retailers must price their products accordingly . The money should simply be in the job to cover an effective delivery method .
If we take every complaint we read about the companies on all the review sites 99% of the time it is a result of cost cutting . The reality is in the country that every parcel being sent should be £1 more than what it is at the moment !
If I was in your position I would go for the cheapest deal with Hermes and try to suffer the odd problem because in my view they cant be that bad because the biggest retailers in the country would not use them if that was the case
I would also consider going back to Yodel There is no point in falling out over holiday cover this actually happens at every company .It just happened to you that week Again if price is the main factor just go with the deal of the month and if its Yodel then do that
It does not get any better than this Scott (sorry)
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you wont beed price and service on hermes to be honest,, thats a fact . the reason loads of major retailers use them .
if your sending bigger parcels use a broker, example InXpress . i used to send 10-15 beds/wardrobes/cabinets a day for over a year and the broker would search the dimensions and send with the cheapest at that time,, all off one screen . couldn't fault them . and you get a local rep to call to sort problems and damages etc . he also brokered my chinese imports,
if your sending bigger parcels use a broker, example InXpress . i used to send 10-15 beds/wardrobes/cabinets a day for over a year and the broker would search the dimensions and send with the cheapest at that time,, all off one screen . couldn't fault them . and you get a local rep to call to sort problems and damages etc . he also brokered my chinese imports,
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Hi James,
When you start a new business you have to bring something new to your customers, something that make you "step out from the crowd". This will make you "visible" on the market. My advice is to use your experience as a customer and analyse the things that you liked when receiving products that you have ordered, which courier company positively impressed you and what expectation do you have from a courier company.
Also it is a good thing to ask all your close friends about theirs experience because they represent your future clients, not "ad litteram" but as a starting base.
Of course the delivery price is important, but when you start a new business in a crowded sellers market, you have to invest more money in order to make money, this is a basic principle.
Regarding wrapping, you need to use something that is good enough for your products to arrive in good shape to your customers.
Good luck!
When you start a new business you have to bring something new to your customers, something that make you "step out from the crowd". This will make you "visible" on the market. My advice is to use your experience as a customer and analyse the things that you liked when receiving products that you have ordered, which courier company positively impressed you and what expectation do you have from a courier company.
Also it is a good thing to ask all your close friends about theirs experience because they represent your future clients, not "ad litteram" but as a starting base.
Of course the delivery price is important, but when you start a new business in a crowded sellers market, you have to invest more money in order to make money, this is a basic principle.
Regarding wrapping, you need to use something that is good enough for your products to arrive in good shape to your customers.
Good luck!
Upvote
0
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