Is Royal Mail standard parcel reliable?

[cluttered]

I have just sold an unopened set of Lego for £90 which is pretty close to the original price I paid for it. I asked for £10 P&P which covers Royal Mail standard parcel costs plus extra insurance to £100 but now I am having second thoughts about whether this is reliable. I routinely send my packages out second class recorded as small packages to protect myself under Paypal but the parcel's dimensions are too large for this.

Problem is I have to be at work all this week so can't wait in for a courier to collect it. But maybe if I have the extra compensation Royal Mail will take good care of it? Does anyone have any experience of just how much problem is it to claim from them if it gets lost or damaged, and how reliable do you think their non-recorded service is? Am I worrying unnecessarily?

Thanks for your advice!

it will be ok if you have a signature and are insured up to the value of the item- but otherwise wouldn't a cheap courier be better? could they not collect from work?

well in that case no don't use a service where you can't get a signature - you will have to make sure you are insured for £90. how about special delivery?

So I'm not being paranoid to think a buyer may claim it didn't arrive, especially since it means they get an expensive item for free?

I can't take it to work because I cycle and it's huge (length plus girth =2m). So I might contact buyer and ask for a few extra days so I can send by courier. Buyer hasn't paid yet anyhow so if they are late paying I might be able to wait until next week anyway as I have said I send within 3 working days. What is a good cheap courier and approximately how much would it cost for parcel weighing 4 kg with compensation to £100?

Thanks

Also, is there a cheap courier that will specify the time more precisely than between 8am and 8pm?

try parcel2go for a cheap price

or try here for multiple quotes

www.shiply.com/

Thanks fergoose, I will try this site once I have the exact postcode