can anyone recommend some couriers?

[whatinthewhatnow]

Hi, I have an item listed which is heavy so I put it for collection only, and someone has emailed to say that they are desperate for it and how much would it be to courier it to them? Can anyone recommend a courier company? It needs to go from North London to Leicestershire. Thanks!

None of them, quite honestly.
How heavy is it, what dimensions would it measure & weigh all packaged up?

I use Parcel2Go and ParcelMonkey. I usually select UPS or Citilink when I get the quote as they are well known couriers.

I have only used Parcelmonkey once as they were the cheapest for an International courier. The item got damaged on route, it took a few days, and a couple of emails but they did refund me in full. Sorry I made that sound lengthy, it took them a few days to investigate which I think is fair, and then paid up. The whole customer services thing was very good, so I am trying them again today - just waiting for a pickup.

I have used Collect+ quite a bit. I only seem to have issues if they are delivering to Southampton or Bournemouth area! But they do take a while and they have a very small max box size.

I understand lljkk's comment - but Royal mail are just as bad. Package it twice as well as you think it needs. Put it in a box if possible. Protect corners as these seem to take the most hits.

In my experience (and no one else ever mentions this, but it's consistent for me, sigh):
You can go get a quote now with Parcelmonkey etc, but it doesn't mean a monkey's, won't be the same price when you go to book. Very annoying!! Have to add minimum £3 to supposed lowest price to be sure to cover your costs. And check carefully packaging, insurance and dimensions allowed with each courier, that you can meet those T+C.

Luckily the price you pay for the courier doesn't usually go on the box label, so at least the buyer can't mark you down if you overcharge by a mahoosive £1.

Also only quote a price to the Leics buyer, don't put it on the page, because you may not get same price to anywhere else, either.

So I would seriously look at someone like CollectPlus or Good Ol' Parcelforce, because they are more consistent in pricing.

Thanks so much everyone. It's 2040g and 29 x 30 x 55 cm.

Crikey that's not truly heavy or big. But dims too big for Collectplus.
£8-something with RM Parcels (their standard charge for 2-4kg).

You'll have to try Parcelmonkey etc. to see what others can do. It's like entering the lottery...
How much do you need it insured for?

Parcel Monkey says cheapest for me would be Citilink: £7.49 + VAT, or £8.99 with VAT.
So surprise surprise! Royal Mail would be cheaper. And more convenient.
Do your weight+dimension numbers include all packaging?

Do RM Parcels get a signature? I thought they didn't so I have just gone with the citilink one as I can increase the insurance - I got the above quote for a 6kg box with slightly bigger dimensions.

Lovely van driver had just collected.

RM is also much slower than courier companies tend to be.

my hermes would be about £6, I am a business seller mostly ceramics, I use cheapest couriers hermes yodel and collect+ all the time, most things are damaged as inadequately packed, if you let it fall from your arms ie about 1m off florr it should survive if it does not you have not used enough packaging. not saying it should withstand kicking throwing but it should be packed well enough to withstand falling of table onto hard floor or out of arms onto pavement

royal mail parcels will be £8.80 exactly for that weight and size

no signature with RM parcels