How to calculate postage cost for special delivery for an outfit

[lisbapalea]

Can anyone give me a clue how much I should charge to post a full Mother of the Bride outfit (jacket, skirt + camisole), special delivery? It's my Mum's an at her house, so I don't know how much it weighs!

Have been trying to find similar items on ebay but they're all sold as free postage. I definitely want to go for special delivery as I recently had my fingers burned sending something valuable in standard post.

Any clues?

why not use My Hermes instead - special delivery so much more expensive. It can't weigh more than 2kg?

I weigh all my stuff on my kitchen scales and they give me a pretty reliable guide of the weight - just don't forget to include your packaging

If you use Royal Mail Special Delivery - which guarantees delivery by 1.00pm the next day and is trackable on line the cost for a package weighing no more than 1kg with a value up to £500.00 will cost £8.45. If what you are sending weighs less than 1kg postage will be £7.15. and if your parcel weighs over 1kg but less than 2kg the cost goes up to £11.00.

Have you thought about listing post free and starting at a price which will cover you for a £10.00 postage cost.

FWIW I've used Royal Mail Special Delivery guaranteed by 1.00pm on several occasions for valuable items and it's been spot on every time.

Thanks both - this is really useful advice.

And if under 1kg it will only cost £2.98 with My Hermes.

Is Hermes next day delivery guaranteed do you know?

no - it takes about 3-4 days.

I like to send for next day delivery and use RM 1st class signed for. However I think I might use courier for bulkier or heavier items as RM prices get extortionate for those things. From 20th Oct RM are bringing a new size and weight allowance for small parcels to make it cheaper to send up to 2kg. It is a temporary thing til Jan.

And RM don't bother to get a signature on so many occasions too.

The bad stories about couriers have put me off though. I have only had one item go astray with RM and that was something I didn't send signed for which I did get compensation for from RM. I think I am just a creature of habit.

Couriers can be pretty cheap but it's sensible to keep in mind the downsides. I've just received this notification from Hermes - "Delivered - package posted in letterbox". The problem is that there's no way the medium-sized box of my parcel would fit through a letterbox and so I'm not convinced that that notification is of any value to me at all.