Has anyone sold furniture on ebay and used a courier?

[AgonyBeetle]

I've done collection in person in the past which is fine, but looking through completed listings I can see that listings offering delivery, even if it costs £40+ go for much higher prices.

Any experience of how to use a courier to deliver items that are too bulky for the ordinary couriers like CollectPlus?

I once sold a car seat to someone in France and used a courier to get it there. It was a few years ago now so, I'm sorry, I can't remember who I used! I think it maybe was Hermes. However, just Google couriers and compare them. It really was straightforward, as long as you have the weight and dimensions of the item. You just have to package it and they come and collect it from you at an agreed time.

I'm thinking big pieces of furniture though, not something you can put in a cardboard box.

There are people selling massive great sideboards and welsh dressers etc - I'm guessing some of them are commercial sellers who have their own man with a van, but is there a straightforward courier option for private sellers that doesn't cost the earth?

I used AnyVan. Van owning sorts look for jobs that they can add to a load to make a journey worth while. I got a bed from Scotland to Newcastle for under £20.

Fabulous, thank you ! That sound like the kind of thing - I was assuming there must be a way of matching loads to partially-full vans, but had no idea where to start looking.

I've recommended in my listings that people who don't have transport use Shiply which acts as a reverse auction site, but will need cash paid prior to collection (to avoid people claiming item isn't as listed if damaged).

How does that work then, do people pay cash to Shiply? Otherwise how can they pay cash if they're not within a reasonable distance? Obv I don't want to get caught out by paypal scammers.