How much to charge for delivering a large item?

[Westwiththesun]

I’m selling a large and expensive object. The person who is asking about it atm wants me to deliver it, and they are a 500 mile round trip away from me. I would need to use my big car and trailer to get the item to the potential buyer, and that only does about 20mpg when towing. Assuming the buyer pays me up front (I’m not too keen on the idea of a 500 mile journey only for them to either be scammers or to ‘change their mind’ when I get there) how much would be a reasonable rate to ask for delivery costs? It will cost me about £160 in fuel alone before thinking about wear and tear on the car.

When they asked you to deliver, are you sure they didn't mean send it by courier?

I can’t say what it is without being outing, but it can only be delivered by towing it behind the car. They very specifically asked me if I would tow it to them.

Although I’d be happy to send it by courier if you have a suggestion. It weighs just over a tonne.

Oh I see! That is heavy. I work for a Furniture company and we courier emperor size beds, but they don't weigh that much!

So a minimum of £160 and then how much is your time worth to you. Is it an expensive item that's difficult to see or could you shift it easily enough to somewhere more local?

If it's a difficult sell then I'd more than like just want my actual costs covered and my time and effort would come for free as I want the item sold and gone.

How did you get it home when you bought it? I don't think I'd drive all that way in case they changed their mind.

I towed it home, but I bought it from much closer to home. It was hard to find exactly what I wanted when I bought it, I’d have been prepared to travel myself to buy it. So finding a buyer I would expect them to be keen to collect it themselves, as they are very scarce.

Can they collect it but just don't want to? I mean, do they have to be able to tow it themselves to use it? If so I wouldn't do it, they can collect.

A friend in Essex has just sold his boat and trailer to someone in Wales. It could have been towed on the trailer but the purchaser didn't want to tow it that far (he drove to Essex to look at it before buying) and arranged for a specialist haulage firm to collect and deliver.

Start at twice the petrol cost and let the buyer negotiate if he thinks that's too much. It sounds like there is no way to get a range of external quotes to compare with so you ha 've the upper hand.

Only twice the petrol cost? What about her time?

And make sure you get the money upfront deposited - and cleared! - in your bank account. Say no to Paypal.

Above it says the petrol is £160 so adding a further £160 for her time seems plenty, obviously we don't know how long it would take to drive the 500 miles but even if it take 16 hours that's a good hourly rate isn't it?

How much do you value her time at Penelope ?

500 miles round trip is likely to be well over 10 hours driving, so not unreasonable to do it over two days with a hotel overnight. Which I would not be keen to do for £320, £160 of which is petrol!

@PleasantVille - oh, got it! I thought you meant twice the petrol as in because it’s there and back. Doh. I should read properly.

HMRC recommended rate for business travel in own car is 45 pence per mile to include wear and tear, and probably a more fuel efficient car not towing a heavy object, so that is £225 just for that - if your car is older, the depreciation element might not be quite so much, but it's probably offset by more fuel and your time.

It depends how much you want to sell the item and how likely you are to find another buyer who will buy and collect. Also the price of the item to a degree. The buyer is far more likely to stomach a realistic delivery cost if the item is say £10k, rather than £200, unless you are selling something difficult to find.

I'd ask for at least £250, and let them take it or leave it, unless maybe you are desperate to get rid of the item, have no other buyers and like long journeys; I'd also consider whether it is safe/reasonable to drive that distance in one day. It could be if it's all motorway that's unlikely to be bad traffic, eg Sheffield to Ediburgh, but not if a lot of the 500 miles are slower and/or busier.

A commercial courier might also tow it, for a similar price, because they might be able to cover some or all the return journey with a similar job, especially if you are flexible with timescales.

Thanks for advice everyone. Most of you saying something around the same ballpark figure I was thinking of (I was thinking £200, but just wanted to check I wasn't being cheeky.) Item is a common item, but mine is bigger than normal that makes it more useful for families than other more commonly available models. I spent 6 months looking one this size when I bought it and had to travel a fair distance to go and get it myself. So it's a bit of a niche product. I want to sell it, but I've already got it up for sale at the lowest price I'm prepared to take for it in order to get it moved. I've had over 50 enquiries about it, but all of them seem to be of the 'ooh, I'd love yours but I have to get rid of my smaller one first!' which is a bit frustrating.

What the heck is it??? Desperate to know