Just posted a lantern to the EU and boy did it cost! This was with Royall Mail but would I have been better off using a courier instead? Quite apart from the stress of wondering whether it will be deemed a weapon of mass destruction and crushed it's completely off putting! So you have some idea, were talking just shy of £50 for one lantern and it wasn't even that heavy, - around 4kilos I think. Seems completely mad to me!
Colin, That sounds pretty overpriced if you ship within the EU. You can send a parcel from Germany to the UK for 5 kg: EURO 16, parcel of 10 kg: for EURO 21 with DHL (regular parcel service). DPD is cheaper for some regions but does charge an extra for certain "remote" destinations. Shipping destinations outside the EU get expensive. The shipping cost itself will not be that expensive but they need to include handling fees for customs. So the same parcel sent from Germany to Switzerland will be 5kg: EURO 27 10 kg: EURO 35 with DHL regular parcel service. And the addressee need to pay extra: import tax/VAT plus customs duties (plus in some cases an extra for handling at the customs office.) Erik
You need a printer to get the best courier prices, even in the UK its £12.98 for a 2-5 kilo parcel via Parcelforce but as the PO is just over the road its not too bad for me.
Just to be specific, the destination was Norway and I'd assumed they were in the EU, but now i realise they're not, maybe that's why it was so expensive.Still, nearly £50 was damn expensive.
I know things have changed considerably since I last posted abroad (3 lanterns to Sweden) but I dismantled the lanterns so that each package was less than 2 Kg. Total cost for 6 packages was £48 which was less than for 1 complete lantern. Maybe worth exploring for the future ? Henry.
Thanks Henry, at these prices it wouldn't be much more expensive to go there in person and take the lantern as hand luggage!
Try getting quotes from people such as www.transglobalexpress.co.uk , www.ipostparcels.com and uk.interparcel.com . There are more brokers out there but one of those should get you a package sent almost anywhere in the world for a good price. HD
Thanks HD, just had a quick look on there, not much difference in price but they do allow up to 30kg for a pound odd less than Parcelforce although that's for a collection also no printer needed for collection but one needed if you want to drop off.
Yes, MG, you really do need a printer to get the best prices or almost any price these days. The exceptions being the Parcel Force collection offered by senditnow and transglobalexpress who will mail you your label and documents if you request it. HD
Thanks HD, i must admit i replied before i looked into their international prices! Mind you a 3kg parcel to Japan quotes at £93 on there which seems a tad expensive or maybe that's the going rate!
Mailing postal labels - how very 20th century! But there's your choice - either go out and buy a printer (about 40 quid from Sainsburys) or run the risk of using ParcelFarce. I know what I'd be doing, but yer pays yer money... Edit: Well, Sainsburys appears to be Argos now but as well as some for £40, there's this:- www.argos.co.uk/product/6744669 You can save the £28 in delivery fees (and hassle - an unquantifiable but significant saving...)
That's a pretty cheap printer, i thought they were double that, Not in stock locally or won't deliver but i can collect from Sainsburys on the IOW
That's what i thought Phil, that's one of the reasons i've always been wary about getting a printer and i know the fake cartridges apparently don't work very well, That was senditnow HD but as you say its still Parcelforce, I have a MyHermes drop off shop over the road and with ins cover can save around four pounds over Parcelforce prices on a 2-5kg UK parcel so i may still buy a printer although it would benefit buyers rather than myself hence why i haven't bought one as yet.
Yeah, but how many postal labels are you planning to print? The mono cartridge in the printer will usually last a while but even if you had to buy one, it's only a few quid. When it comes to owning a printer, surely about a billion people spread all over the planet can't be wrong...
For my home office I made the decision many years ago to use cheap-to-obtain ex-corporate HP mono laser printers. They have consistently been the most reliable and lowest cost-per-page printers I have encountered. For the last few years it has been a model 2430 dtn and before that a 4300 series. The cartridges can do upwards of 10 000 pages and cost a few hundres rands to refill/refurbish. Plonk it down and forget about it; it just works, every time.
My Dell 1320c colour laser is 12 years old and owes me nothing and after market cartridges are cheaper than ink cartridges and last for ages!
Surely you're joking Mr. Feynman Shouksmith! Using your reasoning, we should all be using Far East Petromax clones and naming our children Wang, Chen or Li Sorry, David; I know you were jesting, but I could not let it go by unchallenged.
If i buy one it would need to be quite small so i think an office printer may be too large, I'd best get the Efar running properly then and luckily i have no kids
I've no real idea who Mr Feynman was but I thought 1 person in 6 of the world's population owning a printer was a reasonable estimate. However, I was miles out:- https://www.statisticbrain.com/ink-jet-laser-computer-printer-sales-statistics/ So, unless I've dropped a zero or two somewhere, it seems each person on Earth bought, on average, over 17 printers last year...
One of my favourite scientific personages: "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character
I cannot, for the life of me, figure out that one. What is it they say about humour not always travelling well...
