In these days of postal deregulation and competition, you no longer have to send parcels through the Royal Mail. In fact, many of the big retailers don’t use Royal Mail as they can dictate rates more easily with other companies and have better control over delivery options and timings.
First of all, if you are sending letters or cards then there is really no one to challenge Royal Mail on price or service currently, although this could change in 2014 as greater ‘last mile’ postal competition is brought in.
Similarly, with packages weighing 2kg or less, Royal Mail offers the cheapest price within the UK – although TNT and MyHermes are looking at perhaps competiting here also in the coming months.
But if a letter or parcel weighs above 350 grams, and costs more than £1 to post, you can use any delivery or courier firm that takes such business.
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And when it comes to the delivery of larger packages, other companies are a lot more competitive.
For packages of 2kg or more, you’ll be paying a minimum of £8.22 with Royal Mail (and that doesn’t include tracking.) So what alternatives are out there?
MyHermes
MyHermes will pick up packages from your door and deliver them to any destination in the UK – removing the hassle of having to queue at the Post Office, which is great if you are shipping regularly or in reasonable quantity each week. You choose the day you’d like your parcel to be picked up – there’s no need to wait in – just arrange to leave it in a safe place.
Prices start at £3.25 for a package weighing up to 2kg, compared with Royal Mail which would cost you £6.55. And if you were sending a parcel weighing up to 10kg, you could save as much as £6 on delivery charges.
Delivery does, however, take longer than Royal Mail – packages are delivered within three to five days, and there’s no next day delivery option. And it doesn’t cover overseas or the Channel Islands.
InterParcel
The company offers a vast range of services from a range of existing larger courier companies such as TNT, CityLink and so on, so is really just a broker. However, it does get the best prices from these companies as it is dealing in bulk so worth a shot.
It is ideal for larger items InterParcel offers a UK wide, 1-2 working day delivery service from £6.99 up to 30kg. It also offers express same day delivery from £9.99 upwards depending on weight.
It also offers £50 of transit cover and the ability to track your delivery.
Collectmyparcel.com
Collectmyparcel again uses larger couriers to very your goods around but does some great offers on guaranteed next day delivery if booked before 1pm with CityLink or DHL from £8.95 + VAT.
The company also offers deals for regular users and can even provide packaging materials.
It can also arrange overseas deliveries and has a particularly good prohibited goods checker on the site.
Parcel2Go
Parcel2Go is a global courier company offering cheap shipping services across the UK and internationally. Working with some of the world’s largest couriers including FedEx and Parcelforce, Parcel2Go can deliver your parcel to 240 countries worldwide.
As such it offers a wide range of service such as next day guaranteed with DHL from £4.99 +VAT; 2-day guaranteed with MyHermes from £3.25+VAT and three day plus from £3.5+VAT. The deals change regularly, so its worth keeping tabs in their site to see what is happening when you are looking to send or looking to market your services.
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