Shipping a bike (box) within UK

[samid]

How can I ship a bike box within the UK and how much does it cost? I see quite reasonable prices quoted for s/h of bikes sold on eBay UK, but looking at the Royal Mail site I could not find a way to ship a bike-sized box... what am I missing?

Thanks.

 

[zimzum42]

Don't know about the Royal Mail, my guess is that it will go by Parcel Force, who are shoot, to say the least

I shipped my bike to Singapore with Excess Baggage company. I know you only want the UK, but they'll do that too. They have a branch in most major rail stations. They also deliver boxes and bubble wrap, and come to collect it all too.

They might be more expensive than Parcel Force, I don't know, bbut am sure others will come up with good suggestions....

 

[snorri]

Carrier companies offer a wide range of services, so you would need to speak to several companies in order to find out which offer the service you require at a price you can afford. eg delivery within 24 hours, collect and deliver, assistance with packaging, a branch near you etc..
Have a look in Yellow Pages under Delivery and Collection Services, some of the names to look for UPS, TNT, Parcelforce, DHL....

 

[Amanda P]

Try Parcel2Go.com.

 

[samid]

Thanks everybody for the replies. Just to clarify, I want to ship a bike box, with some misc stuff it it but no bike - so how carefully they handle the box is less of a concern for me in this case.

 

[jay clock]

I sold a bike last week on Ebay to a forum member. He used Parcel Force, cost about £21 for guaranteed 48hr delivery. They collected from me the same day and it went fine.

I have also posted via Royal Mail - £13 for up to 20kg and it worked fine. Their max box dimensions (H x W x L) is something like 270cm, but that is ok for a cardboard bike box. Worth printing the rules off the site as the PO tried to claim it was too big!

 

[Suerdusty]

Try Interlinkexpress.com theyre relatively cheap and pretty careful

 

[Monika Fisher]

I want to have a bike built by a company in Shipley, W Yorks, but they don't like shipping their products. Train is about £300 for 7-14 hrs of cramped torture on lousy German-built "trains", and I'm told carrying bikes gets them damaged !! Called to enquire about light aircraft charter to Leeds/Bradford (c 6 miles from store !!) and told it would be "several thousand pounds !!" So am looking for Courier to do a reliable job - or would it be better to commission a local "man & van ??"

 

[zimzum42]

man and van is probably not a bad idea

where are you? in Germany?

 

[snorri]

I want to have a bike built by a company in Shipley, W Yorks,

Rather than take a six year old thread back from the dead, I suggest you would get a better response by starting a new thread with title tailored to suit your query.

 

[JoeyB]

There is a courier company used by many for weird shaped items...when I remember the name I'll post it here. Lots of the chaps on car forums use them to ship wheels / exhausts and the like.

 

[JoeyB]

Pow!

Paisley Freight...

A bike is under £25 by the looks of it - http://www.paisleyfreight.com/bike-delivery.php

 

[toekneep]

Once you have selected a carrier Google the carrier name for reviews. There are some truly awful ones out there. I shipped a frame using Night Freight and they were a disaster. Afterwards I looked at their reviews and realised my bad experience was pretty typical.

 

[JoeyB]

Hmm just checked the reviews of PF...seems they use TNT and others so are just the middle man which ultimately means they have no control over anything!

 

[toekneep]

Quite JoeyB. I am more than happy for Samid to learn by my mistakes.