BBLIST #1094 – SHIPPING PARCELS

Ahoy! A monster BB List this week, I’ve had to sit on my naughty fingers several times while publishing the new listings.

I no longer work on location but I see all of this lovely kit that I would love to buy and use, trouble is, I don’t need any of it.

Luckily for me, you guys are fast and you save my bacon by removing the temptation before I make a bad decision. Thank you.

Check out the new listings here – https://www.bblist.co.uk/search.php?days=14

Reduced Listings here – https://www.bblist.co.uk/search.php?r=red

 

*** STOP PRESS ***

We have a few buyers looking for an Arri SR3… if you have a kit you no longer need please make a listing… here

https://www.bblist.co.uk/list.php

 

COURIER UPDATE

I wanted to mention couriers for a while. Some of the budget couriers have been problematic again. I used to like Collect+ here in the UK but Yodel have bought them a while ago.

I was quite impressed with DX, I used them a few times when I didn’t have a printer handy… they can bring a label. I used to book them on the www.parcel2go.com website. They did lose a parcel recently but they were very quick paying out. Kudos.

Talking about losing parcels, Yodel lost a chunky parcel recently… plain vanished. In fairness, they put their hands up, contacted the seller and said, “we’ve lost your parcel”, alas they have been very slow paying compensation as it was quite expensive. The seller is still waiting.

UPS support is a massive problem, you can not phone one support number and sort out a problem easily… they will often try passing you around from one department to another. A seller has a claim in for a damaged parcel, they are not being very helpful.

 

INTERNATIONAL PARCELS

Most of the couriers have tools to build customs forms online… these are super useful. Some are quite difficult to use, I have used UPS a few times now and it isn’t easy nor intuitive… plus they make mistakes and fail to get customs processed correctly.

ParcelForce is probably with the best in the UK, this has been my personal go-to courier for sending abroad. Booking online gives access to competitive pricing and their customs documents builder which you then print and attach to the parcel. Simple and easy.

https://send.parcelforce.com/

For small to medium parcels of low value I prefer the postal service, straightforward, quick and easy… again, book online, use the customs builder, print and drop off at the local post office.

https://send.royalmail.com/

If you get an offer from overseas we are more than happy to help you fill the customs forms.

It is much easier than it seems.

We have a comprehensive list of common industry commodity codes (TARIC/HS TARIFF codes), just ask and we will gladly help. We would prefer to take the time to assist and if necessary check your documents and make sure the parcels arrive quickly and on time.

 

CUSTOMS DELAYS

Shipping internationally is almost back to normal. It is not as fast as pre-Brexit but it is much faster than during the Covid era.

International deliveries take 7 – 21 days now, the average seem to be about 14 days.

I did need to get some fresh wine lees (yeast) delivered from Portugal with no customs delay, any delay would have ruined the lees.

I chose UPS for this, I used the UPS 24 service, booked collection, completed the customs forms myself and elected to pay the import fee via my UPS account.

The parcel was collected at 4pm in Portugal and delivered here to Swansea, Wales by 11am the following morning.

It was so quick. It was quite affordable and very efficient. Chuffed.

 

PARCEL BROKERS

Here in the UK we are very lucky to have a number of parcel broker websites… they offer price comparison, allow you to see the benefits of various services and you can book the one that suits you best right there on their website, often saving money over buying direct.

Our favourites are

https://www.parcel2go.com/

https://www.p4d.co.uk/

Similar services exist for pallets… for example P4D can also offer pallet price comparison. Useful.

There are others, we can no longer recommend some of them as they will often get a parcel delivered to them using one carrier and then use another to forward it on, Interparcel for example have lost parcels at their own depot during this change process. Mad!

 

Enough from me, if you want to join the discussion on some of these points please leave your comments below. Thank you.

Have a fantastic rest of this week,

Emyr
BB LIST


2 responses to “BBLIST #1094 – SHIPPING PARCELS”

  1. Care to submit some of your wine brew for our approval ? Lol.

    I would recommend DPD couriers. I’ve always been impressed by their ultra-strict protocols. Precise time-keeping and options available and the door delivery person is commanded to take a photo of the addressee actually holding the parcel in the open doorway. You can’t get better than that. Never had a problem with them.

    But I’d still like a sample (bottle) of your wine.

    • If you find yourself in South Wales then please get in touch Peter. I mainly brew Ginger Beer… the “wine lees” I obtained were originally from Eastern Europe, they are the elusive GBP (Ginger Beer Plant) a SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Yeast and Bacteria), a yeast Saccharomyces florentinus and the bacterium Lactobacillus hilgardii. It more or less vanished during WW2 due to rationing of sugar…
      Wine Lees is a customs classification for yeasts used in fermenting drinks. I’ve named my culture Lee(s).
      Best wishes,
      Emyr