Posting lens to Europe - who do I use?

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mikeyb

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Hi,

I have someone from Germany wanting to buy my Sigma 500mm Lens and I was wondering the best/cheapest way to send it.

It weighs approx 6kgs and the size of the box is approx 65cmx28x28, Parcel Force are coming out at £75 including insurance ( £2500 ) and tracking, if I drop the insurance to £1000 it's only £38 so it looks like the extra £1500 insurance is costing me £37 to cover another £1500 ( they only offer £1000 and the £2500 of cover nothing in between :( )

I don't really want to leave out the insurance as the lens is selling for more than £1000 and I want it fully covered AND I want it tracked.

Any thoughts/recommendations/advice?

Thanks,

Mike.
 
Dont suppose you know anyone with a business post account do you?
On the other hand, surely if its a lens worth that much, its a small price to pay for satisfaction :)
 
Tom_Wynne said:
Dont suppose you know anyone with a business post account do you?
On the other hand, surely if its a lens worth that much, its a small price to pay for satisfaction :)
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Hi Tom,

I know what you are saying, I just don't want £75 for delivery to be the deal breaker if you know what I mean, plus I hate Parcel Force :( The worst thing about trying to get quote is most of the couriers want your details before getting to the pricing stage which is a pain.

Mike.
 
Use Interparcel, I've send stuff abroad with them.

Worth pointing out that all insurance won't cover glass, so even if it gets lost in the post rather than broken, you won't be covered.
 
As Stewart says, most couriers will not insure glass - we ship a lot of car windscreens and they won't cover them.

No point having insurance if it turns out to be worthless due to not reading the small print.
 
TNT, UPS, Fedex all will not cover items containing glass. I would assume DHL would be the same. Most will ship on a volumetric basis, the exact formula differs from courier to carrier but is normally (L x W x D) / 6000 where LWD are the dimensions in centimeters.
 
Hi,

Fastlane state the following:

"The following are not covered by our standard insurance rates"

* Computer memory chips in isolation
* Fragile articles
* TV's
* Video and Audio equipment
* White goods; eg Cookers, Fridges, Washing Machines etc

Do you think a lens falls into any of those categories? I might give them a call to clarify.


Mike.
 
Hi,

* Fragile articles
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- my thoughts as well

Fastlane would be subcontacting to DHL and it would be under their regulations.
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true.

Ok so it looks like the best bet is Ryanair or Easyjet and some hand luggage :D

Mike.
 
Having said that I've used DHL via Interparcel and stuff has always arrived no problem.

I sold my first D700 to a chap in France, and it was there about 3 days later :)
 
Get the buyer to sort out the shipping and knock £50 off the price?
 
Having said that I've used DHL via Interparcel and stuff has always arrived no problem.

I sold my first D700 to a chap in France, and it was there about 3 days later
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Sounds good, I don't expect any hassles, but thought it best to check before finalising a deal. thanks for your help.

Get the buyer to sort out the shipping and knock £50 off the price?
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Only a fellow Scot could come up with that, sounds like a plan though :D:thumbs:

Thanks for all the help, let you know how it goes.

Mike.
 
to me a posting a £1000 lens with no insurance to a foreign country would be too much of a risk especially if he pays with paypal as any damage at all would result in a chargeback so you have no lens and no money

Ryanair hand luggage and cash in your hand sounds like the best way to go, you can't even accept paypal then hand deliver it because you won't have a signature from a recognised courier so if he decides to say he hasn't received it paypal will still refund his money.
 
I'd never post anything abroad if paid by Paypal.
 
puddleduck said:
Worth pointing out that all insurance won't cover glass, so even if it gets lost in the post rather than broken, you won't be covered.
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You're kidding right (I know you're no, but I'm in shock). Do none of the couriers cover lenses for any loss? And what about audio equipment?
 
Triggaaar said:
Do none of the couriers cover lenses for any loss?
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I don't think so, no. That's why we make sure our lenses are packed very, very well.

Having said that, if my local couriers (with whom I ship dozens of lenses per week) broke one, then I imagine we'd have an interesting chat about it regardless of the contractual position.
 
Further reading:
http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/content2?catId=77300736&mediaId=80000739#72800834
Looks ok to me. This is worth noting:
"where a breakable item has not been packed in a strong container with enough packaging material to protect the item against pressure and knocks, and where the item has not been marked with the words “FRAGILE HANDLE WITH CARE” in capital letters on the cover or envelope above the address,"

" for standard parcels, where damage is to items made of glass or ceramics or which have components made of glass or ceramics;"
that doesn't apply to Special Delivery.

I shall make sure to mark items “FRAGILE HANDLE WITH CARE” in future
 
Triggaaar said:
Packing them well won't help if they're lost in the post. That's just a ridiculous policy.
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What's a ridiculous policy? Packing lenses well? Or carriers not allowing you to insure them?

These days, tracking systems are pretty reliable and things just don't get lost. They might get mis-routed or delayed, which can be a big deal for us, but not lost. So personally I don't think it would be worth paying for insurance against loss anyway, even if you could.

(When you read in the newspapers about airlines losing so many bags, they haven't lost them either. They know where they are. The problem is usually that (a) they're in the wrong place, and/or (b) they're somewhere in a big pile with hundreds or thousands of other bags.)

And as we've seen glass items generall can't be insured against damage, which is why we pack them very well.
 
There needs to be clarification between loss and damage.

In my eyes, if they loose it, it doesn't matter what the contents are.
If they damage it, then the contents are of importance. Most couriers do track things very well - we've not had a loss in years because everything is tracked. They sometimes arrive at the wrong depot which causes a delay, but nothing has vanished ...
 
StewartR said:
What's a ridiculous policy? Packing lenses well? Or carriers not allowing you to insure them?
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Carriers saying they won't insure glass items, even if they are lost. I think that is ridiculous, since it matters not what the item is made of if they lose it.

These days, tracking systems are pretty reliable and things just don't get lost.
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That may be close to the truth, but I ordered £180 of jessops vouchers from ebay, and they were lost in the post (I have no reason to believe otherwise, I was given a tracking number, they never showed up, and the seller refunded 100% of my money - and they weren't fully insured (think they got £36 back).

So personally I don't think it would be worth paying for insurance against loss anyway, even if you could.
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When selling and sending to people I don't know, I feel much better if something's insured, particularly when it only costs a total of £6.40 to send a lens RMSD (£500 cover).
 
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