glend
30-11-2020, 11:51 AM
I have sold a fair bit of gear over the years, and used a variety of courier and transport companies to ship the gear to IIS buyers. Generally speaking they are mostly pretty reliable. For small parts it is hard to beat Express Post, or Registered Parcel Post. For big stuff like scopes, I have found TNT to be excellent, and I normally use Interparcel to book simply because they show me all sorts of options, arrange insurance, book the pickup with the carrier, send me pdf files for Waybill and address doco, and provide excellent precise tracking.
Just to give one example, I sold my 8" f5 Newt to a member in SEQLD. I booked the pickup with Interparcel (for TNT) at 9am, at 11am TNT was at my door to pick up the scope. Now I should explain that I do not live in a big city, in fact technically my area is still considered Rural. More amazing still was that by lunch time following day my buyer in the Gold Coast hinterland had received the scope - that is overnight basically, without paying an express premium.
On the other side of the coin lies a carrier like Couriers Please, who have soured me on ever booking a job with them. Poor to no tracking, impossible to contact other than through a one time only online enquiry form with no followup, no accountability, and the worse product reviews (on the Product review website). So why do some retailers book deliveries with Couriers Please? Because they are the cheapest available service, and that can be important when they are offering free shipping. My advice is to ask who the carrier will be when buying, and offer to pay to get a better quality service.
For overseas, import stuff, I swear by UPS, as they provide an international door to door service, with outstanding tracking, customs clearance service including GST payment online with no other parties involved. Sure UPS is not cheap, but chances are that scope your importing is worth it. International postal services to Avoid, the budget USPS offering, and any service out of China, you can wait months, literally I have.
And you, what is your experience?
Just to give one example, I sold my 8" f5 Newt to a member in SEQLD. I booked the pickup with Interparcel (for TNT) at 9am, at 11am TNT was at my door to pick up the scope. Now I should explain that I do not live in a big city, in fact technically my area is still considered Rural. More amazing still was that by lunch time following day my buyer in the Gold Coast hinterland had received the scope - that is overnight basically, without paying an express premium.
On the other side of the coin lies a carrier like Couriers Please, who have soured me on ever booking a job with them. Poor to no tracking, impossible to contact other than through a one time only online enquiry form with no followup, no accountability, and the worse product reviews (on the Product review website). So why do some retailers book deliveries with Couriers Please? Because they are the cheapest available service, and that can be important when they are offering free shipping. My advice is to ask who the carrier will be when buying, and offer to pay to get a better quality service.
For overseas, import stuff, I swear by UPS, as they provide an international door to door service, with outstanding tracking, customs clearance service including GST payment online with no other parties involved. Sure UPS is not cheap, but chances are that scope your importing is worth it. International postal services to Avoid, the budget USPS offering, and any service out of China, you can wait months, literally I have.
And you, what is your experience?