Christmas is pricey enough without paying through the nose for the courier services to get them to their intended recipient. If you are looking for the best way to send your Christmas presents then why not compare courier services with Parcel Monkey. You can send them in the UK or internationally, you can send them on the quickest or cheapest service, you can track them until they arrive and you can even add protection cover on them too.
Here are some quick tips to help out when you are looking for a great deal on sending your seasonal gifts.
Special Delivery services can cost upwards of £25 for any reasonably weighted Christmas present whilst 'Tracked and Signed' doesn't necessarily get there any quicker - you just have the ability to see that the parcel has been signed for at the other end.
Next Day courier services are the way to go at the peak time of year, and you can save a large sum of money by booking one online with Parcel Monkey. Choose from DHL Parcel UK, Parcelforce or DPD for quick transit times in the UK. You can enjoy Next Day delivery for less than half the price of a Special Delivery service via Royal Mail and even our before 9 am online postage rates are cheaper. All of our services are signed for.
We list our last Christmas posting dates here so make sure you're well ahead of those.
Another reason is that with Britain being located where we are we generally have no idea of what the weather will be like from one week to another. And in previous years the courier network and that of Royal Mail too have been severely affected by snow and wind - despite all our efforts. When there are a couple of days when deliveries and collections are adversely affected then backlogs can occur and deliveries get delayed even further. Booking a collection as early as possible may help - even if you haven't got everybody's presents sorted yet.
We will provide final last posting dates later at the dedicated page mentioned above, however, for UK deliveries we would tentatively suggest that you have a collection booked for no later than Tuesday 19th December. With Christmas being a Monday this would leave a few working days for your parcel to be collected and processed.
If you are posting items abroad then we do have various different service levels, from Express to Economy. We make the estimated transit times clear on the quote results page so you can see what time frame the courier anticipate delivery to your destination.
If you can predict what you'll be buying up why not compare courier prices ahead of time then it will take less time to book them in for collection or a Drop Off. You can then arrange collection at your leisure; knowing whether you are allowed to send it, how much it will cost, which courier would be best and how quickly it will arrive. This will often minimise the risk of getting the wrong delivery address or dimensions.
If you are sending parcels to an entire family, then it makes sense to bundle them together and send as one larger parcel. As the price bands are quite wide, then you could effectively get a massive reduction in their individual prices by boxing them all up. You can save a considerable amount on the cost of delivery by booking a courier online rather than the usual Post Office route, especially when sending overseas.
We know how difficult and stressful Christmas can be when it comes to buying the gifts and having to work during the time you just want to spend preparing for the festival, so we make it very easy.Not only can you arrange for a courier to collect your parcels from you but you can also drop them off at a Post Office, shop or depot too.
When you do a price comparison with us using the 'Send A Parcel' link above you will be shown a list of services and a tab that says 'Drop Off'. If you click these, then you will be able to see a range of services that allow you to take your parcels to a drop off point close by. The advantage of this is that they are typically open early in the mornings and after traditional working hours have finished.
DPD Pickup services are the DPD drop off option and they have over 2,500+ stores including some Matalan and Sainsbury stores, handy when you are out and about shopping.
If you are sending a parcel abroad or in the UK with Parcelforce, you can also drop your pre-booked parcels at a branch of the Post Office - which may be handy if you can nip out at lunchtime. The service is the same as sending any parcel normally at the Post Office with Parcelforce but by pre-booking with us, printing out the label and sticking it to the box you will save a lot of money.
By dropping off, it often shaves even more cost of our courier prices, as you are starting the journey for your parcel simply by dropping it at a store.
Couriers may now be able to deliver on a Saturday or Sunday but, at the time of writing, they aren't able to collect from you then. So don't leave it until the last weekend before Christmas to book your parcel. Also, there are obviously no collections on Christmas Eve and certainly none that will deliver on Christmas Day.
Or is there...
If you are really, really desperate or late when sending a parcel within the UK, City Sprint who provide our Same Day services, are available to use over the holiday period, but book them early or you may not be able to get a collection and delivery slot.
There are some specialist couriers that will hand unique parcels such as with liquids, frozen goods or batteries, but trying to book them in the mad rush when you can't actually work out which is the most appropriate will only lead to frustration. Our terms and conditions can be found here and our general prohibited items list can be found here. Have a look at those two documents and work out if you are likely to be sending items that are prohibited, restricted or offer no carriage guarantee.
An example that may be relevant (correct at the time of writing) would be unboxed bicycles, precious stones, pottery, mobile phones valued at over £250, perfume and many Apple (the electronics company) products.
Alcohol, perfumes and aftershave, nail varnish, polish or gel, batteries and aerosols are all prohibited. That includes Christmas gift sets.
This is particularly evident when it comes to international deliveries, but even for domestic services. If you need your parcel to arrive at its destination sooner than the price the courier charges will increase. If you are able to book earlier then you will be able to use a more economical service and save the difference in price - especially if you need the parcel to arrive the next day before a set time. If the parcel needs to come before 9 am then this could cost around £19.49 +VAT for a 10kg parcel.
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