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Sending speakers via courier

K

kg648

pfm Member
If you were sending a set of speakers via courier and you insured each box for £1k who would you use? all the quotes I have come across are giving me £100+ I am sure I have heard people on here sending cheaper than this.

L=101cm
W=31cm
H=40cm
25 KG each

Any suggestions from the frequent senders would be good. :)

Thanks
 
The common theme I've seen is making yourself FULLY aware of the packaging requirements for if/when a claim for damage is submitted. The speakers end up being double boxed with protective material in between, and that just gets very big and expensive.
 
I use parcelmonkey.com (I have no affiliation, just a customer) useful as it lets you compare quotes from different companies.

I always get the courier picking it up to sign a bit if paper to say its been collected and boxes are in good condition, so if a claim ever arises you have a bit more proof that it left as you would expect it to arrive.
 
Make sure the speakers are double boxed and that you use decent boxes too - thick triple ply is best. Package them so you would be confident of throwing them down the stairs without damage. If you're not confident then you haven't packed them well enough.

As for insurance it's worth trying different shipping agents here. Many charge at 5% of value over a nominal £50 cover. Considering the risk that's probably about right. However, you can find cheaper but check the terms carefully. Bottom line with insurance is not to rely on it. Think of it as the last line of defense, but only after you've minimised the risk as much as possible. In the evnet of a claim it's up to you to prove to the insurers that you did everything possible to minimise their risk.
 
Many couriers now no longer consider original factory packaging to be adequate protection for compensation claims, i.e. to meet their requirements the factory shipping boxes must be double-boxed into something else too. Ok if you are dealing with a pair of LS3/5As, a bit of a problem if it's a pair of Isobariks! I'd not be prepared to ship a pair of speakers for this reason - I'll buy them from eBay as the seller has to cover all loss or damage there (whether they understand this or not), not the courier. I'd never sell on eBay now as I'd not be prepared to accept that risk myself!
 
Its the £1K insurance that pushes the price up.... Personally I would use either TNT or UPS for something important/expensive/delicate. Parcel2go quote for a parcel of the dimensions you provided with £1K insurance sent with TNT is £80.99.
 
If it's within the UK it might be worth considering getting a man with a van to transport something that big and valuable in one go without any stopoffs or transfers - there is usually someone already making the journey you require at http://www.shiply.com so the costs can be shared.
 
Try Anyvan they will get quotes from people who move furniture etc you may have to wait a bit longer but safer than couriers for big items.
 
I would say UPS, we've get a great service from them. As well as the double box suggestion try and get some polystyrene shaped pieces to protect the corners.

A couple of years ago we paid £100 for a man with van to transport 120kgs of part of an Electron Microscope power supply from Somerset to Manchester. Bargain!
 
The distributors ship out to the dealers via courier and indeed the manufacturer to the disti. Don't send anything on a Friday - speakers make great goal posts for depot football at the weekends...
 
Yeah - change of plan for me, friend owes me a favour so he is traveling to collect them for me :)
 
I would personally deliver the speakers to their doorstep instead of risking damaging them on a courier :)
 
I have sent a pair of Charios by TNT double boxed plus original packaging which arrived in pieces.

Never again would I send a pair of speakers by courier.

A man and van is possibly the only option.
 
Try Pallet force, I had a pair of Celestion A3's shipped from Brighton to Sheffield along with a centre and pair of rear dipoles total 150 Kg !! for £ 78 inc. insurance.

Your local pallet company will normally bring you a pallet on collection :)
 
Most modern speaker original boxes should be fine. I have sent a pair of ATC SCM12 to Italy without damage. However I have sent Spendor BC1 to Hong Kong, although double boxed using non original boxes, the corner of one speaker was damaged.
 
I have recently shipped a pair of DBLs from Ulster to Sydney, Australia at enormous expense and I used courier agent called interc*rgo (can't fully identify them in case they sue me!) This was a very bad mistake as they use multiple couriers and one of the DBL boxes went missing for a few days until I tracked it down at one courier's depot. Only receiving five out of the six DBL boxes would have obviously left me with a useless pair of DBLs! Their communication was also dreadful which is very stressful when you are managing things via remote from the other side of the world.

My advice is not to scrimp or save on sending such precious items. Previously I have always used parcel2.go.com and generally opted for a FedEx service which has always been superb. It is properly trackable and they are careful and professional. It is also competitively priced.

Luckily my DBLs are now installed, actively employed and sounding inspiring yet if I could turn back the clock I would not have risked using the agent, paid a bit more and avoided the near disaster.
 
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