bike collection - courier pick up

got my eye on a bike near Bristol which is 240 miles round trip = petrol cost of £ 60 ish so not that outrageous.

seller is saying that he/she could box the bike up if I arrange courier - anyone done this?

Will couriers do that - go to another address for pick up - who to to do the pickup and approx costs?

I'd advise against it - there have been some howlers posted on here where the seller has done some really bad packaging.

Try and get a local RB'er to collect and pack with sympathy.

cheers for advice but. I would ask but do not think it is worth the hassle for as fellow RBer to do that since the difference between petrol cost and courier is likely to be £ 30 ish so not a huge amount at stake plus I would make it into a day trip to WSM.

The problem is that some sellers really do a bad job at packaging if they actually wanted local pick-up.

I bought a bike in Wales a while ago, and the seller preferred pick-up. He was willing to ship it within the UK though, but certainly not internationally.
This is how it arrived at GT-Steve's place.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a31/Ma ... 60e0ff.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a31/Ma ... 83716a.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a31/Ma ... 3e1505.jpg

Luckily Steve had spent most of his life collecting packaging material, so by the time it arrived in Belgium it had enough protection to keep it safe from anything up to a cataclysmic meteorite impact.

Raging_Bulls":2nd0npoz said:

Luckily Steve had spent most of his life collecting packaging material, so by the time it arrived in Belgium it had enough protection to keep it safe from anything up to a cataclysmic meteorite impact.

Click to expand...

I did this once. The seller basically wrapped the bike in a single sheet of bubble wrap and made 2 "handles" out of duct tape - one on the saddle and one on the stem.

Thankfully, he labelled them with "PICK UP HERE" so all was well... :roll:

To be fair though, I've done this again since and had no problems. I just tend to ask them to ensure that it's packed securely in a bike box, otherwise I say that it'll be sent back..!

i had a frame sent all the way from France wrapped in cling film and yes it arrived dented grrrrrrrrr

I would say two thirds of my purchases have been beautifully packed. One in ten not so good, but it does not correlate with those who upfront offered packing.

I use Paisley Freight, always had great service and goods well looked after. Being in the wild lands, packages take a real hammering getting to me.

https://www.paisleyfreight.com/

240 miles £60? Sounds a bit thirsty, but the actual cost per mile is a lot more than that of course, so perhaps get a bus?

I'd say a bike is better left totally unprotected than badly packed. A non descript box will be thrown around- if it's badly packed damage will happen.

If its totally unprotected then likely the handlers will treat it with more care, wheel it around and put it on top of the pile for fear of damaging other boxes.

I usually use city links cheapest service (£8-ignoring size restrictions so at my risk) via parcel monkey, had 4 bikes shipped like this, although all were well used and abused already so not minters.

Nearly all couriers ask for bikes to be properly packed in a bike box. Front wheel off, pedals off, handlebars turned or usually off and saddle and post off. Then ideally all the frame tubes wrapped in cardboard or bubble wrap and make sure everything is secure so nothing can rub.

If you can get the seller to do all of the above you can get a quote off somewhere like parcel monkey, a standard box is about 140cm x 20cm x 75cm and will weigh about 16kg. The sizing or weight doesn't have to be exact, if it was 17kg the quote will most likely be the same and should be around £22 collected from the seller and delivered to you on a 24 hour courier.

I'd go for it providing you have a helpful seller. Also someone will need to be at the collection address for the pick up