Question about bike shipping costs in the UK these days

[ultrazenith]

I have a question for thee.

What's the current going rate for shipping a bike or a frame within the UK? I've been away from the retrobike buying / selling scene for a good few years so I have no idea now. Inflation has taken its toll I'm sure.

Also, do bike shops still give away bike boxes for free if they happen to have them?

 

[ishaw]

Paisley freight it about £50 or so depending on value of insurance.

My lbs gives away boxes, assume others would too.

 

[raidan73]

Paisley Freight charge £40 for a complete bike, with £50 cover included iirc. Their maximum size is big enough for most bike boxes.
You should be able to get a frame posted for around £25, if you pack it nice and small.
My local Halfords still give me bike boxes but I know some don’t any more.

 

[ultrazenith]

Thanks guys !

 

[Stretch79]

Can second paisley. Good and easy to deal with. Think it was £80 for them to supply a box also

 

[Guinessisgoodforyou]

Parcelforce48 up to 20kg insured up to £150 is £13.95. I post frames with them. Packed properly never an issue. You can increase insurance.

 

[jimo746]

I still occasionally get bike boxes from Halfords for free, just call in later in the day & ask.
I've always used Parcel force, sometimes sending frame in one box & wheels in another, smaller dimensions etc. should cost under £20 all-in. Cheaper if you buy online & drop off at the depot, or a post office.

 

[Once A Hero]

Framesets - with forks removed fit in much smaller boxes than without. Should be £10-£15 via Parcelforce assuming you don’t need to have a higher value covered - then it’ll increase according to the value you request.

If sending a frameset I tend to try and get a kids bike sized bike box rather than a full bike box.
My local bike shop is always happy to let me have boxes as it costs them to have the recycling bin emptied, so the longer it stays not full the better!

 

[Tootyred]

As above, I've posted most of my frames now through parcel force. 48h service was between £10 to £14....BUT... you box size makes a huge difference to cost. I normally cut my box down to fit the frame as small as possible.

As above kiddies boxes are ideal for frames as they are also narrower, which also reduces cost.

 

[Paul R]

Paisley Freight are the same company as bike delivery.co.uk i believe. I've recently had bad experience with them. Its not always them who deliver the bikes at the end it can be an external company contaracted out. APC contacted out usually do most of it and i cant fault them thats who picked the bike up from me, its when it got over to london and it changed hands to another courior company things started to go wrong.

They had it for 4 days and even though they got near the delivery destination several times they never even attempted delivery i was watching the tracker in the evenings.
Evenually the buyer had had enough and we got it sent back to me and on to parcel force who were spot on.

When it did get back to me which we were charged for, it was damaged where it had been chucked around so much even though it was bubble wrapped to buggery in the bike box. The frame got scratched and the pannier bag frame got bent up.

I tryed to claim all this back on their insurance but they wanted pictures of how it was all sent and wrapped in the box and how the wrapping was damaged after transport which annoyingly all i had was pictures of the damaged bike/parts so couldnt provide as the bike had already been sent off again by then. They also wanted quote prices on letter head from a company to sort the paint and for new parts that were damaged. All of this was not easy/possible to sort in the timeline they give you to get it all sent in, which all works very nicley for them.

I sent a complaint in and never heard a thing.

So i will just be using parcel force from now on.