UK post

[Debbie]

Just thought I would pass this on.

My parents like to send parcels to the grandkids from the UK but had a bit of a shock when they came to post the lastest parcel. The cost of sending 2 packets of sweets, a magazine and 2 v small soft toys was £25.
Apparently it was because they had put it all in a bubble pack bag and the new post system works on some size calculator. Thankfully the nice man at the post office explained this and they split the parcel into one small bag and large envelop with the magazine in it. By sending two parcels the cost dropped to £4.75 a big difference.

For family sending stuff from the UK it's worth knowing.
Debbie

[Smiler]

I'd warned my parents about this and asked them to send any stuff in smaller parcels if they could. They sent 3 parcels at xmas and 2 cost around 6 quid each but I was horrified to see that the largest parcel cost 24.00 to post

I'd also bought something on eBay Uk and the postage quoted was 19.50 pounds. The seller emailed me and said they'd had a bit of a problem with the size of the parcel after packing and it had cost more because they'd used so much bubble wrap and protection. When it arrived they had paid 49 quid. I sent them the extra via Paypal.

Debbie, it's not the same as receiving a parcel I know, but do you have a UK bank account that your parents could put some money in and then you could draw it out here for the children to spend in the shops? Just a thought....my Dad still wraps stuff in brown paper with string and sealing wax, so getting the parcel is great fun and must be for your kids too.

[marcia]

Debbie, it's not the same as receiving a parcel I know, but do you have a UK bank account that your parents could put some money in and then you could draw it out here for the children to spend in the shops?

This is what our family did for xmas - they told me how much each person had put in and I went shopping - i then took photos of everything i'd bought so they could see what they had 'bought' the kids for christmas - i wrapped them up and labelled them from 'whoever' and everyone was happy - except me who had to do 'all' the shopping this year!

Its our youngest's birthday next week and everyone is doing the same again - so off i go to the shops again!!!!!!!!!

Still it means people aren't spending a fortune posting items - would make it very expensive.

[wiki]

That reminds me how my Grandparents used to send us a £10 note each when we were little for Christmas and it was as much fun to take it into the bank and see it turned into NZ money as it was to spend it!

And back then the exchange rate was $3.3 to the pound (how I wish it was now!) so we always came a way with a small fortune

I've been dropping very big hints to my OH that the big present boxes sent to friends will probably have to stop when we get to NZ...

[denisesykes]

Oh Yes my poor elderly parents learnt the hard way, they sent the kids a rather large parcel last year and it cost $60 to sent via sea!!!! It took 3 months to the day to arrrive! I felt sick when I saw how much they had paid as they are on a pension.
They now pay money into my UK bank account and I spend it from here.Its great to see pounds turn into dollars as it seems so much more.
Equally I have 4 nieces and nephews and after a year have run out of NZ themed presents.I am therefore going to open a separate savings account here and put money in every birthday and Xmas for them.
Hopefully they may use the money to come over and see us when they are older.Unfortunately dollars to pounds doesn't work as well so it may take a bit of time!

[holland]

Hi all,

had a phone call from my mum today who says she has been looking into the cost to send things over to NZ for bdays etc, she says she has been quoted £35.00 per kg...does it go off weight or size? This seems steep...she's a bit upset about it and I said I would post on here as I am sure you all get parcels....isit really that dear??

J x

[shakyle2906]

Just thought I would pass this on.

My parents like to send parcels to the grandkids from the UK but had a bit of a shock when they came to post the lastest parcel. The cost of sending 2 packets of sweets, a magazine and 2 v small soft toys was £25.
Apparently it was because they had put it all in a bubble pack bag and the new post system works on some size calculator. Thankfully the nice man at the post office explained this and they split the parcel into one small bag and large envelop with the magazine in it. By sending two parcels the cost dropped to £4.75 a big difference.

For family sending stuff from the UK it's worth knowing.
Debbie

Hi Debbie

We have same problemwith my inlaws.

They sent 2 cars over, collectables, Monster Jam i think, with about 20 or so to collect. As my son, like any other normal child would do, said he loved them, they decided to buy the rest of the set!!! Its costing about £10 for about 4 cars each time.........

Also, another thing they have done, which we cant believe, they bought a box of the marshmallow icecream (about an inch high), box of about 50 or so. The box cost £7.50, they have stupidly paid £9 to post half the box.........

We had the same thing Christmas time, insisted on posting gifts over, they were paying more for postage than the gifts!!

We have tried telling them it is easier to put the money into our UK bank account, as it is over double in NZ $. They eventually listened until the sweet episode......


I know christmas time, she was posting cards to us, and if she had just put 'card' on it, it was about £3 or so, as she put 'cardS' on it they cost her £8. It seems RM dont know what to charge.

When we move dover, i bought special boxes from the PO to post little ones toys that we hadnt put in the boxes we shipped over and ones that were favourites that i knew he would miss dearly, as well as some of our bite we had no room for. The boxes cost about £5 or so and we actually packed one and went to local PO for a quote and was told about £70 to post. We werent entirely happy but thought, ok, he would be upset without them. When my sister went to another PO, they said it would be cheaper to post in certain weights. She did this, packing into about 6 or so parcels, and cost her £55, so saved £15.........
Sharon

[peebles16]

Have just had MIL on the phone talking about post (she gets all our redirected mail) and sending stuff over. Her wee man at the post office sorts it all into bundles for her, picks envelopes etc and gives her the cheapest options on size etc - very helpful

just have to see if it arrives
Karenx

[JandM]

There's a big variation, apparently, in how helpful people in the different UK post offices are, in advising how best to split/pack what needs to go. It doesn't seem that there's any leaflet or website with ALL the information available that would let us work it out for ourselves, either. The best bits of advice I've had so far are these.

1) There is still a Printed Paper Rate for posting things overseas (although not within the UK), so if you've a package that is ONLY books/magazines, and you pack it so customs can see in, it goes more cheaply than an ordinary parcel. (I cut a window in the paper both ends, and cover the holes with a double layer of book-repair tape.)

2) It's cheaper to send two parcels that are each under 2 kg, than one that goes over.

I do know about the sensible option of sending money. But we're human. Nothing is going to turn off that thing inside a Mum/Dad/Granny/Grandad that goes, 'Oh, YES - that's EXACTLY what X will love,' especially when you miss X every day of your life. And we've had some lovely moments with the webcams working, seeing what happened when the parcels were being undone the other end. Whatever the economics of it, I don't think the parcels from home are ever going to die out!

[JandM]

By the way, I must mention top-rate service the other way round, in the post office in Titirangi. We finished up our visit last year with more things to bring home than would go within our baggage weight allowance, and the Air NZ charge for excess was HUGE. Thank goodness we'd packed our bags with time to spare and the scales to hand. We did a sort of jigsaw puzzle of getting the heaviest things in the luggage while leaving out the least urgent/lightest things, then weighed them and went for advice on how best to send them, which was kindly given, with lots of consulting of manuals etc. Then the man also suggested a better way of describing the contents. Brilliant.