anyone have any experience with parcelmonkey?

[Superduper]

With the ever escalating cost of shipping, it behooves us to start searching for and comparing more cost effective options. Without thinking, I always automatically go with either USPS or Fedex, Fedex usually being the cheaper service for boomboxes whereas USPS wins out on small packages.

However, recently, I discovered parcelmonkey.com and I guess they have other international presences too. Their quick quote shows prices that seem more reasonable than can be obtained through the normal retail outlets. International shipping options are far greater and more cost effective than the only viable options we currently have (USPS).

So wondering if anyone has given them a try and if so, please share your experience.

 

[Reli]

For international, I've found Ebay's Global Shipping Program to be the cheapest by far. Even if you weren't planning on selling it on Ebay, you can list it anyway, and tell your contact to send you a lowball offer of $1, you accept, and then you can take advantage of their shipping without paying a big commission.

 

[samovar]

Many years ago I received a unit from the UK via parcelmonkey. The price was extremely convenient and the service was fast and reliable: nothing was broken inside the parcel, despite the fact that the boombox was huge and heavy.

In your shoes I wouldn't base my decision on just one experience: after all, I may have been lucky. This said, I was extremely satisfied and also surprised that nobody seemed to be aware of this service.

 

[Radio raheem]

hey guys, most of us have spanked the monkey for years, just egnore me lol

 

[floyd]

I tell you what the few times I use DHL they were great. I'm not sure they do worldwide shipping anymore like they used to.

 

[Superduper]

Many years ago I received a unit from the UK via parcelmonkey. The price was extremely convenient and the service was fast and reliable: nothing was broken inside the parcel, despite the fact that the boombox was huge and heavy.

Just curious, how did you know that it was shipped via parcelmonkey? From research, it appears that parcel monkey operates in several modes:
1), they simply resell shipping services (as a 3rd party), much the same way Pitney Bowes for Usps or any of the pak n ship companies reselling USPS, UPS and Fedex at a markup.
2), they work a little like eBay's global shipping program in that parcels are sent to a central USA location using fedex, where the items are sorted and then sent off to the destination country, and then enters THAT country's local shipping service, like EMS in China or DHL in Europe. This allows you to use EMS or DHL services even though such service would not be available directly within USA as a retail service. They even tell you that your package will have more than 1 shipping label, presumably one for fedex, and another for the destination country's local shipping service.

Floyd, I think DHL still operates in USA, they just operate using commercial contracts. There is a local parking lot about 10 miles from my house. Every morning at the same time, about 8 DHL vans congregate at the parking lot with the vans in a circle, all the tails facing each other and they distribute parcels amongst themselves, presumably organizing the packages to the correct van. So I KNOW they have somewhat of a presence in the USA. However, if you visit DHL website, requesting a quote brings up a form page that requests information about your business so presumably, they only do business with commercial entities that can supply a certain number of pieces.

 

[MyOhMy]

Whenever I need to send a parcel I'll always go a to a 'courier comparison' site such as Parcel2Go for the deal that suits my needs, I have learned from experience that cheapest isn't necessarily a guarantee of good service so I'll always pay a little more for a service I feel can trust.

 

[Hisrudeness]

I’ve used Hermes for UK domestic stuff but am looking for something reasonable for international stuff

 

[MyOhMy]

I’ve used Hermes for UK domestic stuff but am looking for something reasonable for international stuff

Parcel2Go list domestic couriers and couriers that send overseas, just enter the parcel details and results/info/prices/additional options from various couriers are all displayed. This is pretty much about as simple it gets for posting overseas.

 

[floyd]

Many years ago I received a unit from the UK via parcelmonkey. The price was extremely convenient and the service was fast and reliable: nothing was broken inside the parcel, despite the fact that the boombox was huge and heavy.

Just curious, how did you know that it was shipped via parcelmonkey? From research, it appears that parcel monkey operates in several modes:
1), they simply resell shipping services (as a 3rd party), much the same way Pitney Bowes for Usps or any of the pak n ship companies reselling USPS, UPS and Fedex at a markup.
2), they work a little like eBay's global shipping program in that parcels are sent to a central USA location using fedex, where the items are sorted and then sent off to the destination country, and then enters THAT country's local shipping service, like EMS in China or DHL in Europe. This allows you to use EMS or DHL services even though such service would not be available directly within USA as a retail service. They even tell you that your package will have more than 1 shipping label, presumably one for fedex, and another for the destination country's local shipping service.

Floyd, I think DHL still operates in USA, they just operate using commercial contracts. There is a local parking lot about 10 miles from my house. Every morning at the same time, about 8 DHL vans congregate at the parking lot with the vans in a circle, all the tails facing each other and they distribute parcels amongst themselves, presumably organizing the packages to the correct van. So I KNOW they have somewhat of a presence in the USA. However, if you visit DHL website, requesting a quote brings up a form page that requests information about your business so presumably, they only do business with commercial entities that can supply a certain number of pieces.

Now I remember , dhl only does commercial shipping now.
I tell you they were the best , they picked up the package from my house and I could pay for it in advance and they would bring the shipping label to put on the package because I didn't have a printer.

 

[samovar]

Many years ago I received a unit from the UK via parcelmonkey. The price was extremely convenient and the service was fast and reliable: nothing was broken inside the parcel, despite the fact that the boombox was huge and heavy.

Just curious, how did you know that it was shipped via parcelmonkey? From research, it appears that parcel monkey operates in several modes:
1), they simply resell shipping services (as a 3rd party), much the same way Pitney Bowes for Usps or any of the pak n ship companies reselling USPS, UPS and Fedex at a markup.
2), they work a little like eBay's global shipping program in that parcels are sent to a central USA location using fedex, where the items are sorted and then sent off to the destination country, and then enters THAT country's local shipping service, like EMS in China or DHL in Europe. This allows you to use EMS or DHL services even though such service would not be available directly within USA as a retail service. They even tell you that your package will have more than 1 shipping label, presumably one for fedex, and another for the destination country's local shipping service.

...

Sorry I missed your post Superduper. I wasn't aware of how Parcelmonkey works. Back in the day I was told by the person who shipped the parcel to me that he had used Parcelmonkey. I wasn't at home when the parcel arrived so I didn't take note of the courier. All I know is that shipment price was the lowest possible from the UK and the service was excellent.