I'm looking into the possibility of shipping a bike (from Venice to Vancouver).
Speed of delivery (within reason) isn't important so it could go by sea or plane.
Can anyone recommend a website where I can get some quotes to compare?
I 'tried' to do it, through parcel monkey from UK to EU. However they just act as an agent. The courier appointed didn't turn up on the nominated day, so I cancelled. They then turned up the following day.
Probably not that useful, but it might give you some prices for a budget.
In the Uk I use parcel2go. THey are an agent, the package ends up with whichever company is the best deal. The last bike went parcelforce
Hmmm, ParcelMonkey are quoting nearly $600 & Parcel2Go don't seem to service my drop off and pickup points.
FedEx are quoting Eur640
DHLs website is unfathomable...
I tried the Italian Postal Service but can't find anything about "large" parcels....
I must be doing something wrong! I don't need the bike two days later, so don't need to pay premium rates....
Used Transglobalexpress who are an agent for others so get better prices for FedEx/DHL/UPS etc.
Trick is to get the size right, most have a max (over that is nearly double fee) which is L+W+H etc. having done a few... bike boxes are really close to the limit so I ended up cutting the top down and taping them tight to get them under the size.
Sea freight for something small isn't generally that competitive as the inspections are all to pay for, air seems to go smoother and cheaper for some of it.
Hmmm, Transglobal Express only seem to do shipments into/out of the UK and even Italy to UK is coming out at £~120
Good to know about bike box size though...I think I've got scope to cut down the box a few cms in length and height...
120 sounds about right given a chunk of the costs are fixed. Paid 250ish each to Aus a few years back.
If anyone's still reading this, after prodding around the www.poste.it website, it looks like you can send a parcel up to 225cm total dimension (I'll have to trim the bike box) with estimated weight of 15kg for a reasonable €85 from Italy to Canada...
Now, if I could only read and understand the small print.....
Cue next thread:has anyone used the Italian Post Office system....?? 😉
can you put it on a pallet. 1/4 pallet would be cheap i'd imagine.