Cheapest Way to Send a Bike! Post a Bike to Europe
How to send a bike in the UK & How to send a bike to europe!
Cheap Bike Delivery!
Post your bike to UK for under £30 or European Destinations for under £35.
If you are selling a bike or frame on Ebay, it’s best to offer delivery if you want top dollar for your item. Loads more buyers will be interested if they can get it delivered to them, rather than having to drive a few hundred miles at the weekend to pick up.
You can also potentially ship to Europe and open up buyers in super rich, mountain bike loving countries such as Germany, France, Switzerland and Austria. If the parts are right, buyers in these countries WILL pay a premium for the right kit, especially now the £GBP has dropped against the €Euro. How to Send a bike to UK or Europe for less than £35!
Summary of the cost of posting a bike to both the UK and Germany.
These prices update and change regularly so please check on the respective website to get the updated price and T&C.
Prices shown are with shipping agents – these sites have contracts with the large courier firms (DPD, UPS, DHL etc…) they resell courier services direct to the public for highly reduced rates. It is 99% of the time cheaper to book via one of these shipping resellers than direct through the courier itself.
Once you have booked and paid for your delivery, the shipping agent will provide the address slip you will need to fix to the parcel. Then the respective courier will collect the parcel at the agreed date. You are responsible for correctly stating the parcel dimensions are weight, securely packaging and making sure you are in when the courier comes to deliver.
All shipping agents offer insurance for loss or damage (above the standard £50 or £100). I personally wouldn’t bother, as long as your bike box is properly packaged up with loads of bubble wrap etc… then UPS and DPD especially are always reliable, but if that’s going to play on your mind then delivery insurance normally costs between 5 to 10% of the insured value. Most couriers have excellent tracking services. (Top tip, stick your weigh label on twice on opposite sides of the parcel + leave one inside the parcel + write the to or return address on the actual box in pen – leaving almost no room for mixups, loss or error)
Where to get a Bike Box?
Quite a few bike boxes are available to buy on ebay – or its worth looking on your local facebook marketplace or swap page if anyone local to you is trying to get rid of one.
Also worth asking nicely in your local bike shop if they have any they are getting rid of!
Best couriers to use?
Generally everyone has a horror story to tell about every firm. I would say try to stick with the delivery firms that employ full time drivers with liveried vans and uniforms rather than using casual and part time couriers.
UPS, DPD, FedEX, TNT, Parcelforce/GNS to name the majority
Best way to pack!
Loads of bubble wrap!
Full size bike boxes will fit a bike with the forks and rear wheel attached (front wheel removed).
Smaller size bike boxes will require the removal of the front forks and possibly also the rear wheel.
In both cases the handlebars should be removed and you can zip tie these securely to the frame with the brake and gear cables still atatched to the bars.
Pedals will have to come off, but cranks and mech should stay on (for safety it might be worth boxing these off with additional cardboard and bubble wrap!)
WARNING!!! If you are sending via air freight (e.g to USA) PLEASE PLEASE remember to let the air out of your tyres and most importantly out of your shocks – so many stories of forks and rear shocks seals being destroyed during air travel.
WARNING Number Two!!! ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS post to the registered address that came with the PayPal payment (presuming you used PayPal as payment provider). Scam numero uno is for the thief to pay via a legit PayPal account and then ask you to change the shipping address to something else. This means that even with your proof of delivery – the thief can claim their money back with PayPal and claim the bike wasn’t delivered to them.
ALWAYS POST TO THE ADDRESS REGISTERED WITH THE PAYPAL PAYMENT TO GET SELLER SECURITY!
Should the buyer wish to change the address and you feel its a legitimate reason – cancel the payment and get them to issue payment again with the updated address.
Thanks for listening and happy selling and posting!!!
Quoted bike box is a FULL SIZE BIKE BOX – size is 136cm x 75cm x 20cm (Weight 15kg)
Parcel Compare offer delivery with the global leaders such as TNT, FedEx and UPS.
Uk Bike Delivery in a full size bike box
From £42
International Delivery in a full size bike box
To Germany
From £102
Worldwide Parcel Services offer a a massive list of delivery countries and an almost unlimited parcel size.
They are best as international deliveries although do offer domestic services as well.
International Delivery to Germany in a full size (137cm) Bike Box
From £121
International Delivery to Germany in a (120cm long) Bike Box
From £34
ParcelHero
Offers delivery with TNT, DPD, Hermes and Parcel Force. Great for Bulky items!!!
UK Bike Delivery
Full Size Bike Box
From £31
International Bike Delivery
with a full size Bike Box
From £102
IPostParcels
IPostParcels is an affiliate of DHL in the UK.
UK Bike Delivery
The maximum size parcel the handle is 70x70x70 and 25kg.
Not great for a bike box – but could work well for posting a set of wheels or a bike frame.
From £21
International Delivery
They handle up to 120cm long for international deliveries! So depending on the size of your bike box this might be perfect!
They offer 2 to 3 day delivery to Germany
From £27