Saturday, July 16, 2011

Tips for choosing International Parcel Delivery


Choosing the best international parcel delivery service for you may not be that difficult if you keep in mind the necessary information about your package and the courier services available to you.

One way of knowing where to start is to ask around - through your personal contacts or through the Web. You can ask your friends or colleagues who have used such kind of courier service. They should be able to give some recommendations and ideas about the procedure and, perhaps, which courier service company you should hire. You may also go to Internet forums that discuss these services. You may even send e-mail or private message directly to customers who have similar concerns as yours.

Most courier service companies today already have online tracking facility. This is vital and very useful so you would know where your international parcel is, from the time you sent it up to the moment when it is delivered to your intended recipient. It would be best for you to select a courier company that has online tracking capability. Otherwise, you would need to pick up the phone and call them from time to time, especially if your package will be traveling to a considerably distant destination.

If you are sending something fragile or heavy, you would probably be anxious if it will get to its destination safely. The best thing to do is for you to directly talk to the courier company. Tell them the details about your item and ask them all their guidelines and regulations about sending such an item. Also ask them for any tips about how to package your item properly. Make sure you know what is acceptable to them and what is not. This will lessen the possibility of your package not reaching its intended recipient and of your redoing the whole packaging, only because it does not conform to the courier's standards.

International parcel delivery entails taxes and, perhaps, other additional charges, depending on the item to be sent. You should be certain about the charges and try to compare prices of different courier companies to make sure that you are getting the best deal. You can call each courier company yourself or search for brokers who usually give discounts as they are given special rates by the courier companies themselves.
You can also check the background, reputation and specialties of courier companies before you decide which one to hire. All these are conveniently available on the Internet or through online courier comparison services.