It's no secret, the rates applied by the traditional transporters like La Poste (the post office) are high, and they are getting higher every day. Solid grounds for tempting you to call in a private transporter. And because you are smart, you have decided to use a price comparator like Upela, not just because it is a quick way of comparing the proposals of the main transporters, but it also gives you the opportunity of many more advantages, for instance reductions on public prices of as much is 70%.
You are definitely heading in the right direction. But to be sure of getting a quote corresponding exactly to what you want and avoiding unpleasant surprises, you need to take a few extra precautions: Here is our advice.
Advice about how to get the right shipping estimate
First weigh and measure your parcel accurately. A transporter may refuse to pick up your parcel if it is under evaluated, or may ask the recipient to pay an extra charge. Even if you can live without this kind of inconvenience, you still may not necessarily have the right scale for weighing your parcel, especially if it is large or heavy. Before making an investment to buy an industrial scale, apply a few simple rules to evaluate the theoretical overall weight of your goods. On our website, we give an indicative list of the weights of the goods most often encountered (https://www.upela.com/peser-mesurer-envois). Another tip, weigh yourself on a home scale with and without the parcel and work out the difference. To be sure, it is always advisable to round off to the upper end of the scale the weight of your parcels then add approximately 15% for the packing.
Choose the suitable method of transport, especially for international shipments (see our article on the subject). Some means of shipping, for instance by sea, are more economical but the delivery times may be much longer, making some customers unhappy, or being unsuitable for goods which are quickly perishable.
In the same line of thinking, make sure that any special conditions for the shipping of some goods are complied with from end to end. There is no point paying more to transport frozen goods, for instance, if the cold chain is not monitored and if the products are found to be spoilt on arrival. However, the major transporters have formulas suited to these specific products, guaranteeing full compliance with all the safety conditions.
