On this page you’ll find some useful information about how you can get your item to me (and back home again) conveniently, cheaply, and most importantly safely.

Self-delivery and collection

Often, the most straightforward way to get your item to me is to simply bring it to me yourself. For some items (e.g. big radiograms) delivering it yourself is the only practical option - carriers usually only have one chap on the van, and something as big as a radiogram needs two people to manhandle it. Consequently, even assuming you can find a carrier to take your ‘gram, you can expect to pay an eye-watering price for the service.

Whether you’re going for self-delivery through necessity or choice, I’m always delighted to meet customers and have a chat. If you can’t come on a weekday, evening and weekend deliveries are usually possible, and for those of us who aren’t blessed with satnav I can email a local map and set of directions to help you find me. All of the above applies equally to collection too, of course, once the time has come for you to pick your item up again.

Using a commercial carrier

There are basically two ways in which this can be arranged: you can organise it yourself, or I can sort it all out for you.

Organising it yourself:

People routinely complain about the Royal Mail, but I use it all the time for small items and rarely have problems. The only drawback is that you have to physically take your package to the Post Office, though on the positive side there’s usually a Helpful Person behind the counter who’ll sort you out with the best deal for your particular package. Small items go via normal first or second class mail; larger ones via the Standard Parcels service. All the size and weight limits and prices are on the Royal Mail website: http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm (hit the ‘Personal Customers’ button and navigate from there).

Other Carriers Are Available, of course (lots of ‘em), but if you have an alternative carrier that you use already, you don’t really need me to tell you how to organise it, do you?

Leaving it to me:

No problem - all part of the service. I can arrange to have your item collected from your house on a day to suit you and redelivered to you again after repair or quotation. All you need to do is pack your item safely for the journey. It sounds as though this service should be expensive, but in fact it usually costs no more than the price that Royal Mail would charge to carry the same item.

How to pack your item - this is IMPORTANT!

Whether you decide to consign your precious cargo to the back seat of your car or to some commercial carrier (whether provided by me or not), PLEASE look at the following paragraphs about packaging!

If you’re carrying the item yourself, you don’t really need to package it as such (another advantage of self-delivery). However, there are still some things you need to do to ensure the item survives the journey in good order. Basically, you need to stop stuff flapping around and getting damaged. Obviously, this can include things like cabinet doors, glass shelves, etc, but what I’m really thinking of is turntables. So, for example if your item includes a record player (or it is a record player) make sure that every part of it that can move is taped down or packed with bubble-wrap. Fail to do this, and you risk expensive (and completely unecessary) damage to your pride and joy.

If you’re consigning your item to a carrier all the stuff in the previous paragraph applies, but with knobs on. Always remember that despite what they say in their adverts, no carriers give the proverbial monkey’s sexual encounter about how they treat the stuff they carry, and it’s up to you to pack your item so as to minimise the possibility of damage. Lots and lots of bubble-wrap, then, and a substantial cardboard box! For extra protection, you can even use the double-box technique: wrap the item in bubble-wrap until it fills up the smaller of two boxes, then wrap this box in bubble-wrap until it fills the second, larger, box. As a final flourish, cover all the edges of the outer box (or preferably the whole thing) with packing tape. I’ve used this double-box technique on numerous occasions and haven’t yet had an item damaged, even when sent abroad.

Never skimp on packing, and never cram something into too small a box. I’ve had expensive bakelite sets arrive irreparably damaged because their owner didn’t use a box big enough to allow him to pack round them properly.