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Posting Rods to Europe

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Neil Kirk

Senior Member
For many years I have limited my ebay sales to UK deliveries only, largely because many other sellers do this and I assumed for good reason, i.e. negative experiences.

I recently had an enquiry from a potential buyer in Germany who wanted to buy 2 rods. I decided to give it a go and plumped for UPS who I have used for numerous domestic deliveries. FIrst of all I was amazed to find that delivery to Germany was virtually the same price as a delivery within the UK and actually the rod was delivered within 48 hours rather than the advertised 72 hours. I have since repeated this process for another rod sent to Germany. I am very happy with the outcomes, based on my admittedly small sample of experiences.

I wondered if others have posted items to Europe and what experiences they have had.

I will not be offering any further items for delivery to Europe until I see how the Brexit negotiations are affecting things.
 
Having been on the receiving end - literally, I have only had one problem that sellers need to be aware of. One vintage cane rod arrived with a damaged tip ring. Now, the damage was very hard to see, but it would have affected its performance and was a concern. It was obviously old damage, but had not been spotted by the seller who is a reputable dealer. Now, if I had got on my high horse I could have sent it back for a refund. The rod cost just over £30 and the shipping was £20 to me so the seller would have been well out of pocket if I had taken that route. So, I suggested that if he sent me a replacement tip I would try and replace the broken one using the old thread if possible. He sent a suitable tip ring and a full reel of the right coloured silk.

I was happy and he was happier than if I had returned the rod. So, just be aware that if you offer a return option it might cost you more than the deal is worth.

As for shipping companies; DPD and the like offer a brilliant service for around £20 to the continent. In many cases they deliver the parcel to a local shop or filling station to be collected from there by the buyer. That suits me as a) I don't have to wait in for the courier and b) it is easier to smuggle it past the wife. ;)
 
I sent a 3-piece 13ft float rod over to my brother in law in Sweden as a thank you gift. It arrived as a 5-piece rod despite being wrapped in bubble wrap, placed in a hard plastic tube which was also then also wrapped in bubble wrap. I can only assume a palate had fallen on it. I used DPD, but then they used a Swedish courier for the last leg, neither would admit responsibility. I got £100 from DPD as compensation but only after some wrangling.
 
I have sent scores of vintage rods to many overseas destinations , never lost one or had it damaged . I recently sent out 2 rods , one to Manchester , one to a town in Germany . The German rod was cheaper to send even though it was longer and got there first [ 2 days ] . Makes no sense to me . however when we leave the EU , costs to send overseas will inevitably go up
 
Hi Mike, was it you who sold the Marco Standard Carp yesterday?
 
Clive Kenyon said:
Having been on the receiving end - literally, I have only had one problem that sellers need to be aware of. One vintage cane rod arrived with a damaged tip ring. Now, the damage was very hard to see, but it would have affected its performance and was a concern. It was obviously old damage, but had not been spotted by the seller who is a reputable dealer. Now, if I had got on my high horse I could have sent it back for a refund. The rod cost just over £30 and the shipping was £20 to me so the seller would have been well out of pocket if I had taken that route. So, I suggested that if he sent me a replacement tip I would try and replace the broken one using the old thread if possible. He sent a suitable tip ring and a full reel of the right coloured silk.

I was happy and he was happier than if I had returned the rod. So, just be aware that if you offer a return option it might cost you more than the deal is worth.

As for shipping companies; DPD and the like offer a brilliant service for around £20 to the continent. In many cases they deliver the parcel to a local shop or filling station to be collected from there by the buyer. That suits me as a) I don't have to wait in for the courier and b) it is easier to smuggle it past the wife. ;)
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I had a look on DPD today and tried to get a quote for sending a float rod in a 138cm tube but it said it was too long and couldn't be sent.

Can you send rods? Is there a separate service for long parcels?

Their price for standard parcels is very good.
 
Neil Kirk said:
I had a look on DPD today and tried to get a quote for sending a float rod in a 138cm tube but it said it was too long and couldn't be sent.

Can you send rods? Is there a separate service for long parcels?

Their price for standard parcels is very good.
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Try looking for quotes on Interparcel or parcel to go . Both have a quick quote service so you can find out which couriers will ship longer items
 
Mike Hodgkiss said:
Try looking for quotes on Interparcel or parcel to go . Both have a quick quote service so you can find out which couriers will ship longer items
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I tried both but nothing came up for DPD.

I always used to use UPS Today for sending rods ( powered by Parcel2Go) but now they weirdly do not accept long parcels whereas booking direct with UPS I can send rods and the quotes are cheaper than via Parcel2Go or Interparcel.
 
Yes DPD seem to have dropped out of the long parcel market . I used to use UPS for everything then overnight , maybe a year a go now they doubled their prices for long tubes . I have tried to use UPS direct via their website but its such a convoluted process I gave up and went else where
 
Mike Hodgkiss said:
It was , someone got a bargain there . You win some you lose some .....
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I was looking for one of those a few months back. It looks like a lovely rod and someone has got a real bargain. If I hadn't have already bought two old Avon rods in the last few weeks I would have given that bidder a run for our money.
 
Mike Hodgkiss said:
Yes DPD seem to have dropped out of the long parcel market . I used to use UPS for everything then overnight , maybe a year a go now they doubled their prices for long tubes . I have tried to use UPS direct via their website but its such a convoluted process I gave up and went else where
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UPS have a much simplified online booking system now.
 
I once used the post office to send a rod to a chap in Holland. I was all measured up OK here & wasn't expensive. When it got to Holland somebody else measured it, reckoned it was too long & they sent it back to me ....
 
I regularly send bits back and forth to France, takes bloody ages and costs a fortune, I’d say the majority of stuff sent or received is late. One parcel disappeared for 2 months. So maybe it’s pot luck on the country.
I also gets bits from the States, these turn up very quickly. Last one I ordered on a Friday evening, Monday morning it was on the door step. Sadly you get hammered with tax, but the item was less than half what it cost in U.K./EU.
 
I get 20 kilos of bird seed sent from Coston Mill in Lancashire. It costs £5 and arrives within four days. A cane rod off ebay cost £20 and was here in three days. Yet, a couple of bobbins of rod wrapping cost me £12 and took 10 days. There is no logic to it and it all depends on the delivery company used.
 
Neil Kirk said:
For many years I have limited my ebay sales to UK deliveries only, largely because many other sellers do this and I assumed for good reason, i.e. negative experiences.

I recently had an enquiry from a potential buyer in Germany who wanted to buy 2 rods. I decided to give it a go and plumped for UPS who I have used for numerous domestic deliveries. FIrst of all I was amazed to find that delivery to Germany was virtually the same price as a delivery within the UK and actually the rod was delivered within 48 hours rather than the advertised 72 hours. I have since repeated this process for another rod sent to Germany. I am very happy with the outcomes, based on my admittedly small sample of experiences.

I wondered if others have posted items to Europe and what experiences they have had.

I will not be offering any further items for delivery to Europe until I see how the Brexit negotiations are affecting things.
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Neil some time ago I sold a vintage Hardy carp rod to a guy in Germany. All went smoothly. I try and avoid posting rods in the UK as the experience tends to be a right drag. I don't know why posting something long, thin and light should be so much hassle.
 
It is interesting to hear everyone's experiences.

I am happy using UPS - although as Mike said its nowhere near as cheap as it was. I used to get them collected from home but now I drop them off at local shop (UPS Pick Up point) and then I don't have to spend half the day waiting in for the collection.

I did have something that I sent arrive damaged - not fishing tackle- and UPS paid out without any problems.

With rods I get the heaviest duty cardboard tube available from my local carpet company and and, touch wood, have had no problems.

Plastic rod tubes are too fragile IMO - have had a couple of rods damaged in transit in the past..
 
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