Arranging a collection is the point where this trade's pricing goes quiet. Every company in this record charges for it in some form and exactly one publishes what it charges: Royal Mail, at 30p per item when you buy Tracked 24 or Tracked 48 postage online. Everyone else folds it into a quote, which means the only way to compare collection is to get the quotes, and the only way to avoid paying for it is to drop the parcel off instead.
What you are actually booking
A driver stop, in a window, on a named day, with a label that either you print or the driver brings. The parcel must be packed, sealed and labelled or ready to be labelled at the door, and someone must be there. The stop costs the carrier roughly the same whether the parcel is worth three pounds or thirty, which is why collection is a flat fee wherever it is published rather than a percentage.
The one published figure, and what it implies
Royal Mail's 30p per item on online Tracked 24 and Tracked 48 is remarkable mostly for existing. Against a £3.65 Tracked 48 Small Parcel it is about eight per cent of the price; against a 91p 2nd Class Letter it would be a third of it. That is the shape of every collection fee in this trade even where it is not published: a bigger proportion of a cheap parcel than of an expensive one.
Collection against drop-off, on the published grids
Royal Mail prices the same service twice, and buying online rather than at a counter saves 30p on a 2nd Class Small Parcel, 45p on a Tracked 48 Large Letter and £1.05 on a Tracked 24 Small Parcel. Add the 30p collection fee to the online price and it is still at or below the counter price on those rows, which is a genuinely useful thing to know and is invisible unless you read the grid.
What goes wrong with a collection
Nobody in, is the answer nine times in ten. The parcel does not move, the price does not change, and the day is gone; a drop-off has already happened by comparison. The second is a label that will not print, which is why the printer-free options exist and why they are worth choosing even when you have a printer. Neither of these is a published figure, so neither is in the record, and both are worth knowing.
Questions people ask about arrange courier collection
How do I arrange a courier to collect an item?
Book the service online, choose collection rather than drop-off, and have the parcel packed and labelled at the door in the window given. Several carriers will print the label for you from a code if you have no printer.
How much does courier collection cost?
Only Royal Mail publishes a figure: 30p per item on Tracked 24 and Tracked 48 postage bought online. Every other company in this record charges for it inside a quote without publishing the amount.
Is collection cheaper than dropping a parcel off?
No, but it can still beat a counter. Royal Mail's online prices are 30p to £1.05 below its branch prices, so the online price plus its 30p collection fee is at or below the branch price on those rows.
What happens if I miss the collection?
The parcel does not move that day and the price does not change. That asymmetry is the main practical argument for dropping off when the parcel is small enough to carry.