UK - Airsure Shipping

[Oakster]

Hey Guys,
Does anyone know if it's possible to print airsure labels online? I couldn't seem to find a way when I was googling.

I'm trying to partner with someone in the UK to ship to some of my international customers because shipping from Canada is NUTS expensive.

I would rather just send them a PDF of the label and have it all paid for already, rather than them having to go into the post office for every item and fill everything out.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Oakster]

Also, is "international signed for" just as reliable? Seems strange that it has tracking within the UK, then no tracking outside, but then still as signature confirmation.

 

[jonoyong]

International signed for still has tracking outside the UK, but for selected countries only. Maybe JK or FrogTastic can weight in on this?

 

[big bopper]

I've always been told that International Signed For is tracked in the UK only, with signature confirmation as you said. I've never used it to be honest, always gone for Airsure - my theory is that if something is lost there's a better chance of narrowing down where it is if it is tracked all the way through.

Given there is next to no difference in the pricing, you would expect it to be equally reliable.

Does anyone know if it's possible to print airsure labels online?

Doesn't look like you can from the Royal Mail website and you can't buy the service from other sites unfortunately.

 

[jk-27]

Hello Oakster,

No, there is no way to print Royal Mail Airsure labels online, it is weight dependent so you have to go to the post office to get it weighed and priced.

As Jono said, International Signed For is actually tracked all the way for certain countries (Singapore being one), but not as many countries as Airsure. Also, Airsure is a quicker service than International Signed For as Airsure get's priority handling (supposedly - I've had items arrive in the U.S. within 3 days, but sometimes it's 2 weeks). International Signed For is standard handling service (so a bit slower).

 

[Oakster]

Thanks for the help - looks like Airsure is the better method, just a pain as shipping lables can't be created online.

 

[Oakster]

One other UK question - what method do you use within the UK? Needs to have tracking. There seems to be a pile of different options.
Thanks

 

[jk-27]

Within the UK, cheapest tracked service is recorded delivery, then the next option is Next Day Special Delivery which, like the name suggests, is a guaranteed next day delivery service.

 

[Silent Oz]

I've used international signed for a couple of times recently with no problems, can be a bit slow though, took the better part of 2 weeks for a parcel to get to the Philippines.
For within the UK, the thing to bear in mind with recorded delivery is that items are only covered for up to about £50, where as special delivery automatically is covered up to £500, and you can get further cover upto £2500, special delivery is several £'s more expensive than recorded though, and i've never known anything get lost with recorded, and i've used it loads.