Every now and again I come across an eBay story where a sale goes perfectly and that’s just what happened to Lyndon Holman of Devon.
One morning before work Lyndon bid and won a his perfect sauna on eBay but it was 142 miles away in Birmingham. It was also marked “Local Collect Only” but undeterred Lyndon turned to uShip. He had used uShip before and posted an advert for a courier to deliver the sauna.
About 10.30am he had a response from Matthew McCormack of MMC Couriers. Matthew had just completed a delivery in Birmingham and checked his uShip iPhone app and found the sauna delivery job. He bid on the job, had a quick phone conversation with Lyndon and half an hour later was picking up the sauna.
A couple of hours later the sauna was delivered in Devon much to the surprise of Lyndon’s wife – Lyndon left work early but still hadn’t got home to tell her there was a sauna on it’s way!
Oversized or overweight items are almost always a bit of a bargain on eBay, simply because buyers normally restrict themselves to item in their immediate locality. However services like uShip enable buyers to source couriers across the country who will bid against each other to win the job, often snagging the buyer a real bargain on their purchase. The uShip iPhone app enables couriers to check immediately for available deliveries close to where their last job finishes. (There is also a uShip app for Palm and Android.)
I’m still amazed that an item the size of the sauna could be purchased at breakfast time and delivered in time for afternoon tea by a same day courier at a reasonable cost – but not nearly as amazed as Lyndon’s wife was when it turned up on her doorstep.
17 Responses
How much did it cost Chris?
“Every now and again I come across an eBay story where a sale goes perfectly ”
all our sales go perfectly every time
though sometimes the buyer needs reminding!
Mark… an authentic Finnish sauna would normally go for about $10k.. I am selling mine for $7,500 FOB Minneapolis, MN. good deal, especially with uShip!
The one’s on eBay cost around $250 to buy direct, looked at the market before but didn’t fancy being responsible for roasting anyone alive with a dodgy suana.
And the buyer paid by paypal, got the item collected and then put in a paypal claim saying where’s my item
Just a thought….
For delivering a sauna 160 miles on the same day, I really think the price was good.
Hi Chris, I do approx 1,500 miles per week, moving mostly UShip items, so it keeps me busy!! With it just being me at the moment, that means a lot of time online also, so doing a lot of hours per week.
But I can see that it is possible to move up a gear into a proper business model, starting with taking on a driver, leaving me to quote etc., and then possibly 2nd van.
This has taken me by surprise, as I started couriering in order to keep myself going financially while trying to start an IT based business. However that has now taken a back seat to MMCCouriers.