Monday, February 28, 2011

Which service do you trust when you post or ship artwork? (Results)

The February Making A Mark Poll had the lowest number of respondents for any poll I've run on this blog.   Only 29 people responded.  Which tends to make me think maybe that fewer people are selling their artwork online nowadays compared to in the recent past.

Anyway - back to the question posed which was "Which service do you trust when you post or ship artwork?"


Courier services were preferred over postal services.  Of the courier services:
  • FedEx came out as a clear favourite.  It not only attracted the most votes, it also got some very complimentary statements.
I always use Fedex and have always been really pleased with their service.
  • UPS was also popular. 
  • DHL was nowhere - relatively speaking!
Local postal services seemed to do better in countries other than the UK and USA - and presumably in places where the global carriers are less well established.

The local postal service in the USA achieved a respectable number if supporters.  It's difficult to know whether Royal Mail and Parcel Figures were low due to being unpopular or because fewer people from the UK responded to the survey.

Very few people use a specialist shipping service for artwork - but people do recommend the specialist boxes for shipping.

Comments on the original post suggest that:
  • there's a general consensus that the local mail service is fine for sending smaller packages but that big parcels needed a professional courier service 
  • there are problems getting satisfactory insurance cover - and Fedex, UPS and DHL do not insure fine art - it's excluded in their policies. 
  • people were dissatisfied with trying to recover disbursements via the insurance
  • a number of people use a postal logistics service which sorts out what's the best way of getting a package to a destination - and often uses courier servives.  Tina Mammoser uses HMC Logistics (a worldwide document and parcel delivery service) for packages larger than 24".  She also uses them because they provide also provide insurance cover
New services identified via this poll have been added into the existing resources in How to pack, post and ship art - Resources for Artists

Do read the comments on the original post - they're very enlightening.  Do please add your own comments to this post.

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Posted by Making A Mark on Monday, February 28, 2011
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3 comments:

  1. Tina MammoserTuesday, March 01, 2011

    Just to expand on HMC Logistics: they actually provide a full service of collecting the painting (I don't even have to wrap - they have blankets for art), wrapping and crating (creating custom foam insert if necessary), then arranging the delivery and insurance. I use them primarily for sizes over 100cm x 100cm which none of the other companies will take from a private individual.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Making A MarkTuesday, March 01, 2011

    Are they expensive Tina?

    Could you give us a ball park figure for shipping art of that size eg within the UK and/or to the USA?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Karen Martin SampsonTuesday, March 01, 2011

    I have tried a few different couriers and generally go with UPS. They will insure if I am shipping a sold work and can show a receipt for purchase; had no problems with sending a large work insured (had to be packed by UPS) to Gibraltor. Otherwise I use AirFloat boxes which I request to be sent back to me and can use them over and over. I am not familiar with HMC Logistics - do they work in Canada?

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