Best courier for moving a mig?

[marlinspike]

I am looking at buying a used welder, for welding up a rusty old Saab, from maybe the ads on here or ebay. A local purchase would be ideal, but many of the migs available are some distance away.

I am assuming that you guys have some experience of using couriers for heavy stuff. Which couriers are recommended for a decent price and good service? I put a couple of postcodes into Shiply and they seemed to want about £50 to courier a 60kg welder 50 miles. That seemed a lot to me, so I wondered if there were better options.

 

[cumbriasteve]

There is a Clarke 90 for sale on this forum, looks tidy and the price is more than right.

Get your quotes from here:

http://www.interparcel.com/?gclid=CMn75fWe17YCFRMftAod5HoAFA

 

[madkayaker]

I use parcel2go a fair bit

 

[mike 109444]

You might want to put your location in the UK on your profile. Could be someone nearby may have what you need?

 

[the repair man]

Parcel2go lost 3 of 9 parcels I sent/received... I now use parcel monkey, they have so far been superb, I sent a 20 kg sip welder, fully insured for £12, 60kg is a big welder! So £50 seems about right, although the mileage is irrelevant, whether its 20 or 200 miles, the price will be similar.

 

[TAITSIE]

You might want to try PAISLEY FREIGHT

 

[marlinspike]

Thanks, guys, I will start checking those companies. I am in Manchester. There are a couple of migs in the ads on here that I have my eye on, including that one.

I put 60kg into Shiply just because I thought that would be the absolute max weight I would be likely to buy. I had also assumed that distance had something to do with it. Seems odd that shipping one 10 miles would cost the same as 100 miles. So no need to look for ones that are nearer me, then?

You know what, this is such a polite and friendly forum. No smartarse know it alls, no sarky comments, just very genuine helpful folk. I have learnt so much in just a couple of weeks. Thanks everyone for all your contributions.

 

[pedrobedro]

To be honest if I was buying a used welder from 50 miles away I'd prefer to go and fetch it just to look it over. Isn't it an option for you or is the Saab your only transport ?

 

[marlinspike]

I have another car, though the Saab has a full mot too. Ideally, I would collect and check it out, but some of the ebay ones are some distance, as are the current ones in the forum ads. I could wait for a good local deal, I just thought I would look into courier costs as well.

Actually, I made an error in my first post - the Shiply quotes are for Hull to Manchester, which is about 100 miles.

 

[Wallace]

Have a think about what an unseen used machine might end up costing you in comparison to a new machine. I know you have been considering a Portamig and the outlay seems high but having dependable consistently reliable equipment to rely on allows you apply more concentration to the job at hand.

 

[marlinspike]

Very true and I am not an experienced ebayer so I am wary of buying something unseen, and spending £50 having it delivered. I had been thinking of Portamigs, simply because everyone raves about them. However, thinking about it sensibly I am not sure that I would get enough use out of one to justify the price. I could always sell it on after the car was finished though.

The compromise solution would be to buy something new but cheaper, like the Gys from Weldequip, though I couldn't find many reviews of those.

 

[zardoz]

To be honest if I was buying a used welder from 50 miles away I'd prefer to go and fetch it just to look it over. Isn't it an option for you or is the Saab your only transport ?

I drove 200 miles for a spot welder. But that was an extreme condition, as it was practically being given away. I have often drove 50/60 miles to pick up an ebay item. Just remind them that paying cash on pick up will save people paypal fees and they are usually more than happy.

 

[oddball90]

Just bought another welder off of ebay and i was glad i went to pick it up. It was described as good condition but when i got there i said i would like to try it, it worked but did not weld(give the seller his due he did take alot of money off the price so i did still buy it). New torch liner, new reel holder and a lot of tlc it is a very good welder.

 

[marlinspike]

Thats a good result. Unfortunately I don't have the experience to know whether a faulty welder was a write off or an easy fix. There do seem to be quite a few spares or repair migs on ebay that could be real bargains for someone. The other downside of couriering is that the seller will say it was damaged in transit and srnding it back would cost you again anyway.

 

[London Wrought Iron]

Try anyvan.com or interparcel

 

[marlinspike]

Thanks everyone. Looking into all the suggestions this weekend.

 

[DuncanM]

A different alternative would be to see if you can find a welding supplies place near you. They may have deals, or even secondhand machines, and they can demonstrate them to you (and let you have a go too!) . The Internet is really useful, and when you know what you are doing can save time and money, but sometimes watching in person can really help.
Cheers Duncan

 

[super noob]

Costing me £50 to ship my welder so seems about right tbh, mine is a big sealey supermig weighing in at 60kg though

 

[marlinspike]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. The cheapest I could find to ship a roughly 60kg welder 120 miles was £48. That was through Shiply. It's a lot cheaper to ship a smaller item that's for sure. Plan is now to collect the welder I am interested in. I have made a note of all your suggestions though for future reference.

 

[Wallace]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. The cheapest I could find to ship a roughly 60kg welder 120 miles was £48. That was through Shiply. It's a lot cheaper to ship a smaller item that's for sure. Plan is now to collect the welder I am interested in. I have made a note of all your suggestions though for future reference.

Pay cash and try before you buy!