We occasionally have to courier important documents from one country to another given our remote-first approach and the regulatory world's 'less than remote or digital' approaches.
Having said this, using courier services is not a regular occurrence for us so a fair amount of time passes between uses. In order to not have to continuously research the most accessible and trust-worthy services every time this needs to be done, we have recorded the services we have successfully used in the past below.
### Recipient in Portugal (Domestic) So far, we have only used the Portuguese national mail service, CTT to deliver documents and items domestically.
We did have one urgent courier delivery to arrange and we used DHL (see below) due to a lack of other online booking options, but more should be researched.
When sending packages internationally, there are a number of options:
- The national postal service, CTT - last we checked, they were much more expensive than competitors for international deliveries and there were multiple weight limitations
- FedEx - Usually also very expensive
- GLS
- EuroSender - An aggregator of courier services
- DHL
We found a couple of others, but they were almost impossible to book online.
Note: We have not used EuroSender yet, but intend to investigate this option when we next require courier services.
We have only chosen to use DHL Express to date because we have needed to send documents during the coronavirus pandemic and this service was the only one offering guaranteed courier collection from our location when all 'parcel shops' were closed.
According to their website, sending non-express packages through DHL can only be done by contacting them or having a commercial account already established.
To use DHL Express however, all you need to do is go to the following URL: https://mydhl.express.dhl/pt/pt/shipment.html#/rate-and-quote And follow the booking instructions - you will be able to book collection dates and time windows as part of the process. The process is simple and reliable.
### Recipient in the UK (Domestic)
In the past we have used Interparcel for this,
both cheaply and successfully.
It's worth researching the international options given here too though, as
they also work well nationally in most cases.
The Royal Mail is also an option here for smaller packages, but sometimes more expensive for very urgent deliveries.
When sending parcels internationally, we have used two different websites that aggregate a number of courier partners:
Depending on package sizes and weights, the best option varies from one to the other, but we have used both successfully in the past.
NOTE: It is key that the parcels are very well padded as in our experience, there is little care taken with them over long distances.
ParcelMonkey's partner couriers at the time of writing:
Parcel2Go's partner couriers at the time of writing:
Certain parcels can only be sent to the US and there are a number of services that will help you receive your package within the USA and then ship it to you wherever you are in the world.
For this, the most 'well-known' service is undoubtedly https://www.shipito.com/en/. However, they charge a subscription and their courier pricing is quite high.
Whilst we have not used it personally, https://shop2ship.com/ has been highly recommended to us by friends who have used it successfully in the past. They have no subscription, considerably lower shipping charges and a very accessible repackaging charge (should you wish to have multiple parcels repackaged into one).
Note: The parcels still ship from the US so you will still incur the regular customs charges as normal.