How to Ship Furniture, a Washing Machine or a TV Bought Second-Hand

A chest of drawers on a classifieds site for next to nothing, only it is at the other end of the country or across a border. Or a washing machine whose seller “has no way of sending it”. How do you ship furniture, a washing machine or a TV when it will not fit in your car, never mind a parcel locker? It can be done. You just need to know whether it goes as a parcel, on a pallet or in a van, and each has a very different price.

Parcel, pallet or van

A large item goes as a parcel, on a pallet or by dedicated van, and the choice comes down to weight, size and whether it can be boxed. Luckily the lines between them are fairly sharp.

Ordinary parcel carriers stop at around 30 kg and a girth of around 300 cm. Who takes what is in the guide to parcels over 30 kg and oversized items. Eurosender offers all three methods in one calculator, so you can compare them for the same route.

Furniture: take it apart or send it whole

The cheapest way to ship furniture is dismantled into flat parts in a box, the way it came from the shop. What cannot be taken apart belongs on a pallet or in a van.

A dismantled piece needs four things.

• Put cardboard or film between the parts and wrap corners and edges separately.
• Put screws and fittings in a bag and tape it to the part they belong to.
• Wrap cushions and covers in plastic.
• Fill the box so the boards cannot slide, and tape every side.

And watch the weight. Laminated chipboard is heavier than it looks, and a chest of drawers packed into one box easily climbs past 30 kg. Better to split it in two. An antique or glued piece that will not come apart is wrapped in blankets and cardboard on a pallet and strapped down. For those, Eurosender recommends building a crate around the piece, or choosing a van.

Washing machines, fridges and other appliances

A washing machine, fridge, tumble dryer or dishwasher is shipped on a pallet, because at 50 to 90 kg it is beyond parcel limits. Small appliances such as a microwave or a coffee machine travel in a box as usual.

1. Disconnect and empty it. The appliance must be empty and dry; on a washing machine, drain the remaining water from the hoses and the filter.
2. Secure the moving parts. Tape down doors, drawers and cables. On a washing machine, refit the transit bolts in the drum if the seller still has them.
3. Protect the corners and the front with polystyrene or cardboard, ideally using the original box.
4. Stand the appliance in the middle of the pallet on a layer of cardboard.
5. Strap it down with straps running under the pallet and over the load, then wrap it in film.

Move a fridge upright and let it stand for a few hours before you plug it in. As for the pallet: you find it yourself, collection is from the ground floor only and delivery is to the kerbside. Nobody will carry it up to the third floor, so plan for that before you pay. The whole process has its own guide: how to ship a pallet as a private person.

Televisions: the original box is half the job

A television is shipped as a parcel in a rigid box, best of all the original one with its polystyrene inserts. Without a box, Eurosender says, you should not ship it at all.

• Unscrew the stand and wrap it separately; coil the cable and wrap that too.
• Cover the screen with bubble wrap or a blanket.
• If you do not have the original box, take a slightly bigger one and line the walls with foam or polystyrene.
• Put the accessories on the side facing the back of the TV, never against the screen.
• Mark the box as fragile and write on it where the screen is.

With large screens you run into dimensions. The box of a 65-inch TV is around 160 × 95 × 18 cm, which gives a girth of 386 cm, and that is over the 300 cm limit at both DPD and GLS. That one needs a large-parcel service, a pallet or a van. And take out extra insurance. The screen is the first thing to crack in a fall. How is in the guide to parcel insurance.

Dedicated van: when you do not want to pack

A dedicated van is a van and driver carrying only your load, straight from the seller to you with no transhipment. Packaging is not compulsory, although blankets and straps are always worth it.

Eurosender quotes a price from €0.48 per kilometre, collection within 2 to 3 hours in large cities and delivery across Europe within 24 to 48 hours. You can choose a box van (380 × 165 × 180 cm, 9 m³) or a larger curtain-side van (410 × 210 × 230 cm, 19 m³), both with a 1,000 kg payload. You do the loading yourself; driver assistance or a tail lift is booked as an extra.

Over 200 kilometres the lower bound works out at about €96. For one chest of drawers that is a lot. For a sofa, a fridge and a table together it is quite reasonable. A van pays off with several pieces and with things that are fragile or cannot be packed. For a single appliance, a pallet is cheaper.

Buying second-hand: how to arrange it with the seller

When you buy from a classifieds site or an online marketplace, you book and pay for the transport and the seller only gets the item ready and hands it over. In the booking you enter their address as the collection point and yours as the delivery point.

• Ask for exact dimensions and weight. For appliances they are on the rating plate or in the manual for the model.
• Agree who packs. For a parcel or a pallet the seller has to pack the item and have it on the ground floor. If they refuse, that leaves the van.
• Ask about access. A narrow street, a courtyard, stairs. The carrier needs to know in advance.
• Have photos sent to you before the handover. Without them nobody can tell what happened on the way and what was already scuffed.

The details are in the guide to arranging parcel collection abroad, which applies just as well within one country. Moving several things at once? Then read about moving with courier boxes, pallets and vans.