Hi all,

While at the post office the other day I noticed that a new poster stating that “weapons” are now prohibited items, which rules out using the Royal Mail for posting my swords. I have always used royal mail so I am not quite sure who to use, which leads onto my question of what service do my fellow Brits use for posting swords?

Cheers,

William

Hi William,
I haven't sent any swords through the post but I have received several - mainly via Parcelforce. But they may now be subject to these new restrictions; I don't know. Otherwise I suppose you would have to use one of the courier services such as Yodel or Hermes, or the big, more expensive ones like UPS, TNT, etc. It's getting ludicrous - you can't send, or receive, a little lithium battery through the post any more. Sorry I can't help further. Good luck.
Neil

Drop Tod a PM, I'm sure he'll know.

J

I've had this problem before, too. Funily enough I had to go to the post office and send a sword back to the supplier last night, which got me thinking too.

I usually go via a third party like these guys, and book collection and delivery online: http://www.parcel2go.com/

I can then enter the parcel details, and get a variety of quotes from various couriers. I can also veiw their respective prohibited items lists.

But, most of all, you can more 'accurately' describe the contents of your parcel. So, if you're selling a Lord of The Rings sword, you can label it as 'Movie Memorobilia'. If it's an Albion, you might describe it as 'decorative metalwork, 'sports equipment', or the like. Anywhere within Europe, you should be fine with that, as items aren't scanned and queries as to your definition shouldn't be raised.

If your items are ever identified as something they don't want to courier, then they should be returned to you, as they're not illegal, and are your property. So at worst you might lose the price of the courier.

Hope this is helpful.

Cheers,

Ant

It could be described as a stage property, especially if it is a blunt.

Are you sure thats not just for sending overseas? Not sure about internal.

Problem is, if you mis describe it they might have a look, find it falls foul of their ridiculous rules and simply chuck it in the bin, despite it being your property, i know of a few consignments dealt with like that.

I use Citylink. Not perfect but the usual domestic carriers are more expensive and less reliable in my experience. I'm not keen on Royal Mail or, too many things going into a black hole.

Tod sends way more stuff than me but it would be possible for me to do a third party posting for you via my account of you draw dead ends elsewhere. Feel free to drop me a line if that's the case.

I posted a sword to another member of this forum via parcel force within the Uk. Swords are prohibited (only company policy not illegal) so i just said sports equipment and there were no issues. I cant think of a reason they would have to look inside.

Specify theatrical prop or sports equipment on the package and you should be ok ... we have the same issues here but not quite as bad as the U.K.

Soren.

I use Royal Mail Parcel Force for sending swords in scabbards in the UK and overseas and have never had a problem.
As said above, declare it as a theatrical prop, describe the material (I had one held up until I phoned them to tell them that it was metal, not plastic) and that it is securely contained within a scabbard or other method which will ensure that it can't pierce the packaging.