— last modified 14 March 2018
Under new international rules on e-commerce announced yesterday the European Commission will create a website to compare parcel delivery prices across EU borders. ParcelCompare says it?s a great idea? so great ParcelCompare already does it!
According to a public consultation by the EU Commission, over two thirds of consumers feel that cross-border delivery costs are too high. The EU found the cross-border parcel prices are on average 3 to 5 times higher than their domestic equivalents for all products.
Because of this the Commission decided yesterday to create a website to compare parcel delivery prices within member countries and across EU country borders which it says: “should help to increase consumer confidence in cross-border shopping and shipping”. The online parcel broker ParcelCompare says the idea makes great sense. In fact, such great sense it is something it is already doing for thousands of customers every month!
Says ParcelCompare’s Head of Consumer Research, David Jinks MILT: ‘Parcel delivery service providers will be required to provide their tariffs for a predefined list of most used services. The Commission will publish the prices on a dedicated website to enable consumers and businesses to compare domestic and cross border tariffs between member states and between providers and opt for the best deal. It makes complete sense; except ParcelCompare already launched its revolutionary new service last year: comparing all available prices and services to any destination within the UK and the EU (and beyond), from all the leading courier and parcel services.’
And ParcelCompare’s service actually goes above and beyond what the Commission is proposing, says David: ‘The prices you see on ParcelCompare’s site are actually cheaper than customers can get if they go direct to the courier’s own site, because we buy space in bulk. Why would anyone need to visit a whole new EU Commission website to see higher prices to any destination than are available through ParcelCompare?’
ParcelCompare also welcomed the MEP’s vote to put a stronger emphasis on providing information to consumers making cross-border purchases on prices, cross border delivery options and complaint handling policies.
And, as it works only with established quality couriers, it believes the Commission’s call for operators to disclose turnover, number of parcels delivered, number and status of employees, information on subcontractors and complaint handling procedures to national authorities is a sensible plan for encouraging transparency within the industry.
Says David ‘The new plans will ensure both private individuals and businesses sending parcels know exactly what kind of service they will be receiving. But there’s no tearing hurry to build a European price comparison site when ParcelCompare already exists to do just that, with prices in real time!’
