I've been selling some stuff on ebay recently, a lot of which needs collection, but one item needed to be posted.

It's a real pain to traipse to the Post Office and go through the rigmarole of weighing your item and then finding out it's going to cost more than you thought (more than you've collected on Ebay!)

Plus you have to go during standard office hours - not very convenient when you have a day job. Some things can't wait until Saturday.

So a new service from Collect Plus, recommended to me by my Dad, could be the answer.

They are using local convenience stores as their collection and pick up points. My nearest one is literally a hundred yards from my house. It's open seven days a week and I've just been down there on a Sunday afternoon to drop off a parcel. Very convenient.

Delivery is only £3.99 for a fairly large parcel up to 10kgs. This would cover quite a few ebay sales.

However, it does rely upon the recipient also being within easy reach of a delivery point. The network of stores is growing all the time.

Rather than getting home from work to find a "you have been out" card, and then having to somehow collect it from your local depot at the very restricted hours they open (plus coping with the queues!), an email tells you it has been delivered to your local store and you can pop down, often up to 10.30 at night, and pick it up.

I'm certainly going to be using them whenever possible for ebay sales in the future and would recommend you visit their website to see if their service might be handier for you.

UPDATE 4/12/2009 - After four days my parcel hasn't moved an inch! It is still waiting at the original drop-off point to be collected. From there it has to go to a central depot and on to its destination. So it looks like it could be weeks, at the current rate of travel, before it is delivered.

Oh dear. I have often said if something looks too good to be true it probably is and here is another example. I may be able to retrieve the parcel as it hasn't been picked up yet and send it by Royal Mail. Next time I'll wait too see how good the service is before posting on here. Doh.

UPDATE 10/12/2009 - I've had to pick up the parcel from the original drop-off point and send it by Royal Mail instead. To be fair to Collect Plus they haven't tried to make any excuses  for their disappointing service and have provided a prompt refund in full. I think the idea of their service is good, but perhaps they have been overwhelmed by the response. They might be worth another try in the future when their network is up to speed.