How many new couriers??????

There seems to be a massive surge of new members on this site.<br><br>Have the price of vans dropped of something?<br>

They have been reading and believing the new edition of the courier bible.

i think its the high unemployment, ppl need money so go it alone to try to make a job where there are no jobs.<div><br></div><div>just means prices will go down even more.</div><div><br></div><div>sites like this and the other courier sites sell memberships and dont care that they are killing the industry they work in</div>

Don't you know the best time to start a new business is during a recession?

^^^^ That was a joke!

I dunno MK i started in the recession in 2009 and im still going and with the recent news we have dropped back in i seem to be getting busier, it seems the bigger companys out there want to reduce there fleets giving me more work to do, stupid really but im not going to complain :)&nbsp;

I think there are arguments for starting a business in a recession, if you can.<div><br></div><div>Also, mtvan and other sites creating efficiencies in the market is not 'killing the industry', it's just changing it in the way that almost all competitive free markets do.</div><div><br></div><div>For me as a programmer and designer there are similar sites where guys from India quote next to nothing to take on projects. I don't use them, but here's just one of many... www.phpcodelance.com</div>

Whilst the starting a business during a Recession can be a good thing I dont think this apples greatly to couriers, it depends what service your offering<div><br></div>

<p>Gurantee though that 90% of these 'new startups' are a waste of space.</p><p>e.g &nbsp;Not answering phones,&nbsp; or like I had the other day, 'what now? &nbsp;could do it tomorrow' &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>Good subbies especially in the Midlands are like Rocking Horse shit........very rare! &nbsp; &nbsp;</p><p><br></p>

Richard web site admin damn don't get me started on these guys from India trying to either sell you there service to build or host your site, i'm sick to the back teeth of them constantly bombarding me with email's, i was most happy when they had the recent power cut in India damn that was one quite week no emails from them.<br>although i am after a good host to build my google rankings the last guys i used where expensive &amp; could neither provide the results found i was just paying them dead money found get more enquiry's now than i did when they where hosting my site. &nbsp; &nbsp; <br>

ok it may have sounded harsh when i said sites were killing the markets, what i meant by it was that, take shiply for instance, they give a place for anyone with a van to bid on deliveries meaning if you do get the job the price is very low, or ppl on the site see the low prices and think thats how much it should cost to get items delivered, not good either way.<div><br></div><div>the reason sites like shiply exist is simple, they rip of couriers, they charge a fee for hosting the delivery and believe they are doing a service when really the job would still get done but the customer would have to ring companies and would more likely pick a higher fee if they felt a good vibe from the phone call or if they new of the company locally.</div><div><br></div><div>dont get me wrong they can be a benefit but i think the way they currently are is too geared up to make a profit rather than give a service to either couriers or customers that use the sites.</div><div>meaning that in the long run they are killing the industry they work in as if they price out all there potential customers they too lose out</div>

What gurantee does shiply or anyvan really give the end user in terms of the correct insurances GIT etc.<br><br>The amount of times i have read "Couriers" feedback on these sites does high light the cheap underinsured cowboys that are out there.(Not all but a majority)<br><br>One feedback said the condition of the van that came to collect the items was so bad, They thought it was the scrap man calling round looking for old iron<br><br>I had a call yesterday to collect household goods from Derby to Glasgow with a LWB and when i quoted the price the woman said i can get it done on shiply for about £75.00.<br><br>I said that's fine but thanks for calling.<br>

thats what im saying, sites that gather work together makes it easier to find work but due to the amount of courier bidding it makes the prices very low, perhaps sites that charge a membership should keep&nbsp;their&nbsp;numbers to a certain amount that way its actually worth paying the joining fee's.<div><br></div><div>ive used shiply but only because they pay cash on delivery which means as a new starter the cash flow is their from the start rather than waiting 30 days or more.</div><div><br></div><div>i would like to move away from it but as its free to use and does have a ton of work, if you can afford to go low enough price then you will make cash from it, CX seems very high priced for what you get from the site.</div>

I'm confused you say some sites are killing the industry, but admit to using them???<div><br></div><div>But only because they pay cash?????</div>

these sites should be tighter on insurance etc, and like has been said are only there for them to make money, That said if used in the correct way can be used to our advantage, take yesterday a customer of mine wanted a couple of units she had sold to go to London, this customer i meet through Anyvan by the way and was so happy i Delivered her first items without any&nbsp;damage unlike previous couriers, I know get on average 800 a month off her in work and will only use me know, same with another couple of companys who all pay the going rate all meet through these sites, anyway back to yesterday,&nbsp;Basicly&nbsp;i then managed to fill the van with jobs&nbsp;locally and collected several in London and filled the van with jobs coming back , all at sensible prices, turning the original trip planned into a much more profitable day.<div>I only bid on these jobs at prices i feel worth doing the job for &nbsp;and not cheap like some and a lot of people will read my feedback and use me over the cheap and nasty quotes.depends on the person, and when i get a message asking if i can do it cheaper the answer is no.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>In principle these sites are wrong and should be made to check the couriers , man and van, removal companys that use them for relevant insurance, but all they are worried about is making money, &nbsp;a couple of sites not so well known i have left after&nbsp;receiving an email from them telling me to make my bids lower to encourage people to use there site and try and preach to me on how i should run my business, they got a sharp email response telling them to .... off and remove my account. dam check&nbsp;</div>

We quite regularly direct people (can you deliver my microwave to glasgow for £30 brigade) towards the shiply website, thats because we're just not interesred in that type of work.<br><br>It works for some, but would never entertain any of the jobs on there, regardless of how close we are or how much its paying.<br>

The best one for us was a call at 1 AM for a quote to transport&nbsp; fishing rod he wanted to bid on ebay, He wasn't going to bid more than £12 and he wanted a price from Nottingham to Matlock.<br><br>I quoted and that was the end of it.<br><br>We try to avoid like the pox.<br>

Just what you need at 1 am, its a shock to your system at that time if it`s urgent, I never have done any work from these sites &amp; never will.

your right these sites should make sure the ppl earning work from them are fully insured but then again the sites just want to make money so dont care.<div><br></div><div>you can email copies of insurances meaning you become a verified member so ppl can see your insured but at the end of the day ppl just want stuff delivered as cheap as possible so they wont even care.</div><div>ive turned up for jobs with all my blankets and straps and the customer starts throwing his things in the back telling me its going to his mother in law so he doesnt care,lol</div><div><br></div><div>i do believe though that the site should regulate the numbers of ppl using them to make money, perhaps they should make it that you cannot join without proving you have insurances, i cannot believe none of them advertise either, stick an advert on the telly and they would take all the business from the others.</div>

"i do believe though that the site should regulate the numbers of ppl using them"<div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Eh even if one were to do that, others wouldn't doesn't make any sort of good business sense&nbsp;&nbsp;to the site owner</div><div style="text-align: justify;">a bit like me saying to you can you only have 3 dozen customers please?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We live in a free market!</div>

Self regulate....by giving good feedback when a job is done properly...and bad feedback when it isn't....all professional sites should insist on seeing insurance and GIT before they can join at the very least.<div>Having a van a satnav and a mobile is NOT enough</div>

<p><br></p><p>"all professional sites should insist on seeing insurance and GIT before they &nbsp;can join at the very least.<br>Having a van a satnav and a mobile is NOT enough"</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>Neither is having insurance any guarantee they will be any good! &nbsp;</p><p><br></p>

sites should insist on seeing all the insurance for the vehicles you list, bikes, small, large the lot

I have just started back, since closing my doors in 2008.However in March this year, I was made redundant from work and made a sacrifice and got rid of both of my cars and bought myself a swb transit, not ideal for larger work but its a start.<div><br></div><div>All insurance certs are available on request,</div>