Transport
The Default Position
Subject to any specific provisions put in place by a seller the default position of purchases on this site is that the buyer will collect the books (and the seller will make reasonable provision to allow the purchaser to do so).
Weight
A set of law reports can be heavy, especially the modern ones. For instance the Wills and Trusts Law Reports are printed on a first class glossy paper but pick up a few volumes to carry upstairs and you will notice it.
Similarly I met a pupil barrister viewing a set of the Official Law reports many years ago at a Bristol auction house. Some time later I met him again and it transpired he had bought the set for his pupil master and after the auction had filled up the estate car he had brought with him to Bristol to take the books back to London. On enquiry it transpired that the car had been hardly drivable with the weight.
Just to take two examples:
The weight of 12 volumes of the Weekly Law Reports (i.e. 4 years worth before they started creating two volume No. 1) is on my scales 15Kg (33 lbs). So a set from 1953 to 2019 of vols 1 to 3 will be in the order of 247 Kg. (545 lbs).
A set of the Official Law Reports has more volumes per year and it goes back more than twice as far so a full set is a huge weight to move.
So be wary about collecting law reports in domestic vehicles.
DIY Removals
Physically moving a set of reports is hard work – be under no illusion.
An Example: The last time but one that I moved my sets (about 1000 books) I contacted the cox of a university rowing club who I knew and asked her to rustle up her boat crew for a decent daily wage on the basis they were young and strong. As they moved the books I took down and rebuilt the shelving in the new location (which they also lugged up the road). The boat crew certainly earned their pay.
You should think about a sack truck or two (preferably with pneumatic wheels) and cardboard boxes.
Strong sack trucks can be hired or bought (e.g. Screwfix) – they are very cheap nowadays.
Standard removers boxes are tough but far too large. Even their half size boxes are too big – and I have moved any number. Cardboard boxes are freely available in bulk. Do check that they are strong (bankers boxed are sometimes too thin).
Strapping guns are another valuable tool as they save you using some of your strength holding the box together. Standard brown tape is fine. I had one removal firm who believed in just folding boxes together without tape. This visibly exhausted their employees. Use plenty of tape across the bottom of the box and do not neglect the top.
Mark the boxes with what is in them on the side – so that when stacked you can see the markings still! This saves so much time and effort when restacking 700 books in a series.
Professionals
We want to publish a list of recommended removers so please let us know your experiences.
As just mentioned try to avoid removers using standard boxes and the thoughtful vendor will box the books themselves. If they can be got onto a pallet this is going to make the removers task a great deal easier if they use a pallet system.
Weather proofing – this is very much the domain of the professional remover and specialists should be able to ensure the books travel without water or other damage.
International
Posting a few Books
Good packaging protects your books and reputation – obviously.
Apart from the classic cardboard box there is the book mailer (used by Amazon) which starts life as a perforated sheet of cardboard and ends up – origami like – as a super tube holding and protecting your books.
Use lots of brown packaging sticky tape.
Zetland Boxes Ltd. of Market Weighton (www.zetlandboxes.co.uk) are recommended suppliers of such packaging. I am using their A4 Book mailer 305x215x100 and their 250x200x150 boxes.
As to posting you need to create your package, measure it in centimetres and weigh it in kilograms.
Again the following platform is recommended: www.parcel2go.com.
You fill in the dimensions, weight, destination etc (it is a really simple site to use) and it will instantly provide you with comparative costs. You can then click through for the type of delivery you want to use. Personally I use Royal Mail or Fedex (some books I sent by Fedex to Australia were there in 4 days). The description ‘second hand law books’ seems appropriate.
When booking your parcel in the delivery company should, as part of the process, provide you with the labelling to print out and affix. That should include any customs documentation. The plastic wallets that are affixed to many packages one receives are cheap to buy, self adhesive and make a better job of securing the paperwork to a parcel. If you have customs documents you can put them in a separate wallet marked ‘customs’ on the exposed side of the paperwork.
One aspect to consider to reduce costs is to deliver your parcel to a collection point and the various companies will identify drop off points near you (where they scan the parcel and give a receipt).
I would like to thank the charming Mathew Butler and Carole Britton who send architectural and arts books all over the world for their helpful guidance from which the above is drawn. In doing so can I recommend looking at the wonderful selection of such books that Matthew sells either via Google (‘matthew butler books’) or by emailing him and asking to be put on his regular emailed lists at butler.books@btinternet.com. Warning – it is all too easy to be carried away.
Carriers:
- Mark Oliver based in Loughton in Essex (but travels widely):
oliver@vanman69.plus.com 07719 019024
Came highly recommended from a dealer in architectural books who has used him extensively. He provides boxes at cost and is intelligent in his approach, quick and a delightful man.
- Shiply are a useful site allowing you to obtain a range of quotations from couriers to collect and deliver your books. However packing is a different matter and needs to be considered carefully.
- There are the well known couriers such as UPS , DHL and others. Remember that substantial volumes of books will probably go via container and also be palleted.
- Royal Mail will move packages nationally and internationally.