Hire Delivery Fees Vs Harvey Norman Delivery Fees

There is a common misconception by customers that event hire delivery fees are incredibly high.

Most customers pay a delivery fee somewhere between $50-$100 to Australian retailers such Harvey Norman and so on to deliver whitegoods and furniture to their home - and they expect hire delivery fees to be the same. But they won't be.

Let's examine why.

Why retailer delivery fees are relatively cheap
A typical leading retailer is Australia-wide and has an enormous, well-funded logistics department at their disposal, and will do a bulk number of deliveries during weekdays.

Their trucks run daily during business hours (and sometimes on weekends just before Christmas) with numerous deliveries to deliver up to 16 orders per day (allowing for 8 hours and 30 minutes per travel and unload with no breaks).

So let's imagine you've ordered a new bed.

He (it is usually a he) - and perhaps a colleague - will

• have a forklift driver locate your new bed in the warehouse
• load it in the truck
• group deliveries in the same region for maximum efficiency
• provide you with a wide timeframe of delivery (this is the old "it will be delivered sometime between 9 and 5" routine, making you wait all day for it)
• unload it from the truck
• wheel the carton on a trolley down your driveway or garden path
• ring the doorbell
• get you to sign for it
• leave it at or just inside your front door
• wheel his empty trolley away to his next delivery.
  
  It is up to you to assemble your own bed. The delivery driver is usually in and out within 15 minutes or less. His salary is usually paid for by the retailer's logistics department.

Why you pay more for event hire delivery fees
Even if you're dealing with the biggest event hire companies in the business, such as Valiant, Exponet or Harry The Hirer, these companies are worth only a fraction of the largest retailers. 

Delivery fees are not funded by the hire companies.

Each client pays their own delivery fees because there is no such thing as a standard delivery.

Delivery quotes vary depending on the time of day, distance, number of items hired and the complexity of your location.

Many venues allow a very narrow window of delivery, such as 60-90 minutes which means the pressure is on us to deliver and install for you (and be out) within that time.

Let's imagine that bed again, but this time you want to hire it along with bedlinen for say, a product launch or TV commercial.

Your event hire team has to

• schedule your delivery within your required timeframe (they cannot simply promise to arrive "any time between 9 and 5")
• locate your items in the warehouse
• pack them in the truck
• drive to your location
• open the truck
• place the cartons on a trolley
• ring the doorbell
• wheel in the cartons
• unpack the cartons
• assemble the bed
• put on the mattress
• make up the bed with sheets, pillow cases, doona insert, doona and throw pillows
• style it as required
• leave you to conduct your event
• and then drive back to the warehouse.

But oh ho! We still have to come back...

On our return (remember, it will be more expensive if you need pickup after-hours, and even more so if we have to wait until midnight to collect it from you), we then have to:

• drive back to your location
• pack up the throw pillows, doona, doona insert, pillow cases, and sheets,
• repack the mattress
• disassemble the bed
• repack all items into the cartons,
• load these cartons into the truck
• drive back to the warehouse
• unload these cartons
• do a final check that all is OK before your refundable bond can be released.

And that's why event delivery is expensive. If you want to save money on delivery, look for companies that allow you to do DIY event hire so you can collect items yourself.

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