Why are parcel drop-off points ALWAYS the dodgiest vape shops around?

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NortonBurns@reddit

My local Asda has a drop off, the sub post office too. But the only things I ever regularly need to drop off, it's a teeny 'mini-mart' 20 minutes' walk away.

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Worth the hassle even if only for a few quid. A place near me it was in a pet shop, after a while it seemed like they were doing more parcel stuff than selling pet food, it had a dedicated desk for it all and a queue.

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lelpd@reddit

Some places do. I got into conversation with the manager of the local newsagents about it, and she told me they probably get 10 people collecting parcels for each customer they get. She said she took on the service thinking some people picking up parcels would be tempted to buy something from the shop, but in reality there’ll go days where not a single person picking up a parcel ever makes a purchase. Made me feel a bit guilty about using the service at all tbh (it was one where you need to speak to a staff member to collect).

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Radiant_Fondant_4097@reddit

I always think that going into shops and places maybe wondering if they thought they'd bring in a little extra side cash for the effort. Fuck me does it look miserable work though... corner shops basically having a mountain of shit in the corner to deal with, laundrettes filled with queues of bloody people who can't figure out the machine. I try and have everything pre-printed if I can to make a cashiers life easier.

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phatboi23@reddit

> found a place which was making their own baklava. i'd find any reason to send parcels at that point haha

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TheMSensation@reddit

My parents owned a shop before they retired. They got out of it just as running services in addition to selling goods was becoming more popular. They got a Yodel drop off point towards the end (2016ish). At the time it paid 25p/parcel they handled. People will go to their regular shop for their shopping needs and only came to ours to use the parcel service. I'd say almost none of the additional foot traffic converted to actual sales because usually they'd come from far away to use the service. People coming from far away have their own regular shop closer to where they live. It was maybe an extra £500/year revenue it definitely wouldn't be worth the time to have a dedicated desk at a supermarket for the volume we had. There was no way we were handling enough parcels to make up the minimum wage for an employee Assuming it's 35p/parcel today the break even cost is 50 parcels per hour. Between faffing about with customers looking for barcodes and such to scan, printing and storing the parcel in a secure area a single employee would be a loss for a supermarket for no tangible gain.

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_whopper_@reddit

Tesco take Evri parcels in some places so it must have made sense for them to try. In America Kohl’s have said that adding Amazon points to their shops has helped their business.

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bacon_cake@reddit

I always knew this was the case with these things and I always feel a bit awkward too 😅

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MeMuzzta@reddit

What’s wrong with that? Corner shops tend to be more convenient.

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hungrycrisp@reddit

Mines in Asda…

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RowRow1990@reddit

I have them in Asda, Tesco and Spar where I live.

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NrthnLd75@reddit

" # Why are parcel drop-off points ALWAYS the dodgiest vape shops around?" because you live in an insalubrious area.

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FeedFrequent1334@reddit

Yeah, absolutely none of the parcel drop of points near me are vape shops at all, never mind the **dodgiest vape shops around**. They're all in your everyday mini-markets and convenience stores. Come to think of it, most of them are either Co-Op stores or co-op subsidiaries.

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iwanttobeacavediver@reddit

Yep, my usual nearby parcel points are a Morrisons convenience place (using a locker system), a One Stop and an independent post office/off-licence.

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RoutineCloud5993@reddit

>insalubrious https://preview.redd.it/cyxcc8g1z9re1.jpeg?width=310&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e11ed607df4c085a68ffe968741b9d176ac68b13

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Yeorge@reddit (OP)

you're not wrong

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Jacktheforkie@reddit

Because supermarket real estate is exp

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budapest_budapest@reddit

Most of the points near me are in proper supermarkets or perfectly pleasant nondescript newsagents or corner shops.

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SallyCinnamon88@reddit

Stop slagging off the Bossman. He's an entrepreneur, taking on multiple revenue streams and pivoting towards opportunity.

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Yeorge@reddit (OP)

His samosas looked pretty good, I’ll get one next time. Wasn’t brave enough today

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hopingtocatchadream@reddit

The thing I don’t understand is whenever I’ve tried to use them I’ve struggled to actually get them to accept the packages. Last time I tried I think it was 3 or 4 places before they’d take it, each with varying excuses, one literally being they didn’t want to. Not sure if they get a small payment for offering the service without actually doing anything?

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Yeorge@reddit (OP)

Yeah the one closest to me when I last went in said “the machine isn’t setup yet”, I think they were signed up to the scheme just for the odd customer to come in, but never intend to take a parcel

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luckeratron@reddit

I picked up a £1000 monitor from a corner shop that smelt of weed and had a horde of yardmen teenage boys outside. Can't say it wasn't uncomfortable to say the least.

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LidgetTheMidget@reddit

Mine is Bargain Booze. Which is not ideal considering I'm a recovering alcoholic

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Chungaroo22@reddit

If it's any help the Booze in Bargain Booze isn't actually a Bargain.

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Nihil1349@reddit

It isn't even booze.

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Timely_Atmosphere735@reddit

It’s truckers tizer. They collect them from lay-bys.

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BonusEruptus@reddit

Way of the road

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mbfos@reddit

Then OP will be fine.

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JennyW93@reddit

Same! 🍻

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cragglerock93@reddit

Hope I don't offend here, but there is something darkly funny about that. But no, not ideal.

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cgknight1@reddit

>Why do we not see these points in regular Supermarkets? Because they are too big for Yodel or DHL to bully over the rates...

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RoutineCloud5993@reddit

One Stop by me is a shop for Evri, they're not technically tesco but they are owned by them. Co op does amazon and Dpd too. Yodel and DHL are always the tiny little corner shop boozers though

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darybrain@reddit

Still better than Hermes/Evri who usually are just the local rubbish tip

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DeemonPankaik@reddit

Big Sainsbury's and big Tesco near me both have them

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snakeoildriller@reddit

Ours is a convenience store in a really rough area. I have no idea how they managed to squeeze the terminal/scanner in there but the counter designer deserves a design award!

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EdmundTheInsulter@reddit

Mine has a heap at one end and you go and find your parcel, like 'hello you may have my gold bar in a secure package', 'go and look in the box mate, it might still be there'

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B0-Katan@reddit

Mines a londis that's usually dead af, but the workers are really friendly and well organised

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Ok_Cow_3431@reddit

bit weird for you to put the word ALWAYS in capital letters, since they're not. Our local ones are Tesco, OneStop (Tesco owned chain) and BestOne stores, one of which is also a post office.

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katie-kaboom@reddit

I have to be fair here. The Yodel drop-off closest to me also sells fad energy drinks and chocolate in big stacks and every possible flavour of vodka and sambuca.

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This_Suit8791@reddit

They simply don’t pay enough for the supermarkets plus the supermarkets don’t need the hassle or business. It might differ slightly from place to place but the shops normally only get 20p per parcel which isn’t a lot. Also if the shops has paypoint they have to accept parcels so a lot of the shops don’t actually want to do it.

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SpudFire@reddit

Not my experience tbh. Closest Evri is a Tesco Express. There's a Premier newsagents that does basically everything else - DPD, Inpost, Yodel, Collect+, DHL, possibly others too. I don't think they have time to be doing anything dodgy on the side with all the parcels they have to deal with, behind the counter resembles a Royal Mail sorting office.

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sjjskqoneiq9Mk@reddit

They pay nothing and are a pain in the arse to deal with. No one wants them

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Obvious-Water569@reddit

Because supermarkets don't need the hassle or the measly few coins they'll make by doing parcel drop-off. Scummy vape shops always need something else to bring in customers. Going in to pick up your Vinted parcel? Might as well grab a new vape and a 4 pack of Carling while you're at it.

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Bright-Spot5380@reddit

They are designed to get you in the shops to buy other stuff The money they make of these is peanuts

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Apidium@reddit

Mines the local post office?

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Azzymaster@reddit

The delivery companies don’t pay much for the service so not worth the staffing costs for most places

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abject_testament_@reddit

Couriers use smaller shops as the smaller shops are more likely to be in a position to want to be a drop off, which would be something to do with it getting people in to the shops so that they might buy something while they’re there too. With a supermarket, the pickup point would likely be the tobacco kiosk, which doesn’t have nearly as much a chance of being worthwhile to the shop as people would be less likely to spontaneously buy anything. That’s why they tend to do for the lockers, if there’s anything at all.

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ruby_moonson@reddit

At this point, I half expect them to weigh my parcel on the same scale they use for ‘other business transactions

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