Parcel delivery in Jeddah: a courier company or a driver for one trip?

You need to get a parcel from one part of Jeddah to another: a gift for a friend, papers for an office, a box you left at your parents' home. You can use a courier service in Jeddah, or order a driver who takes it straight there.

The two ways suit different parcels. This guide describes both and helps you choose.

Two ways to send a parcel in Jeddah

A shipping or courier company. A company like this usually works through a network: drop-off points, sorting, and vehicles that carry many parcels along one route. You hand the parcel in, or a courier collects it, and it travels with other parcels. As a rule this suits small, standard parcels that are not urgent, and it is the way to send something to another city or abroad. Delivery times, size limits and what happens if a parcel is lost differ, so check with the company before you send.

A driver for one trip. You order a vehicle for your parcel. The driver picks it up at your address and takes it to the receiver's address, door to door. As a rule this suits a parcel that is urgent, large or heavy, or one you want to go directly. BeePlus is an example of this second way: an app for moving and delivery that works inside Jeddah only. It does not ship to other cities or abroad.

How to choose: size, weight, urgency and a direct trip

• How big is it? Shipping companies usually set a largest size for one parcel. Measure the longest side and compare it with the company's limit. Something long or bulky often needs a vehicle of its own.

• How heavy is it? The same goes for weight. Weigh the parcel, or estimate it honestly.

• How urgent is it? A network usually runs to a schedule: collection on one day, delivery that day or later. If the parcel has to leave today, a driver ordered for this one trip is usually simpler.

• Does it have to go directly? A fragile item, or one you do not want handled several times, is better off in one vehicle, door to door.

How to pack a parcel so it arrives whole

This is general advice for both ways.

• Take a box a little bigger than the item and strong enough for its weight.

• Fill the empty space with paper, bubble wrap or soft fabric. If something moves when you shake the box, add more.

• Wrap fragile things one by one, away from the walls of the box.

• Close liquids tightly and stand them upright in a sealed bag.

• Tape every seam, starting with the bottom.

• Write "fragile" on the box, and mark which side is up if that matters.

• Photograph the item and the closed box before you hand it over.

What to write for the driver and the receiver

A delivery can lose more time at the door than on the road.

For the driver, it helps to write:

• both addresses in full: the building, the floor and the door number;

• a landmark, if the entrance is hard to find;

• what the parcel is, its rough size and weight, and whether it is fragile;

• the receiver's name and phone number.

For the receiver, send a short message: what is coming and roughly when. Agree in advance who takes the parcel if the receiver is out.

What you cannot send

Every service has a list of things it does not carry, so read it before you pack. For BeePlus the list is in the Terms of Use. Among other things, it includes:

• cash, currency and other monetary instruments;

• jewelry, precious metals and other valuables;

• hazardous materials, flammable liquids and chemicals;

• weapons, and counterfeit or illegal goods;

• perishable items that need special storage.

An envelope of cash or a gold set may look like an easy parcel, but both are on the list. Carry things like these yourself.

Also know this: the driver who carries out the order is responsible for the items, and BeePlus does not offer compensation or insurance for them. So pack well and photograph the parcel.

How a direct trip works in the BeePlus app

Orders are placed in the app only, never by phone. The job is done by partner drivers.

1. Enter both addresses. The pickup and the drop-off, each with the floor and door number.

2. Choose the vehicle. A car takes items up to 200 kg, with the largest item up to 200 × 100 × 60 cm. A pickup takes up to 600 kg, with the largest item up to 200 × 100 × 100 cm. For bigger loads there are trucks; their sizes are compared in Dyna, pickup or truck.

3. Look at the estimate. The price has three parts: distance, a booking fee, and the actual loading or waiting time. The app shows the estimate before you confirm. More on these parts is in Moving cost in Jeddah.

4. Order now or book ahead. For right now, or for any day and time.

5. Meet the driver. A driver is found within 15 minutes on average. You see the driver on the map, with the arrival time. The driver waits 10 minutes free of charge, so have the parcel ready at the door.

6. Pay. In cash, after the job is done. No prepayment and no card. In the app you choose who pays: the sender or the receiver.

If your plans change, cancelling is free before the driver arrives.

The same steps work when the parcel is waiting at a store: enter the store as the pickup address. More in How to get your IKEA purchases home.

Before you send a parcel in Jeddah

1. Measure the parcel and weigh it.

2. Going outside Jeddah, or small and not urgent: a shipping company. Ask about its limits and times.

3. Inside Jeddah and urgent, big, heavy or fragile: a driver for one direct trip.

4. Pack it tightly and photograph it. Cash, jewelry and valuables stay with you.

5. Write both addresses with the floor and door number, and tell the receiver.

6. In the BeePlus app, look at the estimate before you confirm.

For a single item that is not a parcel, such as a TV or a bag, see How to send an item across Jeddah. If you send orders to customers, see How to deliver orders in Jeddah without your own driver.