Deliveries in Florence

AnnieF

New member
This is not so much a tourist question, but maybe it will still be of interest to people who are staying in Florence for an extended time.

My daughter is moving to Florence this fall for a 4-year college course. Her apartment - which is in the Oltrarno area - is furnished but we will still need to buy a few large and/or heavy items when we get there. (Things we would not want to bring back on a bus.) And from time to time throughout the year she will likely need to have other things delivered.

I haven't been able to find much information online about how deliveries work there. If we order things from Amazon or Ikea, will someone have to be home to receive the delivery? If no one is home (since she will be in school most of the time) will it get taken to a post office or somewhere else?

Thank you for any help!
 
Deliveries

Buongiorno,

Depending on the item you are delivering (especially larger items), yes - someone will need to be there.

With places like Ikea or Mondo Convenienza, Euronics or UniEuro (just a few other local stores that you can look at for big items) you can work with them to find a time to delivery when someone is available for the delivery.

Whereas Amazon can be a bit more complicated. Their products are normally sent via courier (DHL, UPS or GDS-a local courier) and though with the larger items the courier will normally try to contact you to deliver at a time when someone is there to sign for it - these couriers are calling you the morning of the delivery, so you don't have as much flexibility - plus you need to be fairly fluent in Italian to make the arrangements. Whereas the places above you can schedule,

If you deliver things via the postal service - it would need to be small and my personal experience shipping via the post office is that it takes much longer. A suggestion for a larger delivery with an uncontrolable delivery schedule could be that she check with one of the local coffee bars - and see if one of them would be open to receiving a package for her.

Donna Denise
 
First of all you need to distinguish between large a small deliveries. Second, which can deliver when it suits you - for example, on a Saturday. Also many buildings with apartments have a portinaio - someone who occupies a flat who handles problems, cleaning of the common areas etc. If this is your case everything becomes so much easier.

However, there is variability between delivery companies. The more sophisticated ones such as DHL, UPS and Fedex notify you via SMS and you can usually track your delivery. Also their drivers can usually call you by phone if they have a problem reaching your location. The drivers of SDA which is linked to the Italian postal service do not have a company cell phone so they cannot contact you.

For small packages I agree, if you do not have a portinaio, you can have it dropped off at a nearby bar which knows you. For larger packages (e.g. a bed from Ikea) this is problematic. First of all, understand clearly delivery terms and times before you purchase. With Ikea there are various choices. If the item or items are bulky and need mounting - a kitchen, a shower unit, a wash basin - you can use the service where they do the mounting for you and will bring the items to your apartment at the agreed time (and carry them up the stairs if there is no lift/ascensor!). Alternatively, Ikea enables you to rent a van for a short period so you can transport the items.
 
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