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Postage to the US

Postage to the US

Old Apr 7th 2015, 12:36 pm
  #16  
 
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Default Re: Postage to the US

Originally Posted by Politekiwi
I did consider that. But if they are sending individual packages, then how does that work. What about like ebayers who send goods out all the time? I know they charge postage costs on top of the goods price, but who would be stupid enough to suck up that sort of cost for something simple, a phone charger for example, being under 1kg would still cost over £10 to post... So confusing.
You'd pay £10 for 60g/2oz in a padded envelope? That doesn't sound right.

There are ways around the high postage cost, at least for some people. For example transatlantic air crew could mail locally in the US. ...... A colleague in London was selling some spare high-end hifi cables, and sold some in the US shortly before I made one of my trips to see the then-future Mrs P. I took them, unpacked, in my suitcase, and mailed them when I arrived in the US.

Anyone who is selling commercial quantities of a product (not single items they have at home) could contract with a "fulfillment service", not necessarily Amazon, whereby they store your merchandise and ship it for you. A relative of Mrs P has (had?) such an on-line shop of their own, but they handled no merchandise, a fulfillment service took care of all the shipping and handling. ...... In which case they would benefit from the discounted bulk shipping rate. I am certain that is what happened to the Marmite I ordered from the UK. .... It was definitely shipped from the UK, and weighing well over 1kg (it was 2x500g jars) would have cost almost as much to ship as I paid ($20.00) if not somehow lumped in with a lot of other parcels to get the bulk shipping rate.
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Old Apr 15th 2015, 6:59 pm
  #17  
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Default Re: Postage to the US

So my parents have just flown home after a short visit. One topic of conversation "those boxes of books and stuff you dumped at our house when you left the country 8 years ago".

I believe they have thought about shipping them before but various things got in the way of them actually getting round to doing it. But they definitely want it done this time (so do I). I believe there are about half a dozen boxes totaling somewhere in the region of 70-75 kg (we did weight them once and I found the email). Unfortunately I don't know if the boxes are particularly sturdy.

Should I just tell them to wrap each box in layers of packing tape or repack into new boxes (hoping there is nothing too personal hiding in them) and send them individually using parcelmonkey or parcelhero? Or do I tell them to try and find someone to palletize them and ship them together, does anyone do that?
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Old Apr 15th 2015, 7:33 pm
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Default Re: Postage to the US

Originally Posted by sir_eccles
.... Should I just tell them to wrap each box in layers of packing tape or repack into new boxes (hoping there is nothing too personal hiding in them) and send them individually using parcelmonkey or parcelhero? Or do I tell them to try and find someone to palletize them and ship them together, does anyone do that?
I used a "freight forwarder" to pick up a few boxes (metal cases and trunks) from my mother's house after my father died. I would not recommend shipping the cardboard boxes "as is", but a shipper should be able to supply/apply the heavy duty plastic "blanket wrap" that shippers use to protect furniture, and seal it with the super tough tape they use.

Because of the relatively small quantity, there was virtually no saving by sending the things in a freight container (surface shipping), so I had them airfreighted.

Last edited by Pulaski; Apr 15th 2015 at 7:44 pm.
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Old Apr 15th 2015, 7:48 pm
  #19  
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Default Re: Postage to the US

I found the cheapest way was as checked luggage. I used to travel frequency with carry on only, once I had brought a place in NY, I just brought one bag's worth of paperwork / books etc each time on my return flight in a small North Face Duffel that I could then fold up and bring back next trip. Even now without top status most airline credit cards get you a free 23kg bag.

So back to the OP, for low value items its probably best to have anyone who is visiting bring you gifts from those back home or to pick them up when you visit home.

We just had a baby and the postage on most gifts seemed to be at least the declared value of the gift and sometimes more.
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Old Apr 15th 2015, 8:08 pm
  #20  
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Default Re: Postage to the US

Originally Posted by Pulaski
I used a "freight forwarder" to pick up a few boxes (metal cases and trunks) from my mother's house after my father died. I would not recommend shipping the cardboard boxes "as is", but a shipper should be able to supply/apply the heavy duty plastic "blanket wrap" that shippers use to protect furniture, and seal it with the super tough tape they use.

Because of the relatively small quantity, there was virtually no saving by sending the things in a freight container (surface shipping), so I had them airfreighted.
Any recommendations for a freight forwarder near Manchester then?
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Old Apr 15th 2015, 8:19 pm
  #21  
 
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Default Re: Postage to the US

Originally Posted by sir_eccles
Any recommendations for a freight forwarder near Manchester then?
Not really - I just looked in yellow pages/ yell.co.uk and rang up a few, these were in the SW, covering Gloucester, and were mostly in or near Bristol. The cost wasn't much, £200-£300 range IIRC and I just went with the one that "felt right". They sent a van a few days later, and about 7 days after collection I was told my things were in the bonded warehouse at CLT.

I did the customs clearance myself, which amounted to carrying shipping documentation around several offices in the CLT complex. Then when I had the right stamps and clearances I drove my truck over to the bonded warehouse to collect the metal tool boxes and trunks.
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Old Apr 15th 2015, 8:21 pm
  #22  
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Default Re: Postage to the US

look at parcel2go. A comparison website...A friend uses this to get stuff from the UK to France
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