Sending stuff to Europe?
Oct 24th 2004, 1:40 pm
#16
Joined: Dec 2001
Location: Dixie, ex UK
Posts: 52,448
Re: Sending stuff to Europe?
Wherever possible we buy on-line from British based websites, and get direct shipment to the UK/ Europe address. That solves all the shipping, insurance, and customs/duties issues, and saves on time spent wrapping too! 
Oct 24th 2004, 2:58 pm
#17
100% Pure
Joined: Dec 2002
Location: Fort Worth, TX.
Posts: 1,185
Re: Sending stuff to Europe?
Originally Posted by CaliforniaBride
Which begs the question....what will it be on next year?
We're thinking of giving her an official birthday in June (like the Queen) so that she can have a summer party and celebrate her b-day away from the excitement of Christmas.
Oct 24th 2004, 4:21 pm
#18
Ping-ponger
Joined: Jul 2002
Location: Dreich Alba
Posts: 12,006
Re: Sending stuff to Europe?
I've used UPS mostly and they're pretty good, but expensive. I found out they even charge you extra (a lot extra!) to ship via the USPS, i.e., a "handling charge". I only found out when one of the workers there whispered the truth to me.
Other than very special occasions or emergencies, I rarely ship "big" stuff to the UK these days. I've used the padded envelope trick before, via USPS Air Mail and it works well for smallish stuff.
These days I either (a) order stuff from UK sites of Amazon, etc., that will ship to the UK; (b) send small, light stuff in padded envelopes (DVD's of home movies, or local craft stuff); or (c) send nothing (other than a card). For example, my nephew and niece now get $200 worth of stocks/shares every Christmas. Not as exciting now as a fun prezzie, but I hope over the years they'll appreciate it (they're old enough to understand the logic, even if it's not especially meaningful to them yet). So they get to brag that they "own Microsoft", or whatever, and I've set up a Web page for them to follow the fortunes of the shares they hold.
Other than very special occasions or emergencies, I rarely ship "big" stuff to the UK these days. I've used the padded envelope trick before, via USPS Air Mail and it works well for smallish stuff.
These days I either (a) order stuff from UK sites of Amazon, etc., that will ship to the UK; (b) send small, light stuff in padded envelopes (DVD's of home movies, or local craft stuff); or (c) send nothing (other than a card). For example, my nephew and niece now get $200 worth of stocks/shares every Christmas. Not as exciting now as a fun prezzie, but I hope over the years they'll appreciate it (they're old enough to understand the logic, even if it's not especially meaningful to them yet). So they get to brag that they "own Microsoft", or whatever, and I've set up a Web page for them to follow the fortunes of the shares they hold.
Oct 24th 2004, 10:33 pm
#19
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2003
Location: Arizona
Posts: 961
Re: Sending stuff to Europe?
Originally Posted by DaveC
We frequently send stuff back to the UK. It may not be much help for you at Xmas - if you're sending a pile of stuff, for example. But if you're buying something that can fit into a padded envelope then do that and send it at the air mail letter rate via the USPS. It works a treat for us if we're sending clothes or books for birthdays, new babies etc. It's fairly cheap and takes no longer than a week to get there.
I find the "box and send" shops to be the most expensive. Even if we bring our own box, we seem to get charged for the dimensions of the box AND the weight. That's how we came up with the envelope method.
Be aware that your recipients may get charged out of their ears by the delivery company for import duty, tax and "convenience" charges. To mitigate that I suggest addressing the box to one person (rather than The Smith Family). Unless the package is valuable or you insure it then I would downplay the value on the customs declaration slip.
Hey, it's not your nephew's fault that his b-day is in December, blame his parents for bad planning. I should know, my daughter's first birthday is on Dec 22nd this year!
I find the "box and send" shops to be the most expensive. Even if we bring our own box, we seem to get charged for the dimensions of the box AND the weight. That's how we came up with the envelope method.
Be aware that your recipients may get charged out of their ears by the delivery company for import duty, tax and "convenience" charges. To mitigate that I suggest addressing the box to one person (rather than The Smith Family). Unless the package is valuable or you insure it then I would downplay the value on the customs declaration slip.
Hey, it's not your nephew's fault that his b-day is in December, blame his parents for bad planning. I should know, my daughter's first birthday is on Dec 22nd this year!
Oct 24th 2004, 11:27 pm
#20
Forum Regular
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: Nottingham
Posts: 41
Re: Sending stuff to Europe?
I do it the cheats way that is not very personal. I still have my checking account in england and my mum has my cash card so I just tell her to buy presents for my sister and the kids and give my sister the money to buy a present for her, that way they get what they want. We sent stuff from Virginia and it cost an arm and a leg, we also sent stuff from Japan which was even worse so we said no more just buy it yourself. It costs a lot for them to send stuff for us so now they just give us money and put it in my UK account, no probs. The first year away my sister send an X-mas box and we never even got it, all that money on postage and presents went right down the s*****r.
Oct 25th 2004, 2:22 pm
#21
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jul 2004
Location: Nw Mi
Posts: 1,081
Re: Sending stuff to Europe?
We do all our Christmas shopping early then when we meet my folks in the summer we exchange gifts then. Gets around the shipping expense and makes sure that they make it back.
