Bob

What with the impending holidays coming, how are you all sending presents back home and the like?
Well I'm using the US postal service mainly because there isn't anything else nearby, but anyone tried using other services sending stuff? what were they like, and costs?
Just curious as I've just sent my nephew a box of stuff early, but then he's got a birthday at the beginning of December too, cheeky sod *l*

sibsie

It was my niece's birthday back in July. As usual I did last minute shopping. The gift cost me $70. To it slow Fed Ex cost a whopping $132 to ensure it got there on time. :scared:

This Crimbo the older kiddies will be getting Amazon gift vouchers and the younger ones who still like opening things will have them sent via the slow boat (USPS.)

Bob

yeah, not bad idea, vouchers...hmmm...tolate...sent off gift to nephew and family already....
32pounds or there abouts and the cheapest snail swimming class was $19 USPS...and that's 6 weeks...would have been $38 for express 3 day delivery...ouch...

Bob

Yeah, I've noticed that, not cheap, that's why I'm planning it now, snail banana boat it out there rather than have to use express...cheaper,but still not cheap...
Sending some pic albums and the like out to my mother so gotta keep postage in mind, always sucks when postage out costs the gift eh

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!

Bob

Hehe...aye, annoying tho ain't it *l*

Normally try the padded envelope, the guy at the local post office is kinda nice, so not such a hassle with customs stamp and the like...just wondering if the alternatives to USPS were any good...but doesn't really sound it does it...

Pimpbot

After spending almost $100 for two smallish boxes last year, I'm just glad I can ship stuff via DHL through the work account. We get a very good discount. I can get great UPS Ground deals for regular US shipping too, that often works out a heck of a lot cheaper than USPS.

Bob

Lucky you
So what's DHL like over here anyway? I thought they were scaling back the EU side of things...

sibsie

Only other thing to do is order online from sites that will ship to the UK at a low cost. I've used Amazon powered ToysRUs and it's worked out pretty cheap.

Bob

The other alternate would be to order from the UK sites and have the gift wrap option, hardly very personal though is it...but certainly a lot cheaper...

sibsie

Even better than my super genius cunning plan.

Bob

hehe...
It's a plan, but always nice to get somin' gift wrapped ain't it...it'll have to be a pair of socks or a scarf tho *l*

FlyergirlUK

For all the kiddies back home, for Christmas, I get stuff online from the UK stores and get it all sent to me mum who will then giftwrap everything and pass it on - she has her uses...

I do send a lot of stuff back about once a month to the UK and usually only pay around $15 - it's not bad at all as I'm talking things like books for my boys and the like. I can't complain!

CaliforniaBride

Which begs the question....what will it be on next year?

Pimpbot

Great. They just merged with Airborne Express and I find if you have to overnight something, they usually work out 10 to 30% cheaper than UPS. Infact just last week, I shipped something over night through DHL for just a little more than half the price of what it would have cost using UPS.