I have never sent an item that I have sold to Europe. Can anyone help me here?
The box will be about 22x22x10 and will weigh about 28 Lbs. ( this is all double boxed for protection. I would like to insure it for $2500. The usual carriers I have used are UPS Fedex and once I used Bax Global but the buyer arranged all of the costs and pick up. I am looking for reasonable time line and quality of service so the item is not damaged. Any suggestions?
About stealing...Since I buy most of my soft- and hardware in the States and this since over 30 years and most of the stuff, like LPs, tapes or CDs go by USPS, I must say that I have only suffered two losses so far (touch wood). One was a bunch of CDs from Amazon, the other was one half of a Beveridge two chassis preamp. The thief stole the powersupply, which was taped to the main unit and left me the latter. He probably thought he was clever, because the two went under the same shipping number, so nobody but me noticed that something was missing and the only satisfaction I had, was that he must have been as frustrated as myself. The theft happened in Germany with those goods in transit to Switzerland. Nowadays, probably because of the terrorist threat, security is much better. Mind you this is Europe. I spend much time in South Africa and there things are completely different. There is a small chance that you will receive a shipment intact, if at all, unless you send it Express or by private carriers . I suppose this goes for most "third world countries", where poverty is very high and the income gap between the very rich and the average citizen is huge.
Once I had to send package to Chile. I checked cheapest UPS and FEDEX - very expensive. USPS tends to get stolen (same with some European countries) unless it is "USPS Express Mail" - handled much better and not very expensive.
Besides insurance coverage is only for the amount declared in the shipping papers. So if the customer wants you to cheat and the goods get lost or damaged you or rather your shipper are only liable for damages up to the amount declared as far as I know. Detlof
This is how I believe it works. That is why the amount I write in on the customs form is the same amount that I insure for, the actual selling price. I won't risk a buyer telling me shipment is lost or damaged, and he wants a full refund, while I cut the insurance/customs number to please him, then I'm out $$$.
Just a short remark from the receiving end, Switzerland, that is. All the advice above is excellent. Fedex and UPS are indeed expensive, but seem to clear customs especially fast. If you want to go USPS, make sure to use their Express (EMS) service, not cheap either but very good and reliable on the delivery end. Clearly it is unethical to lie about prices on your export papers. However if you do, you cannot be held to account by the customs authority of the destination country, but it could happen to your customer, that customs wants to see his wire transfer or Paypal statement to find out if the value you gave for the goods is correct. The fines for faulty declarations can be quite stiff. However it is the customer who is in for trouble, not you, if he armtwists you to give a lower declaration and he is found out. Besides insurance coverage is only for the amount declared in the shipping papers. So if the customer wants you to cheat and the goods get lost or damaged you or rather your shipper are only liable for damages up to the amount declared as far as I know.
I just shipped a tube preamp and a turntable to europe (Norway) by USPS. Got there in a week, no problem. Use lots of bubble wrap, and good boxes (double). Go the extra mile to carefully package the items- cables are easy. No biggie.
USPS Express Mail -- in most cases, not all, these two documents -- USPS Label 11-B (address info, to/from, tc.) PS Form 2976-A (Customs Form-- to/from/contents. Easily filled out)
AS everyone stated -- piece of cake (except for long postal lines).
Trackable on USPS dot com via the numbers on the USPS Label 11-B.
I don't think you can go wrong with any of those carriers. I have also used DHL to Europe with good results. However, the problem in shipping internationally is usually not with the carrier, but with customs. When you are filling our the customs forms, do not lie about the value for the buyer, and make sure that your buyer will be responsible for any and all duties and customs broker fees!
Personally, I prefer to use USPS when shipping internationally. Can be a bit more confusing at first, with all of their paperwork. Be patient, find a good clerk who'll help, and it's worked better than Fed Ex or UPS for me, though I haven't used Bax Global. I use Fed Ex domestically, for ease of use.
If you are a business or can ship from a business BAX Global is the way to go. Fedex and UPS are VERY expensive. USPS might even be a way to go. Cables pretty hard to damage with any reasonable packing, so you are mostly concerned about loss in terms of insurance.
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