International shipping help

Hello I am trying to ship an fss figure to a fellow tanker in the netherlands. When I try to purchase a shipping slip off usps.com it only allows me to pick package shipping. Prices range from $30 - $75.

I plan on sending in a padded envelope. The buyer told me I can do it for about 6 bucks but Im not sure how.

Any info would be great as I'd love to get this guy is his figure at a fair deal.

Thanks!

Does he want it loose?
It would probably be cheaper that way (if you could fold the card into a smaller envelope)

Either way, the easiest way to get a solid quote on shipping cost would be to take it to the post office, and ask for international first class mail parcel service.

You'll have to fill out a customs form, so you'll have to go to the post office anyway...

Thanks I appreciate it! He doesn't mind if the card is bent up he plans on opening it.

I shipped three things to Canada yesterday and it took at least 20 minutes for the guy to process everything. They've changed something recently with USPS so that they have to enter a lot more info for international packages into their computers than they did before. Just something to bear in mind.

Im seeing why people dont ship internationally now. I never did on ebay because of scam artist. I know its hard for folks in the netherlands to get cool figs so Im happy to help the tanker out.

Originally Posted by Cold Front

The first class international usps shipping is not trackable. If you ever need international usps tracking, for paypal seller protection, then you need to ship international priority. That's when it gets expensive.

Noted thanks for the info!

I've been told that once the package leaves the US borders, it is not trackable, no matter what. And this was for packages to Canada, Australia, and England.

That is correct, once it leaves a US coastal sorting center and enters a foriegn customs the package is off the grid for a variable amount of time.

Ive had packages reach the middle of nowhere New Zealand in 12 days using USPS First Class from AZ and Ive had multiple, but one was the worst, take 21 days in customs in Canada.

Right now my best amount of customs lag time is with marking small packages as gifts with little, ($15/less), value. Large boxes sporting full collector value and shipped priority with tracking can cost from $30 to $75 and I see them regularly held in Canadian, AUS, and the UK customs for 5-9 days.

Tracking is a joke as far as PayPal is concerned, I can pull a CMA by putting delivery Confirmation on a package as long as they get a number they don't see to care unless the case is escalated. And to compound things if you don't have the guys phone number on the paper work then they cant call him to come get the package when there is a problem or a money due issue, cause they will not call yours.

And I'm currently being told to mismark all packages going to APO/FPO as trivial boring things because theft seems to be high lately. Your experience will vary so good luck.

Originally Posted by wrw311

I plan on sending in a padded envelope. The buyer told me I can do it for about 6 bucks but Im not sure how.

I get this way too much. People have no clue what it costs, just what they feel it should cost.

Here is my qoute,
Ship to Rotterdam 3014 HC Netherlands from Phoenix AZ
Average carded Joe weighs 3oz, plus 1oz padded envelope
Figure is to be opened so no extra padding or protection.

4oz USPS 1st Class - No tracking/No insurance - $5.34
Insurance for $35 (not sure what you charged him for the FSS) adds another $2-3
Depending on how you do your paperwork it may or may not arrive in 9-21 business days.

You come in roughly on budget but your protection is nonexistant. And customs is always the unknown it could go right through or not.

You can change to priority padded envelope which jumps it to $16.95 before insurance and should be there in 6-10 days. However I was told by my Post that if I would pay for EMS Flat rate envelope, $38, that they not only track it the whole way, or at least have actual follow up, it would have insurance covered, and it is also guaranteed to be delivered within 3-5 days. But I have yet to find anyone willing to split that cost with me.

I'd say the $5.34 + $2 or $3 is fairly reasonable. Depends how much you trust the receiver/how much business you do and your loss rate I suppose.

It certainly seems to be rather expensive to send large things from the US to Europe as opposed to the other way around (I was over in the US for work a couple of years back and it was shockingly expensive to send a poster tube back to the UK to save carrying it on flights with me)