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Thread: International Shipping

  1. #1
    Lighting Specialist jaudette3's Avatar
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    International Shipping

    I'm just about ready to discontinue international shipping. There have been numerous problems of failure to deliver. The package gets hung up in the destination country and then the customer holds me accountable for the failure to deliver. Here's a perfect example:

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    Of course neither the US Postal Service or myself has any control or influence at this point but that is not the customer's expectation. I'm ultimately the responsible party since I sold and shipped the item. I do about 25% of my business internationally and it would move the dial to exclude that market. It does seem that most, not all, problems come from places that wouldn't surprise you: Northern Ireland, Wales, Belgium and Luxembourg. I suppose I might try a list of countries that seem to be the most reliable (Germany at the top of that list - their shipping services are unbelievably good). Shipping the product a second time doesn't seem logical.

    Anyone know of any tricks?

    Thanks,
    John
    Lighting Resources for Hardcore Air-Cooled Porsche Enthusiasts”
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  2. #2
    It’s so hit or miss. Have you tried FedEx?
    Peter Kane

    '72 911S Targa
    Message Board Co-Moderator - Early 911S Registry #100

  3. #3
    Senior Member
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    I guess the problem is caused by customs authorities rather than the carriers themselves. I ordered some parts from Florida destination Germany Jan 15th. After about a week USPS tracking showed the parcel having arrived at my local customs department. That status was kept for 3 weeks straight until I got a notification by mail from my customs department to pickup the shipment this Monday.
    Different story:
    I ordered parts for my GMC Typhoon from rockauto.com on Jan 19th . They were sent with FedEx and arrived 4 days later. This time I got lucky and didn't even have to pay any customs duties though the order has been shipped in 3 shipments from different locations and was well above the customs limit.

  4. #4
    Lighting Specialist jaudette3's Avatar
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    I agree that the problem seems to be customs, a seemingly impenetrable world of it's own. It seems a perfect example of modest folks enjoying the scent of power a little too much. In my case the shipments have always arrived and that's when the problems started. Not sure what to do about that.

    John
    Lighting Resources for Hardcore Air-Cooled Porsche Enthusiasts”
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    John Audette - Porsche Lighting Anorak
    AC Shop: BEST-IN-CLASS Air Cooled 911 Lighting Parts => 911BestInClass.com
    AC Site: The Air Cooled 911 Light Resource => AudetteCollection.com
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  5. #5
    Senior Member NZVW's Avatar
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    John, Down here in New Zealand we are prone to freight nightmares when I have had things sent to me by the seller.
    We (our business) has a Commercial DHL Account so now I arrange all shipping from 'my end' and have not had any issues. Having a commercial DHL acc includes our company "Customs Importing Details" so Customs don't scrutinise to the same level as random postage (anything randomly posted appears to have been opened at our border)
    An example, I purchased 2 seats from Germany and arranged DHL to collect and deliver which they were in 4 days, pretty impressive I thought.
    DHL have their own Freight Fleet of planes which reduces the 'bouncing' from place to place.
    FedEx have a similar platform (which I have used) but parcels seem to 'hop' about state to state in the US prior to International dispatch which peeves me off and increases the risk of damage.
    UPS I have had better results from.
    My advice is to get International purchasers to arrange the freight themselves which dissolves your responsibility.
    Mark

  6. #6
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    I use a freight forwarding company (Seawings Express) with a warehouse in Blaine Washington near the US border for anything I order out of the States (including a set of H1's from AC). The items are addressed to me with the US address, and I get a call when they arrive at the airport in Canada. I do the customs clearing and pay a small fee to the shipper. It works great and is more reliable and economical than any other method. Shipping out is a whole other matter, and I'm not sure if you can get reliability and low cost at the same time. I suspect a major courier is the best bet, but I don't think there is such a thing as guaranteed delivery anymore. Insurance and active tracking help, but there seems to be quite a bit of shady activity with parcels going missing anyway... Covid 19 and Amazon are also stretching logistic abilities! Good luck John.
    Cheers,

    Jones...
    early S # 2626
    '71 911T
    '05 BMW 330ci
    '22 Wills Sainte Claire
    '96 S10 truck

  7. #7
    Lighting Specialist jaudette3's Avatar
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    I appreciate the input guys.

    Cheers,
    John
    Lighting Resources for Hardcore Air-Cooled Porsche Enthusiasts”
    ——-
    John Audette - Porsche Lighting Anorak
    AC Shop: BEST-IN-CLASS Air Cooled 911 Lighting Parts => 911BestInClass.com
    AC Site: The Air Cooled 911 Light Resource => AudetteCollection.com
    Instagram: Please Follow => AC Shop Instagram

  8. #8
    DHL to Italy has been more reliable for me and for my brother, who lives there.
    Tom F.
    Long Beach, CA

  9. #9
    Senior Member
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    John, I never use USPS for international shipments. I've had good luck with UPS and DHL.

  10. #10
    John, fwiw we had a lot of issues with international shipping back in 2017. A move to FedEx helped quite a bit, and a move to a distributor in Europe helped even more for certain countries. Still, there are a couple of countries worldwide that are super dicey to send anything at all to.

    USPS and other national postal services that work with USPS have gotten quite a bit messier in the last 12-18 months, and even more so in the last 3-5. Recently received a Christmas package that was sent via Deutsche Post > USPS in November. That was two weeks ago, so February proper. Just got another in a similar fashion.

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