International shipping costs questions?

[Dangerkitty]

In Summary, the seat made the journey from Bend, Oregon to Paris France intact via USPS Priority shipping for $216.
The draw back was that they only allowed $400 in insurance, and a declared value of $2499.

After shipping, I reviewed USPS shipping to figure out why it wouldn't allow me to choose Global Express Shipping, and realized it was because I was declaring the value at $4000.
They have a limit of $2499 for Global Express Shipping option, but you can insure for up to the full $2499 value.
In hindsight, I would have used this method, but the buyer was hesitant to pay even the $216, when FedEx and UPS were at, or above, $1500.
The Global Express, with insurance for $2499, came in around $600.




I'm trying to ship a Recaro seat from the USA to France.
USPS shipping is only $216, but they don't allow for insurance over $200.

FedEx shipping, with insurance, quotes at $1450!

Anyone have another suggestion for International shipping for a seat?

Thank you
Thomas

[H-viken]

Depends on the transit time you want and how much of a hassle you are prepared for.

I’d start with DHL or UPS.

After that check with a local shipping company how much an LCL shipment would be (build a simple box on top of a pallet). Lead time will be long though

[Dangerkitty]

DHL is $1600.

UPS is $1400

I'm just surprised by how much these shippers charge compared to USPS.

I've shipped to/from Europe through USPS for years without any issues.
I've bought/sold parts to/from Sweden for many years for my vintage Volvos, and always used PostNard/USPS without issue, although it is a bit more expensive to/from Sweden than other parts of Europe.
The only issue I'm having with this is the value of the seat, and the lack of insurance that USPS will allow.
I understand, that when shipping to some countries, that items are frequently stolen out of packages going through their postal services, but didn't think that was as much of an issue going into Europe.

I guess if it went by boat it would be cheaper.... but didn't a ship full of Porches sink recently? ;-)

[Grilleguy]

Try USPS Global Express Guaranteed. I'm pretty sure you can add insurance. GXG is billed/handled through USPS, but USPS actually uses FedEx to handle the shipment. I'm guessing from past experience, the GXG rate will be about 3x the regular USPS rate, but still much less than FedEx/UPS etc, and it gets there faster than USPS Priority Mail International. GXG was the only way I could ship to Australia when the virus had everything closed down there.

Be careful when entering the size of the box/crate as well. It needs to be properly measured, LxWxH, but all shipping companies dimensionalize the box for weight. So if the box actually weighs 20#, but their box size calculator says it should weigh 40#, you'll pay the 40# rate. You may think you'll get away with entering the lower weight, but it will get checked along the way and you may get a nasty invoice after the fact.... DAMHIK....

When calculating USPS rates, are you doing that signed in with a USPS account or just checking rates without signing in? If you have an account, you may get a discounted rate. I know I do with my business, sometimes it's a little bit, sometimes more, but it all helps. I think it depends on the time of year and how busy they are.

Dan

[Dangerkitty]

It wouldn't let me ship USPS Global Express.
Not sure if it was the size/weight, but it didn't allow that as an option.
Only allowed USPS Priority and Priority Express.

yes, I have a USPS account, and did the Click/Ship option.

[1QuickS]

I have an account with FedEx which allows me to ask for their "Great Rates" pricing. These rates are routinely 1/3 of on-line pricing.

[H-viken]

DHL is $1600.

UPS is $1400

I'm just surprised by how much these shippers charge compared to USPS.

I've shipped to/from Europe through USPS for years without any issues.
I've bought/sold parts to/from Sweden for many years for my vintage Volvos, and always used PostNard/USPS without issue, although it is a bit more expensive to/from Sweden than other parts of Europe.
The only issue I'm having with this is the value of the seat, and the lack of insurance that USPS will allow.
I understand, that when shipping to some countries, that items are frequently stolen out of packages going through their postal services, but didn't think that was as much of an issue going into Europe.

I guess if it went by boat it would be cheaper.... but didn't a ship full of Porches sink recently? ;-)

I normally use USPS as well, has worked well throughout the years.

[1970rsr]

USPS told me that the Tracking is only while in the US... once it leave this country.... There is NO more tracking.

[Grilleguy]

USPS told me that the Tracking is only while in the US... once it leave this country.... There is NO more tracking.

You can sign up for tracking alerts. The alerts will be as it processes through the postal system in the states, goes through customs, leaves customs and on to the destination country and arrival at the country. It does not include tracking such as "on the truck for delivery" like here in the states. I did have a package that needed extra attention for delivery and the foreign post office emailed me for an updated address. The customer had transposed his house number.

[NorthernThrux]

USPS tracking works anywhere with a normal postal system, which is pretty much the whole world. What can happen is you have to look on the destination country's post office web site to get accurate tracking. The info that gets passed back to USPS can be sparse or slow.

When I get stuff from the US, once it says "package has left country", I switch to Canada Post's web site and I get very accurate tracking after it enters the country. Same for when I send stuff to Europe. I just witch to the UK, German, Swiss or French post offices after the Canada Post tracking tells me it has left the country and there has never been an issue.

Ravi