Reliable Shipping to Europe?

[ken]

I'm thinking about shipping my pickups to Europe.

There are several companies willing to ship my packages, such as UPS and FedEx. These seem reputable but the shipping cost for even a small box is crazy expensive.

I could ship the pickups reasonably using US Mail, but international delivery confirmation/insurance seems nonexistent.

What is the best way to reliably ship to Europe without going broke or stressing out because the package disappeared?

Thank you,
ken

[Steve Conner]

We use DHL or UPS for most of our international shipments. If the UPS fees seem excessive, maybe you're not charging enough for the pickups, or putting too few of them in the box?

[LtKojak]

I'm thinking about shipping my pickups to Europe.

There are several companies willing to ship my packages, such as UPS and FedEx. These seem reputable but the shipping cost for even a small box is crazy expensive.

I could ship the pickups reasonably using US Mail, but international delivery confirmation/insurance seems nonexistent.

What is the best way to reliably ship to Europe without going broke or stressing out because the package disappeared?

Thank you,
ken

Only Italy and the new arrived Countries (Romania, Bulgaria, Russia, all ex-USSR and the likes) have corrupt and/or inefficient Postal systems.

To those countries is mandatory to ship with tracking, and you'll be fine. To the rest of the civilized world, Priority post is enough, if you wanna keep your costs down.

HTH,

[David King]

I agree with LtKojak,
I've shipped hundreds of small and large parcels around the world with the US Postal Service and only had a problem once (in Italy). I've found that Priority doesn't speed things more than airmail most of the time. Global Express Guaranteed is excellent for the price but around Christmas time all bets are off. I just don't bother shipping after (US) Thanksgiving day. That said, even with massive delays, those packages have always made it through intact.

[David Schwab]

I also use USPS Priority mail. I ship with the flat rate boxes in the US, but have to use the regular global Priority mail if I want to see any tracking at all. I have had packages get lost twice, but most don't.

[Possum]

US Priority mail flat rate small box is the way to go. Once its out of the States EMS handles the shipping. I've only lost one package in ten years and it was because some guy never updated his Paypal address, so of course it arrived and was stolen by the occupants who claimed they never saw it, I think it was Italy also. Italy is real risky to ship to these days.

I lost two packages several years ago in the US and was suspicious of our local outlet, I was using their automated mailing machine there and later found out if you use that machine at night, the package is never scanned into the post office system until it's delivered, which means anyone could steal it and they have no record of it every being shipped. Now, I use Endicia for Mac, for the last five years or so, use flat rate priority mail boxes and print and label my packages in the AM hours and just drop it off in the night drop at the post office, no waiting no hassles and better insurance than the post office has. Some countries Endicia won't insure packages to, so good idea to explain to anyone there its their risk, not yours, just provide documented proof that you shipped it and then pray ;-)

[marku52]

Its a real crap shoot, varies totally from country to country. USPS flat rate box is the cheapest, tho they almost never allow insurance to be added. You my have to go to express to get registration, and even then insurance may not be available. In some countries you can add insurance from Shipsurance, prices usually very reasonably but they require some form of registration, and don't go to all countries. You also have to buy the insurance within a day of shipping. You have to check both the USPS website and the shipsurance site to be sure you can actually ship for some lower cost than the actual cost of whatever you are shipping.

Everyone agrees the Italian post is a mess, and Brazil just instituted a 60% tariff on items under $500US, and 100% (!!!!!) on items over. This leads to a lot of unclaimed items, as customers are shocked at the (new) tariff and reuse to pay.

Check the shipsurance stuff here.
https://www.shipsurance.com/coverage_order_start.asp

[Possum]

Endicia allows you to insure every flat rate priority box. There are a few countries they won't insure though, but the list is small. If are a full time business it makes no sense to go to the post office to buy postage and ship. Endicia is cheaper, allows you to insure all your shipping through a private insurance company, and you can drop your packages off after business hours. Waiting in line at the post office is a huge waste of time. I've only had one insurance claim in the last six years or so and they paid promptly after the required wait period. Insurance thru the post office is worthless, I lost one package a long time ago and they only paid a small fraction of the value.

[David King]

Some larger post offices have stamp printing automats which are very handy as that postage has no expiry date (metered mail goes "stale" after 24 hours). I load up on $1.95 stamps which are good for 1-3 oz parcels. Every additional ounce costs you .17 so you need to know what your typical parcel is going to weigh and study the rates and regulations before you buy.

[David Schwab]

US Priority mail flat rate small box is the way to go. Once its out of the States EMS handles the shipping. I've only lost one package in ten years and it was because some guy never updated his Paypal address, so of course it arrived and was stolen by the occupants who claimed they never saw it, I think it was Italy also. Italy is real risky to ship to these days.

I lost two packages several years ago in the US and was suspicious of our local outlet, I was using their automated mailing machine there and later found out if you use that machine at night, the package is never scanned into the post office system until it's delivered, which means anyone could steal it and they have no record of it every being shipped. Now, I use Endicia for Mac, for the last five years or so, use flat rate priority mail boxes and print and label my packages in the AM hours and just drop it off in the night drop at the post office, no waiting no hassles and better insurance than the post office has. Some countries Endicia won't insure packages to, so good idea to explain to anyone there its their risk, not yours, just provide documented proof that you shipped it and then pray ;-)

The problem with using flat rate shipping outside of the US is lack of tracking. If you use PayPal for payments, and if the customer claims they didn't get the pickups, they can get their money back from Paypal even if they did get the pickups. PayPal uses the tracking info to see if the customer got their purchase.

I had this happen with a custom preamp I build for a guy in Canada. He put in a claim with PayPal, even though he knew I was getting ready to ship the order, and when he got it he emailed me and said he got it. Then he complained that it didn't fit in his bass and that it wasn't working. I let him know that I fully tested it and he should allow for having to make some room for it in the bass (It was a Jazz bass). So clearly he broke something when trying to instal it.

Regardless of the fact that he emailed me to say he got the preamp, he got his $150 back from PayPal. They will not use email as evidence.

So the lesson learned there is to not use flat rate shipping, even if the package is insured. I insure everything, but that doesn't stop the customer from ripping you off.

The missing packages were insured and I put in a claim with USPS.

[David Schwab]

Waiting in line at the post office is a huge waste of time.

I print all my shipping labels out at home via USPS or PayPal (PayPal is cheaper). Then I just drop them off. Sometimes I just have them pick them up. I even have them deliver the shipping boxes, and they are free. I never have to leave home if I don't want to!

There's no reason to pay $9.95 a month to print shipping from home.

[Possum]

Endicia insurance would cover someone saying they never got the pickups. I screen my customers pretty well and have long conversations with most of them, so this has never happened to me in ten years. To me, Endicia's insurance is worth the service fees. USPS insurance is worthless, bureaucratic jungle to get paid if something is lost or stolen. Endicia's insurance is a private firm not associated with the postal service. So, yes you don't get tracking but your ass is covered because you have Paypal's record of payment, and Endicia's own shipping records, so there's no disputes. Some of the Northern European countries like Norway and Denmark take an awful lot of time to get there, am not sure if it's their customs holding things up, or the reindeer sleds are just really slow ;-) I've had some take up to 4 weeks, but never lost one as long as I was given a valid address. Endicia's software also validates every address before it'll let you ship to make sure there's no errors in the physical address. You'd probably be safe using Paypal shipping within the US, but overseas flat rate boxes I really need to have my work insured by someone who's going to pay me for a loss if it happens. I had to deal with the post office on an insurance claim once and it was about four months before got a check and they way underpaid what was owed, I just gave up trying to deal with them.

[ReWind]

I ship everything USPS. Domestic, I use Priority, because I get it, along with tracking, free by printing my labels online. For international deliveries, I just ship regular US First Class International Mail. It doesn't seem to arrive any slower than when I've done International Priority and neither is really traceable once it leaves the US. It costs about 1/3 the price of International Priority.

I don't insure my shipments. I've come to look at shipping the same way that I look at buying "extended warranties" and service plans for appliances. The money I save by NOT buying the extra stuff every time MORE than makes up for the situation where I might loose a shipment and have to come out of pocket for it. Having shipped to over 20 Countries and most Continents, at this point, I've not lost a single package. The only one that came close went to a US APO address and was lost after being delivered to the receiving office. It finally arrived at the recipient, 2 weeks after my shipping it, as I was winding the replacement set so I ended up with another demo set. No harm done. That said, I do use caution shipping to Italy and some other countries, as Lt. Kojak mentioned. I've asked Italian clients to allow me to ship to a friend or relative in a neighboring country, for peace of mind for both them and myself. It's never been a problem. I've been thanked for my consideration. I have one regular Italian client who has me ship to a shipping service in Miami he uses. They courier his mail to him in Italy from there. It's worked great so far.

My gripe with shipping USPS International is that, on the USPS website, one can ONLY print International Priority and NOT First Class International so I have to manually fill out the customs form and actually drive to the post office and stand in line to ship First Class International, or pay an extra $20. That's a huge pain in my ass and something I'm trying to resolve. In an example from this morning, a 12oz box of humbuckers shipping to Germany will cost me $10.03 to go to the post office and ship First Class, but would have cost me $30 to schedule online and print a label for, because the USPS website forces one to use International Priority. Stamps.com offers online First Class mail label printing/scheduling but it's a paid subscription. I'm going to look into the "Endicia for Mac" that Dave mentioned above as a possible solution. Thanks, D.

[David Schwab]

Endicia insurance would cover someone saying they never got the pickups. I screen my customers pretty well and have long conversations with most of them, so this has never happened to me in ten years. To me, Endicia's insurance is worth the service fees. USPS insurance is worthless, bureaucratic jungle to get paid if something is lost or stolen.

I wasn't talking about USPS insurance, I was talking about Paypal doing a charge back to the buyers credit card. I'll agree about USPS insurance though.

I get too many orders to be screening customers. But I do have conversations with many of them. Many I never talk to at all and never have an issue.

You'd probably be safe using Paypal shipping within the US, but overseas flat rate boxes I really need to have my work insured by someone who's going to pay me for a loss if it happens. I had to deal with the post office on an insurance claim once and it was about four months before got a check and they way underpaid what was owed, I just gave up trying to deal with them.

I don't use flat rate boxes for overseas because of lack of tracking. I use international priority mail. You can insure anything you send, even though PayPal. PayPal is just using Pitney Bowes as a front end for the USPS.

[David King]

I should point out to mac users that the USPS website doesn't play well with Safari or Opera browsers. I have to remember to use Chrome when printing postage.
You can fill out a customs form online and print it out but that no longer qualifies for home pickup which means a trip to the PO. At some point the $17 for on-line priority mail is worth the saved effort.
I agree with ReWind that self-insurance is the best way to go on products with low investment.