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Hey All,
I’ve never shipped anything out of country before just recently, and I know I had a lot of questions about the best way to internationally ship this particular windstone that I struggled with…before I shipped I did try to search past forum threads for advice, but couldn’t find much that really prepared me for everything I was asked for when I actually shipped the item. So I thought it may be nice and hopefully helpful to others to start an explicit thread on the forum on the subject of international shipping in particular so people can share advice or lessons learned on the subject.
So if you have any advice or general tips & tricks you have learned during past windstone shipping experiences that you are willing to share, especially on shipping windstone in and out of the US, that would be both amazing and greatly appreciated! Like any recommendations folks have on the following topic areas for example:
1. USPS, UPS, FEDEX, Other shipping company?
2. Does weight, distance, or country impact shipping company choice or cost?
3. Insurance? Yes, No, how much?
4. Item value? Free vs. money value?
5. Tracking or certified delivery?
6. Preferred process? Like flat rate boxes or anything?
7. Cost or approximate cost?
8. Differences shipping into US vs. out? [like I recieved a windstone from a forum member who lived outside the US and it arrived in my mail box like normal, but I’ve heard others complain about having to sign customs form and things]
9. General advice or issues?Thanks!
Just to get things started, I’ve only done the following so far (no idea if this is the best way to ship until other folks post of course):
1. Going from US to Canada, ( it was going almost completely cross country, but distance between start and end point didn’t seem to effect cost that I could tell though)
2. UPS vis UPS Worldwide Standard,
3. Item was double-boxed Windstone standard style,
4. Item was a mid-sized PYO,
5. Weighed 1.66 lbs with packaging, considered as 2.00 lbs billable,
6. Outermost box dimensions roughly 9x9x9,
7. Base shipping cost already included $100 insurance and online tracking
8. I did not add on additional insurance or delivery signature/confirmation
9. They asked questions like;
a. “Made in the USA; Yes or No”,
b. Recieving person’s address and phone number,
c. Value of the item,
d. Description of item, and
e. “Receipient related to me; Yes or No”.
10. I had to give them my phone number since I didn’t have the other forum person’s number, said Yes to made in USA, I had the item valued at $50, and described it as a “painted ceramic X” (x = sculpt type). I told them no to the relation question…[I’ve no idea how much a difference my answers will have on the receipient or customs though…]
11. Expected arrival date was 1 week from date of shipping,
8. Base ship cost was $23.45, and after fuel charges and fees, overall total cost was $25.29.
12. Overall the actual experience of working with UPS to ship was exceedingly pleasant, fast, and VERY easy. They had all the shipping supplies on hand including peanuts to double-box the item if needed (I had some), and the cost of their box which I used as my outer box was less than $3, and it was a sturdy box which they taped for free (which is more than USPS would do for me when I shipped my foo puppy PYO for that swap).NOTE: Within the US, I’ve noticed the cheapest and sometimes the fastest way to ship smaller Windstones is typically with USPS than Fedex, but when the weight goes up, it became cheaper and just as fast to use Fedex or UPS.
Here is the problem with shipping UPS to Canada…..(I know because I got nailed with these fees on 2 occasions)
UPS charges the original shipping fee that the shipper pays (reimbursed by the buyer or not) BUT when the package arrives at the home of the person in Canada….UPS charges them a BROKERAGE fee at the door on top of the shipping costs!!! Plus we sometimes get hit with customs as well.
Example: UPS
To ship an Emperor to Canada from USA….
shipping costs $59.00
Brokerage fee at the door of delivery $81.38 YIKES
I always ask now if I am getting a package from the US to me here in Canada to PLEASE ship USPS Priority Mail International and it has tracking and Insurance.
These brokerage fees from UPS will be less for smaller items but you will still get hit with them no matter what.
Just thought I’d mention that beacause it can get really expensive for a Canadian to get windstone items from the USA.
Holy smokes, I wish I knew about the brokerage fee before I shipped my windstone this morning. I didn’t know which service to use but I have a UPS place right by my apartment so they were easiest…they certainly did not tell me anything about more fees on the other end or I never would have used them of course!
This is why I wanted to put this forum thread out there! I was afraid of something like this…too late to retract and do-over what has already been shipped, so hopefully my recipient doesn’t smack me too hard for screwing that one up. :~
This happened to me too with UPS. I live in Canada and I ordered a big lot of 600 beanie babies off ebay from the US and UPS was the least expensive method to ship them in 4 big boxes. But they charged me an import and brokerage fee when they brought them to the door before they would leave them and I had to write them a cheque for I think it was something like $150 and this was after I had already paid $250 for shipping these four huge boxes. Then when there was a problem with them that they turned out to be not as described and I filed a paypal claim, paypal said I had to pay to ship them back to the sender which would have been another $250 to send them back.
When I told UPS to just pick them up and return them to the sender, they said they would just send them back because I rejected them and I was told by UPS no one would have to pay to have them sent back. But I was told later after UPS had been holding them for 2 weeks that the seller would have had to pay the shipping fee and the seller refused so I was out $700 I had paid for them with the shipping. What ended up happening was I was refunded on paypal initially but then when the boxes weren’t shipped back, the seller appealed and they said I now owed the seller back $700 and the whole time UPS was just holding the boxes.
Then one day UPS just brought the boxes back and left them at my door with no explanation so I thought I was stuck with what turned out to be worthless beanies as they were all dirty with bent tags so I donated most of them to the children’s hospital and was mad paypal wouldn’t let me use my account again without sending the seller the money back. I wrote an e-mail though to paypal and told them to pass it to the highest person in charge there demanding I should be able to keep the refund because the seller deliberately sent me damaged beanies when the desciption said they were like new and that it was too expensive to ship the beanies back and they were worthless and that the seller had refused to have them sent back anyway.
To my surprise after a couple weeks, paypal decided to take the hit on the refund and let me keep my refund of $700 the one time because of what happened and they unblocked my account. I never did get back my fees from UPS though even though when I phoned and talked to them, I was promised a partial refund. So I would not deal with UPS again on any large or expensive items. With USPS, I have never had to pay import or customs fees.
Looking for rainbow or pink & teal grab bags!
I only ship USPS out of the USA, because otherwise FedEx and UPS will charge the recipient extra brokerage fees, as mentioned above.
Special note: Lying on the USPS customs form (such as saying something is worth $1 when the other person actually spent $100) to alleviate any customs taxes might seem like a nice gesture, but it is considered federal mail fraud, and if you ever have any dispute over the item it sure can come back to bite your rump. I always simply tell buyers that I cannot lie about item value, and to spend accordingly…
Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.comI’m in Australia so this is from the receiving perspective rather than shipping from the US.
1. USPS, UPS, FEDEX, Other shipping company?
USPS is my preference.2. Does weight, distance, or country impact shipping company choice or cost?
Weight does. I like USPS because it has the cheapest options and I haven’t had any issues with reliability.
For a grabbag they can usually ship under $20 with First-Class International.
I try to get that option although I think if the parcel is over a certain weight I must choose Priority mail.3. Insurance? Yes, No, how much?
No. I don’t think you can get insurance with First-Class, and upgrading to Priority really heightens the cost. I figure I’ve never lost anything so the risk doesn’t seem great enough for me.4. Item value? Free vs. money value?
It doesn’t bother me, best to write the actual value for legal sake though. Luckily we don’t pay customs fees in Australia for items under $1000.5. Tracking or certified delivery?
Again like the insurance, the price jumps up too high.6. Preferred process? Like flat rate boxes or anything?
USPS – First-Class International or Priority Mail.
Not 100% sure, but I think flat-rate boxes are expensive (?)7. Cost or approximate cost?
From Memory for the WS items I normally buy:
GBs – under $20 First-class International
Adult Poads – around $20 First-class International
Adult Poads, Adult Kirins etc, Priority Mail, anything around the $50 mark.8. Differences shipping into US vs. out? [like I recieved a windstone from a forum member who lived outside the US and it arrived in my mail box like normal, but I’ve heard others complain about having to sign customs form and things]
I’d like to know anything from people receiving mail from outside the US. I tend to just ship them off (normally with tracking) and not think too much about it 😮
9. General advice or issues?
None! Yay!
Oh and shipping time is normally 6-10 days.Up front USPS is not always the cheapest method but unless you’re shipping air(insanely expensive) ALWAYS ship USPS internationally. It’s the brokerage fees on the couriers that will kill you.
For declared value if you under claim the item and something happens to it insurance will probably only cover what you claimed on the customs. Anything under $20 won’t be charged customs. Items coming into Canada declared as a gift valued $60 or under won’t be charged customs and I believe the gift limit into the US is $100.
I usually prefer the cheapest option available for shipping. For anything under 4lbs you can ship it First class. The down side of this is there is no tracking and little to no insurance. If you’re shipping Priority or higher I would get the tracking and insurance.
For shipping out of country vs in about the only difference is you need a customs form on the package. For receiving packages they are delivered to my door. If no one is home sometimes they leave them sometimes I have to pick it up from the post office. If parcel requires a signature or has fees to pay then goes to the post offices otherwise most of the time they leave it.
For cost USPS just put up their shipping cost by upto about 40% for international shipping so my cost price points will be off. The average increase into Canada seems to be about $10. Before the increase a small sculpt such as a fledgling would be about $10-$15(First class) and a large sculpt such as a Male dragon was about $40-$50(Priority)
Boy oh boy am I kicking myself now about choosing UPS instead of USPS as I’d originally planned. 🙁 I just sent an email to UPS actually asking about the brokerage and customs fees because NO ONE told me about them at the UPS store when I shipped the item, its not on the shipping receipt and wasn’t posted anywhere in the store, and I couldn’t find anything about it on their website either. It really doesn’t seem legit that they can charge as much or more in these fees than the shipping itself cost (not to mention the actual item), and given that USPS doesn’t…so it will be interesting to see what they say. I’ll share the response when I get one of course. AND you can bet I’m filling out that customer satisfaction survey! J)
*Update – I did re-check the website and all I could find for fees was a COD fee and fees if you select the extra services. the COD fee is like a doing a reverse charge collect phone call (where receipient has to pay shipping before they will deliver instead of the sender paying it), and some language that seems to imply some level of customs fee may apply if the item’s value is over a certain amount. Supposedly there should be no fees associated with the windstone I mailed, so will be interesting to hear if that is true or not when it arrives next week.*
Boy oh boy am I kicking myself now about choosing UPS instead of USPS as I’d originally planned. 🙁 I just sent an email to UPS actually asking about the brokerage and customs fees because NO ONE told me about them at the UPS store when I shipped the item, its not on the shipping receipt and wasn’t posted anywhere in the store, and I couldn’t find anything about it on their website either. It really doesn’t seem legit that they can charge as much or more in these fees than the shipping itself cost (not to mention the actual item), and given that USPS doesn’t…so it will be interesting to see what they say. I’ll share the response when I get one of course. AND you can bet I’m filling out that customer satisfaction survey! J)
I suggest asking the store to refund all or part of the brokerage fee if the recipient is charged. This happened to me and I called the store. No one told me about the additional fee at the store, either. They refunded the recipient half of the brokerage fee (because they said the other half was the customs charge). So, perhaps you will be able to work something out with UPS.
I know I will only ship USPS out of country again, though. Lesson learned. |(
I live in Canada, so international shipping isn’t too bad to here (not overseas from the states).
Brokerage fees are charged because couriers have their own customs agents who check the parcels, whereas usps/ Canada post uses different ones. So they charge fees to pay them I guess, and it’s supposed to be worth it because it’s faster. It’s not the same as customs fees, those are different, and at least in Canada, are completely random. Sometimes I order something worth $300 and get charged the full 13%, other times I buy something worth $500 and don’t get charged anything.
Something else to note, in the States, recipients won’t get charged customs fees for imports but they CAN get charged brokerage fees. So Canadian sellers, make sure you let people know, I’ve had buyers get charged $30-$50 upon receipt of items and Americans are not used to paying those types of fees so it can potentially cause feedback issues. If the item is declared as a gift and $100 or less I don’t think they charge brokerage. Also, if you do your UPS forms online, make absolute sure you do your customs forms properly; since UPS uses their own customs people they are more thorough and if you don’t have 3 sets of customs forms filled out properly they WILL open your parcel to check it and they will NOT pack it back properly.
I think a lot of packing, shipping, and international shipping experience comes from making mistakes and learning the hard way, unfortunately. Sounds like you’ve had some good advice so far though! 🙂
Excellent advice indeed! Thank you Everyone!
Now I can almost understand the brokerage fee if you choose to pay more to have it get there faster and maybe with less grief; makes sense that you may pay more for them to have their own dedicated folks to make that happen. AND I don’t know that I’d mind that fee or paying it IF it was part of the shipping costs up front, and only IF it was clearly spelled out as a fee or part of the shipping cost and why the same as the fuel surcharge or the extra services fees!
I am however, now very glad that I at least shipped the item through the local UPS store in person instead of online myself after the forms warning! Those forms are nasty. VERY good advice on the Canada to US brokerage fees too! I’d never expect that and it would be a very nasty surprise; like holding something you’ve already bought and paid for hostage…would generate very unpleasant feelings I’m sure if it wasn’t expected.
I guess now I just need to wait and see what they say and if my poor person in the PYO swap gets stuck with those blasted fees or not!
Boy oh boy am I kicking myself now about choosing UPS instead of USPS as I’d originally planned. 🙁 I just sent an email to UPS actually asking about the brokerage and customs fees because NO ONE told me about them at the UPS store when I shipped the item, its not on the shipping receipt and wasn’t posted anywhere in the store, and I couldn’t find anything about it on their website either. It really doesn’t seem legit that they can charge as much or more in these fees than the shipping itself cost (not to mention the actual item), and given that USPS doesn’t…so it will be interesting to see what they say. I’ll share the response when I get one of course. AND you can bet I’m filling out that customer satisfaction survey! J)
I suggest asking the store to refund all or part of the brokerage fee if the recipient is charged. This happened to me and I called the store. No one told me about the additional fee at the store, either. They refunded the recipient half of the brokerage fee (because they said the other half was the customs charge). So, perhaps you will be able to work something out with UPS.
I know I will only ship USPS out of country again, though. Lesson learned. |(
HEHE I love this little angry face! 🙂 Says it all. All a learning experience in the end and so kind of you to go after UPS for refund for buyer. GOOD SELLER!!!! 🙂
Excellent advice indeed! Thank you Everyone!
Now I can almost understand the brokerage fee if you choose to pay more to have it get there faster and maybe with less grief; makes sense that you may pay more for them to have their own dedicated folks to make that happen. AND I don’t know that I’d mind that fee or paying it IF it was part of the shipping costs up front, and only IF it was clearly spelled out as a fee or part of the shipping cost and why the same as the fuel surcharge or the extra services fees!
I am however, now very glad that I at least shipped the item through the local UPS store in person instead of online myself after the forms warning! Those forms are nasty. VERY good advice on the Canada to US brokerage fees too! I’d never expect that and it would be a very nasty surprise; like holding something you’ve already bought and paid for hostage…would generate very unpleasant feelings I’m sure if it wasn’t expected.
I guess now I just need to wait and see what they say and if my poor person in the PYO swap gets stuck with those blasted fees or not!
I think that the brokerage fees are based on total declared value of the package so the fees may not be too bad at all or maybe you will luck out and there will not be a charge.
For larger, expensive items coming to Canada I would always ask for USPS now. In hindsight right!! LOL I do not mind as a buyer, waiting the 6-10 days to get my item when it saves me 80.00 in additional fees over and above the shipping costs. There is no Pretty that I need so bad that it must arrive in 2 days but this is just my opinion. It is so expensive to ship anything at the best of times and if there is a way to alleviate some of the costs then I think that a few extra days to arrive is A OK with me. If I am selling a piece I will ask how my buyer wants it to be shipped to them. I do not have access to UPS here where I live in Canada but Expedited Parcel USA is the option I generally ship with (Tracking and Insurance and a reasonable price).
If any of you in the USA have not shipped internationally in the last two months, I just wanted to warn you that international shipping is now a lot more expensive with USPS than it once was.
Go here, and click the ‘international’ tab to see.
https://www.usps.com/business/prices.htm
I ship a lot of small items for my business and it’s costing 2-3 times as much as it did last year. My sales are way down because of it.
Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.com
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