Help - Shipping Internationally - Any safe way?

[lflngpicker]

I have sold many instruments and musical equipment. Living in the USA, I have always shied away from shipping beyond the lower 48 states. Anyone have success and see it as a non issue? What is your preferred method? Thanks for your possible advice.

[Clement Barrera-Ng]

I have only done it a few times (a couple of guitars, a mandolin). USPS International Priority seems the most efficient, and more economical way to go from my research. The Custom Paper work can be a bit daunting, but I think you should be able to tap the collective wisdom here. When I did ship internationally, I usually ask the buyer to forgo the usual trial period and make it a final sale (unless there is an issue with the instrument while in transit). When it has to cross border, it's pretty much a one way trip.

[Nashville]

I shipped a mandolin half way around the world with no problems. I had it packed at a UPS store and they made a fantastic shipping box for me, cost $45. Could have done it myself, but they did a great job to cushion the mandolin w/ case and the cardboard they used was really thick and strong. Then I shipped it by USPS International Priority which was the best price. The customs forms are no problem. I would do the same next time.

Haha! The buyer even complimented me on the great shipping box!

[Nick Gellie]

I have sold and bought many instrument from the US and I have not had one instance of breakage. All the instruments were packed in solid boxes, with extra padding or support for the neck and cellulose or foam filler material packed in around the case inside the box.

Most have been shipped USPS International 5-7 days and with one exception have arrived within the scheduled period. I am really impressed with the tracking available on any instrument. You get better tracking with USPS than you do with Australia Post as a rule.

[MysTiK PiKn]

If you ship to Canada, do your client a favour, and ship USPS.
There is a better chance of not incurring the dreaded "brokerage fees" that seem to make regular 'courier' services undesirable. There's no guarantee on that either - but many agree = use USPS. = best bet.

I received a small cardboard box via UPS, that got nailed for a surprise charge 'brokerage fee' = $40. !!!!
Contents, old, used, unavailable elsewhere, tractor parts.

USPS = recommended. It comes thru Canada Post mail processing plant - AFAIK. I tend to think that everything on a courier truck gets charged the extra fees, but I don't that for sure. I just know mine did. Complaining = useless.

[lflngpicker]

All excellent replies MysTiK PiKn, Nick Gellie, Nashville, and Clement Barrera-Ng. I appreciate your knowledgeable answers. I am going to digest this information and determine if I am able to wait the time it takes to arrive at its destination. I wouldn't want to spend the receipts until I was sure the instrument found its new owner safely. I understand it can take 1 month or more?

[Clement Barrera-Ng]

I understand it can take 1 month or more?

I think it depends on where you're shipping to. While there is always a chance for delay (eg. held up in customs), most countries in western Europe as well as Canada should not take that long. I once shipped a mandolin to Slovakia, and I thought it would take 2 weeks to get there. But it ended up arriving in just 10 days.

[k0k0peli]

I've not shipped instruments but I've moved a fair amount of electronic and photographic gear around the world. USPS is by far the best carrier for USA-based sources. I've only used others if 1) the purchaser demands it or 2) the item is too big for USPS -- I had a hell of a time shipping an oversize racing bicycle frame to Canada from California.

An interesting domestic factoid: USPS drops stuff less than do UPS and DeFex err I mean FedEx. (Local DeFex drivers can't find my house. Morons.) Researchers repeatedly shipped a box wired with accelerometers and found that USPS items were handled more but suffered fewer and lower impact transients (whacks and drop-kicks). I don't know how DHL compares there, but they're pricey and IMHO best suited for documents that MUST reach an obscure foreign destination within a time window, like when I sent vital papers from Guatemala to Texas.

The trade-offs in private vs postal carriers are time, cost, and reliability. Postal shipments cost least and will probably get there eventually. (I've had month-long transit times from Taiwan and eastern Europe.) Private carriers might move faster (and sloppier) but you'll pay, you'll pay. If I had a batch of instruments to haul in from Guatemala or south-central Mexico, I'd rely on a friend-of-a-friend driving north in a van.

[BBarton]

I've had instruments imported into Canada (from USA and Ireland) as well as shipped some out (to USA and UK) and have not had a problem. I think USPS into Canada from the US is the best option as they don't charge a brokerage fee. There is sales tax (and possibly duty if non-US) due to the receiver, but sometimes it is requested (i.e., you don't get your package until you pay it) and sometimes not -- that seems to depend on the mood of whoever is processing the package at the border facility. I'm not a big fan of Canada Post for international shipping from here, and have tended to favor UPS for that over FedEx -- partly because we have a local UPS driver in our area who will pick up. I expect they're probably similar as you can hear good stories and horror stories about both. I think the secret for a successful shipment -- barring something major done by the carrier like having the package run over by a forklift (yes, it happened!) -- is in the packing, both of the instrument in its case and then the case within the shipping crate/box. Spending a good hour or two doing this with the right materials is worth the investment of time.

The other concern, and a very major one, when shipping out of (and into) the USA is whether the instrument contains any federally listed endangered or threatened species -- e.g., Brazilian rosewood, ivory, some types of ebony, some species of abalone and MOP, just to name a few. I shipped a mandolin from Canada to the USA a couple of years ago and it was held up in US customs for the best part of a week before clearance -- it could have been much worse, and it was just a standard fern inlay on the headstock. 'Lots of other threads on this topic.

[lflngpicker]

Thanks guys for these helpful and comprehensive answers. I am actually considering an offer I have for a mandolin I am selling that would mean shipping to Brazil. I appreciate your time.

[Bob A]

I don't know what you're shipping, but be aware of the CITES regulations; if it has ivory or tortoiseshell or any of the other banned substances, problems may arise, with serious consequences like confiscation and destruction of your item.

[JeffD]

I don't know what you're shipping, but be aware of the CITES regulations; if it has ivory or tortoiseshell or any of the other banned substances, problems may arise, with serious consequences like confiscation and destruction of your item.

Yes I think that is the major concern.

[MysTiK PiKn]

Interesting that you are in California - so it seems. I'm in Canada. I use CA as an abbrev. You use it for California. I am in Ontario, and there's also an Ontario in California. sounds confusing, huh.

CIA cash in advance for Brazil. Also insured. No experience with that destination. The reputation can be a little dark. And no, I don't like to say that.


Those FC soccer fans are crazy, esp. in Brazil. but it's the "beautiful game". cheers. I love to watch Barcelona play on the Europe scene. That's another story, huh. Barcelona's Neymar is from Brazil - he was superstar in last world cup in Brazil. Nobody plays the game like Barcelona. I get all excited just thinking about it. o yeh. :grin:

I don't even watch hockey anymore, or North American football. They just suck in comparison. I will be quiet now. ;)

[k0k0peli]

Interesting that you are in California - so it seems. I'm in Canada. I use CA as an abbrev. You use it for California. I am in Ontario, and there's also an Ontario in California. sounds confusing, huh. I used to live in Ontario CA -- the smoggy city, not the icy er I mean clean province. La Canada CA is fairly near Ontario CA but it's not pronounced the same. It should be spelled La Cañada but gringos are lazy about Ñ's. Another factor: I can return to Ontario CA USA but I had legal problems in Ontario CAN so I'd best stay away.

But I digress. Some nations are notorious sinkholes for shipped goods --mail something there and it's never heard of again. Current reputed 'unsafe' states include Brazil, Hungary, Mexico, Italy, Greece, and now Russia. Many eBay sellers get coverage from Shipsurance [ http://www.shipsurance.com/questions ] whose excluded countries include: Afghanistan, Angola, Bolivia, Burma, Congo, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire), Liberia, Nigeria, North Korea, Paraguay, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, and many post-USSR states (includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan). I've personally had no trouble shipping to Russia, Belarus and Ukraine -- except for the death threats from one pi$$ed-off Russian.

[MysTiK PiKn]

wow. I really didn't think I was pushing that big of a panic button. I'm surprised to see Hungary, Italy, and Greece on your reputed list. I backpacked Europe back in the 70's. Spent a few weeks in Italy, and couple months in Greece. Had no problems. What's with Hungary on that list? Hungary's been in the news recently; don't know why. I tend to think a lot of those don't really belong on that list; but they might be victim to some bigger nasty power. Sad story that. That's like half the planet.

I mentioned FC "football club" aka soccer. A lot of those same countries are involved in FC - it's amazing, the country is in chaos; but they love to play and watch football. Huge crowds. They have some countries with stadiums w capacity to hold 80000 people. The ones on that list maybe not that big - but like Ukraine, I watched them on tv playing the other day. It's just normal everyday life regardless of the political chaos. I've seen some old footage, historical stuff - I guess it was that way back in ww2. Football's the most important thing. I guess they have to have something. Life goes on. And FC is a big part of it. But here, they would cancel everything if there was a wiff of trouble anywhere.

Thanks for the info, k0k0peli

[houseworker]

Depends on the value of the item (and how much the potential buyer wants it). Pay enough and you can get fast shipping just about anywhere.

When I bought my F-4 some years back I used DHL, MI to my door here in the UK undamaged in under 24 hours.