VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION General Discussions How do you pay/ship overseas?

I have never done this before so we need some help from the experts.

What is the best way (cheap also) to ship car parts overseas to down-under? The box would weight about 20 lbs and be about 36" long and 20" wide and high.

Also what would be the best way for someone down under to get $$ to the U.S. to pay for the parts?

Thanks.

I have always used US Mail. By
"Boat" slow but not too ecpensive. By Air fast but expensive. Would GUESS about $40 to $50 for 20 pounds. The post office will look it up for you. Insure it.

For payment an International money order has always worked OK. You might want to check with your bank and see what they prefer.

I recently sold some parts to a gentleman in England. I checked with my bank and they advised me to give him my checking account number along with a "swift code" that they provided to me. He gave the numbers to his banker and they transferred the funds into my account. It worked very well with no problems. The money was in my account in 3 days.

The previously mentioned electronic (wire) transfer between banks would be the safest and they take care of the exchange rate. And there's PayPal.

Earlier this year I sold a 3 vol service manual to a guy in Germany and he paid thru PayPal with no problems. I think it was 7 pounds, and cost $15 thru USPS. Took 5 weeks to get there.

As mentioned, the US Postal Service is best, but last spring when the postal rates went up, there were also many changes and price increases to shipping overseas. Still the cheapest tho. Small light boxes are still pretty reasonalbe, but large heavier boxes are pretty expensive. I would recommend calling your local post office and relay the size and weight to them for a price quote. Also the last 2 times I shipped to Australia I was told the insurance was free, but only up to a cetain figure. You'll want to make sure you have enough to cover it.

On payments, I also like International Money Orders (made out in US Funds).

Bill

I've shipped down under several times. USPS is the most affordable. USPS.com has an international shipping calculator. Make sure to have dimensions and weight ready. You will be required to use a customs form also. Don't be intimidated by this form, it is self explanatory. You will need item weight and shipping weight. As mentioned International Money order or Paypal always work great. Include enough packing material. Bubble wrap works great. Use strapping tape to hold together a heavy package. I also put an address label inside the box to ensure there is an address should the out side label be removed.

Also when sending down under (and possibly to other countries) mark all paper work as "used parts" or it can attract import duty over a set value but I am not sure what that value is.
I have bought parts from Filling Station and WDofrexas, both parcels arrived 1 week after I sent payment and were sent USPS. I used credit card with F.S and paypal for WDoftexas.
Tony

As VCCA son stated go to USPS Postage Rate Calculator and you can figure your own cost for shipping down under. It will give you all the options and cost for shipping.
I ship down under often and require all payments to be made by PayPal. I don't know about all banks but my bank requires a fee to process International Money Orders.Having said that I also pay a percentage to PayPal.

DD

Thanks guys for that very, very helpful information. I will check with my bank on Monday, this would be nice way to go if my bank can do it.

Based on what you guys said I assume a Western Union International MO would be ok, right?

I will check out the USPS web site, thanks again.

Have a great day.

To all participating this subject, regarding Northern Europe:

Int. money order is too expensive and also inconvenient here. Would you like to travel some distance to pay $ 25 (3 times your own bank, when buying notes)for that service? We do not use cheques any more. I have not used them for ten years. When buying/selling we use Visa, Mastercard daily, and PayPal too. As buyers we also may offer to pay the fee the sellers are charged from PayPal, as that is cheaper and faster than through any bank as to International transfers. We also send smaller amounts in notes by air mail, some times by registered mail. To people we trust we also send our Visa # in three separate emails for them to use when needed. (Mine stays with Messrs. Kassis and Wallace.)

As to transport: You cannot sent surface mail overseas any longer from USA. USPS decided to close it down on 1st June this year. So you have the fast option of the following: UPS, FedeX, DHL etc. and from USPS

Global Express Guaranteed® 1-3 Days
Express Mail International® 3-5 Days
Priority Mail® International (flat rate) 6-10 Days
First-Class Mail® International 3-7 days (to Norway)

You will find the information from USPS here:
http://www.usps.com/business/shippi...m=home&page=shippingproductsservices

Depending on when the buyer needs the stuff and if the seller needs to get knowledge of a receipt, you have to communicate to find the best solution. And on eBay: If you want some extra money for S/H to send Internationally (not covering only postage): Inform the bidders on the page. I have paid $ 20 for a shipment with only as little as one - two dollars in postage.
Robbery!

Still trading on the net. Santa only comes once a year, and I love to use my Visa more and cannot be a good boy all the time?? Can't I?

To add to Solan's comments: First Class Mail International is limited to four pounds or less. This is the most economical way to ship small parts and have a reasonable delivery time.

DD

Solan,

Interesting info.

But in a case like mine, I'm just a small, one horse, spare time operation selling used Chevy parts. Not only do I not have any credit card acceptance, it would not make any financial sense to have it. As for Paypal, being that I'm pretty much anti-Ebay, it don't have one of them either.

I'm hearing of more and more companies changing their policies and are stopping to ship overseas. I still do, but with the changes in shipping and all the price increases, it's not as easy as it used to be.

But I also understand what you are saying on your side too.


Bill

I forgot to tell you this: Here we also use the debit and credit cards every day because we are not charged by the card companies. Just like on PayPal the sellers/receivers of the money are the paying ones, but they certainly add parts of the fee to the prices. The card companies dealing in Norway were forced to ask their fees from the sellers many years ago.

Less cash to be taken by robbers, faster payment by the cashiers and a better control with what you have paid/bought, but you have to pay a very small fee each time you use the card. If you use a credit card and repay within 2 - 3 weeks there is no fee at all. When paying by Master etc. you also can get your money back if what you have paid for is not in order, or never arrived.

Sad if the US-sellers really are denying to ship deliveries overseas, because of some changed way of transport. I do not have the feeling of this reversal.

Hope the American card companies copy the system from here, and make the payments safer, cheaper and faster for you.

Thanks for all of your help guys...

Mailing Services (Show Dimensions) Estimated Delivery Time * Post Office Price Online Price
Global Express Guaranteed®
See Service Guide Before Mailing 1 - 3 Days Calculate Calculate
Express Mail® International
(Calculate Guaranteed Date) 5 Days $101.75 $93.61
Priority Mail® International 6 - 10 Days $92.00 $87.40
Priority Mail® Flat Rate Box 6 - 10 Days $37.00 $35.15
*Designed to be delivered in the number of business days specified for each service depending on origin and destination.