International Shipping Experience

[mrbutterworth]

I have to ship one of my Leica lenses to Switzerland from the US.

Does anyone have any experience with the best carrier for this? USPS

seems to be the cheapest, but tracking would be a nice option, so

FedEx might be better. UPS? DHL?

<p>

Any issues or things to know about customs?

<p>

Thanks, Nick

[george_b1]

I shipped an M6 to New Zealand last year via USPS with no problems. Just read the requirements on the US forms AND the Swiss customs regulations at: http://www.harsch.ch/e/tarifinter/custom.php

[ronald_moravec1]

Dip well into your savings. I recently went to UPS to send 12 4x5 prints and a roll of processed 35mm. Chicago to Germany. Less than a pound. $51.00

 

I unwrapped the stuff and went to the post office,bought an envelope and shipped for $2.78. Saved $48. The recipient told me the local delivery person in Germany usually gets lost and the post office is better.

 

Some else on this forum lost an insured USPS package to europe. The insurance they bought only covered the US handling and was reimbursed only half. They were not told at the time it was only good for half way.

 

I guess that leaves Fed Ex which I do not like for various reasons.

 

Try Fed Ex or USPS.

[paul t]

USPS do offer a service with tracking, forgotten what it's called but it is on their

website and has always worked, when I have had items sent to me in the UK.

[andrew n.bra hrefhttp]

I am located outside Sydney Australia and over the years I have bought a number of

software, VR, Leica and Hasselblad items from the USA. Whenever possible I tell the seller

to ship via "US Post Global Express Mail". Reasonably cheap and haven't had a parcel lost

yet (fingers X'ed).<p>

 

Here's a direct link to their website:<p>

 

<a href="http://www.usps.com/global/sendpackages.htm">

http://www.usps.com/global/sendpackages.htm</a>

[gaijin]

I agree with Andrew, US Postal Service Global Express is the way to go. And it provides tracking. I've sent several items to the UK, Europe, and Japan via USPS Global Express. Excellent service, so far. On a lens I sent to a gent in the UK recently, it was mailed by me on Friday and received by him on Monday.

 

Don

[EricM]

Don't use UPS. Do a 'photo.net within' google search for the nightmare stories...

[gary_pinkerton1]

Yep, USPS Global Priority works pretty good. Although tracking 'may' not be available once it gets to Switzerland.

[jorge]

Watch out! Don't use UPS... They will gouge you or your recipient with brokerage fees and then they will even screw with the proper duties fraction calculations and the receipient ends paying a lot more than he should.

 

I am now extremely reluctant of buying from KEH for the sole reason that they insist on using them exclusively. Their procedures ara a real nightmare (outside the US at least).

 

Your best option, albeit expensive is FedEx. Second best USPS, depending on the recipients country own mail system.

[maddav_maddav]

If the parcel is insured it is not possible to bypass custom duties, although it is possible to declare a lower value so as to pay less VAT and duties. But in this case the insurance will cover only a fraction of the real price... So is it worth insuring the parcel for its real value given that it will result in the payment of VAT and other taxes ? The real cost of the insurance if you ship something to france will be around 25%. I dont' know whether it is the same in switzerland but I think so...

[neil_gowlland]

VAT and duty on imports to Switzerland run around 8%, much lower than on imports to EU Member States.

[richie chishty]

Nick:

 

Don't use UPS or FedEx. They are very expensive. I have used USPS Airmail, and sometimes USPS Global Priority Mail or Express Mail to send items to Europe. If you insure the item, you get a number for the package, although it is not a tracking number. If the package weighs less than 2 pounds, you can airmail it for a flat $12 fee.

[lutz]

Hi, I live in Switzerland and I have all my stuff from the States sent to me via USPS Global Priority Mail, never lost a parcel, ever. It can be tracked, it can be insured. At only 7.6% import tax for me it's no question to go for the real value when insuring. And if you have a chance to deduct equipment expenses from your tax bill (like I do) you better produce a corresponding import tax receipt, anyway... ;-)

[maddav_maddav]

Lutz you are very lucky to live in Switzerland !

Here in France we have to pay 19.6% VAT + custom duties.

[rod g.]

Jorge,

 

KEH does ship USPS but only once a week, on Fridays (so order on a Thursday!). They shipped me an M3 never-ready case and M body cap this way at almost a third of the cost.

 

I hate, hate, hate UPS!!!!!!!! They charged me $60.00 Canadian in taxes and fees on a $12.00 U.S. lens. In case anyone cares I didn't bother to persue the matter but won't forget or forgive them either. Fedex also seems ok in a pinch but much prefer the USPS.

[jorge]

Rod,

 

Thanks for the excellent advice. Although USPS parcel service takes *ages* to reach me (3 weeks is "fast") I end paying much less and if the value is declared under $100 I don't pay any duties at all --not something that I will generally be able to persuade Ken Hansen to do, tho.

[peter_werner1]

I also live in Switzerland and receive many items from the US. Here some considerations from my (the receiver's) angle:

 

- UPS is very expensive. They charge you extravagant broker fees for getting a parcel through customs. Their brokers fee are usually much higher than the import taxes themselves (7.6%). Also their distribution in Switzerland is very slow. It takes 4-5 days from reaching the Swiss border to reaching me.

 

- Fedex is slightly less expensive at my end and much faster. 3-4 days from sender to receiver is normal.

 

- DHL: same as Fedex. Fastest turnaround of all the companies, very efficient and friendly service

 

- USPS: the cheapest and reasonably fast (3-4 days in the best case).

With the post office , it makes a difference whether the parcel is small or big. An item in a bubble envelope or a small box (e.g. a jewel, a filter, a small lens, a book) usually is delivered directly without passing through customs unless it has a high value declared (I do not know the limit, but I have received items declared $30 passing without having to go through customs). Custom clearance commission on small items (considered as letter post) is $10 compared to $30 for bigger parcels. Also, customs clearance is much faster (1-2 days) for "letter" post than for parcel post.

 

Bigger parcels take much longer (typically a week) to clear customs and the Swiss Post charges $30 commission for customs clearance on top of the 7.6% import tax.

 

I never lost a parcel in many years with any of the carriers.

 

To sum up: Use USPS to Switzerland if speed is not the prime consideration and keep the parcel as small as possible. Use DHL or FEDEX for urgent items. Do not use UPS for any reason. I try to avoid shops who insist on UPS (e.g. Adorama). UPS charges me most, service is slow and poor.

[msitaraman]

I live in Singapore and vote for "US Post Global Express Mail". UPS/Fedex are cost effective within the US, but a bit pointless outside unless you are in a real hurry or if the item is high value/small volume.

 

Parcel Post through airmail is how people have traditionally shipped for nearly 50 years now, via their respective national postoffices, and it works very well indeed.

[karl_keung]

I live in Hong Kong. The EMS service run by the Post Office is the best, the equivalent

Express Mail run by USPS is also good.

 

Ebay has ganged up with UPS now, the same it has ganged up with Paypal. Don't use them.

As ebay is getting bigger, it is bahaving more like Microsoft.

[robert_clark]

I've had bad experience with UPS - very expensive and slow, and DHL - couldn't find a London address on two attempts - leafy suburb, large detached house, prominent numbers on all houses in road and houses only on one side - in otherwords, just about the easiest type of house to find. I sensed that it was their policy to not bother to deliver and to let the customer/dupe go and pick it up. I'll never use them again.

 

Good service from USPS.

[tommy_baker]

Amazing the consistency of responses. My experience is no different. UPS suck. They

charged me a hefty "handling fee" which was OTT.

 

USPS is awesome, reasonably priced and you usually items get through without any

problems. USPS Express mail is about the fastest thing in the west. 3 days from the US to

the UK. Fully trackable even beyond US borders. Thats what it should be like.

 

Don't use UPS. They don't deserve the business.

[paul t]

That's funny Robert - on Tuesday I was at Berwick St Market in Soho. A DHL

delivery guy asked the market traders where 35 Berwick St was - they pointed

it out to him. Then he walked up and down past 35 around five times, while an

entire row of traders were pointing it out and shouting at him. Hilarious! The

poor chap had to ensure some mockery, but obviously did have major issues

- with both eyesight and numeracy. <P>

Re USPS, and the three day delivery - I was the guy that nice Mr Gaijin sent a

lens to in London. Posted Friday, arrived Monday. Amazing! THanks Mr G. But

I have had an Official Warning about the amount of camera gear around the

house.

[wind.dk]

If you asked about shipping to Denmark, USPS (if I'm right in assuming this is the normal postal service) would be the only option. Sure DHL, UPS and FedEx will offer their services, but their services are useless at best.

 

There's no point in "tracking" your package to be informed it's currently in a plane over Kuwait, when the messenger has already left a note saying you can pick it up in a warehouse 17 miles out of town - after you've paid customs and an additional fee of $10 or $20 for something they knew they would have to do when they originally calculated the already inflated shipping cost.

 

Ordinary mail and packages are delivered by the postman, if you're not at home, they can be picked up at the local post office, never more than 10 minutes walk away. Any customs are calculated without additional fees.

 

After a few bad experiences and no good ones, I've completely stopped buying from people and shops who insist on using courier services, it's never worth the trouble.

 

If at least it was faster... but it ain't.

[david j.lee]

i was about to order a nikon and a lens from keh to be shipped to mexico via

ups,but after reading jorge`s comment i think i won`t.

on another terror story,i once shipped a rolleiflex camera from l.a to atlanta

and fedex lost it. i insured it for 1000.00 dollars and they pay me the grand

plus shipping and handling and insurance. ( by the way, the girl at the fedex

office in los angeles insured it for 4000.00 u.s. and i did not realized that until

the camera was lost...!)

[terencechong]

I would go for Federal Express. I have received an M6, a 40/2 and a 90/2.8 all via Fed-Ex without any hassles whatsoever. The shipment was from Nashville, TN to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Go for international priority (expensive), but will be delivered in 3-4 business days around the globe.