International Shipping

[Daniel]

Hope some of you can lead me in the right direction.
First the story, not really necessary but I get to gloat a little by telling it.
I recently sold two pens to a Lady in Italy. one of them got lost in the mail. while getting this problem resolved I learned she had anouther pen lost in the mail from anouther penmaker as well. so far that I know of four packages have been mailed via U.S.P.S. and two have been lost. My customer admits it would most likely be on the Italy end of the trip that things go missing.
As for my question. does anyone know of a reliable yet affordable way to ship items over seas?
U.P.S. wanted over $60.00 to ship a 5oz. package. U.S.P.S wanted half the cost of the pen to insure it. and could not offer delivery confirmation. So far I ahve decided I will have to adopt a no guarantee of delivery policy with this sort of track record. It's that or double my prices to cover the cost of more reliable shipping.
thanks.

 

[Johnathan]

Well, as a former resident of Italia, I can tell you that things go missing all the time over there. Sorry, just the way it is.
Your costomers need to know up front that if they want the cheap shipping there is no guarantee. If they want that guarantee, then they will need to pay for the premium shipping. I'm sure this doesn't help any, just charge more.[8D]

 

[Daniel]

Johnathan,
Thanks, that really confirms my suspicion. But I didn't really like making decisions on a mere suspicion. Should I expect this for all European countries? My customer did not seem all that suprised and offered to pay for the replacement pen. I refused to charge her and accept it as the cost of gaining an education.

 

[DCBluesman]

I've sold a number of pens to folks in Italy and use USPS Global Parcel Post Insured. My normal cost per package is about $25. It's the same when I mail to Greece, Spain and Germany, as well.

 

[woodpens]

The reliable of shipping overseas is definitely not what it is in the USA. I also use Global Parcel Post Insured. I have had some packages take over 2 months to arrive.

 

[woodwish]

At some point it seems you could just fly over and hand deliver []

 

[its_virgil]

I've been using the Flatrate Global Priority envelope..use the small flatrate box for domestic mail...put it inside the flat Global Priority Flatrate envelop...tape it up like BB does our small orders and send it for $9.50. No ins..no tracking..just faith in the postal systems. I've sent numerous pkg to the UK, Australia, S Africa, Canada, and Spain with no problem....all delivered. Guess my day is coming. so far so good.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Originally posted by woodwish
<br />At some point it seems you could just fly over and hand deliver []

 

[DCBluesman]

I use the Global Priority for anything in the "Commonwealth" also, Don. It's the rest of the world that I've had the most difficulty with. Last year I sent an order to Greece...took 6 weeks! Fortunately, I had been warned by the customer to expect it to take 2 months. [8D]

 

[PenWorks]

I use Fed Ex, costs more, but have had no problems,
the shipping costs is passed on to the consumer, but well worth it.

 

[Daniel]

thanks for the input. so far the USPS insured route is looking the best. I've been talking to my customer cause she wants to order more pens. I'm trying a replacment agreement type thing. a price to replace any lost pen, that is agreed on before hand.
for this specific customer that is looking like it will work. but it's not an answer that would work well as a policy.
USPS quoted me 32$ for postage and insurance for a $50.00 pen.
ouch!

 

[arjudy]

I have mailed many things overseas by the USPS and have not had a problem yet.