Shipping a bike from Canada to UK

16vGTI

Retro Guru
Anyone ever done this? If so who with & how much?
I've done a couple of quotes and the prices are ridiculous.
The bike is in British Columbia.
 
16vGTI":2a3v4mj2 said:
Anyone ever done this? If so who with & how much?
I've done a couple of quotes and the prices are ridiculous.
The bike is in British Columbia.

I've done it a few times and yes, it's very expensive. I normally go for surface mail (takes 2-3 months) and still pay over £100 just for a frameset.
 
Thanks. That doesn't sound too bad. Who was that with can you remember?

The prices I got were over 1100 Canadian Dollars!
 
That's with Canada Post. Anything else is, as you said, ludicrously expensive
 
Ok I'll take a look see how much that is. Have you ever imported a bike from the US? Reason I ask is because I have a friend there where I could have the Canadian bike sent to (seller is offering free shipping to the USA) then he could send it on to me if that's any cheaper?
 
I've had quite a few sent over. If it's packaged well, I mean not be and compact, it should be less than $100 US for a frame, fork and other bits you can squeeze into the gaps without making the package any bigger. Of course that's not as good a deal as it would've been a while ago, what with the exchange rate.
 
Thanks. It's a complete (big framed) bike so the package will be a fair size. I'll investigate tomorrow.
 
Best to split it into two boxes for sure. It's the volume that costs the big money more than the weight
 
Re:

Have a look for a sea freight company called Shipporter.

I've used them to ship bikes from the US to Australia before - they might ship to the UK. And they're really helpful.

They have a New York depot in Brooklyn, so if the seller will ship free to the US that'll save you a quite a bit.

Shipping to Australia takes 5-6 weeks and costs about US$200. Might be quicker and cheaper to the UK.
 
Re:

OK....So here's my experience as I WORK for Canada Post.

Canada Post ships based on both dimensions and weight. That's why the price is so high. You'd probably be better off shipping through Purolator for UK shipments. If you can make it to Point Roberts/Blaine then your looking to go via USPS but becareful as if it is not pre packed then the outlet you are shipping through will charge a little more. If you have an account with USPS and plug in dimensions should be about 30% cheaper even with the exchange rate vs Canada Post.

I was very fortunate to find out that Air Canada Cargo offers cheap rates for pre packed items going to major destinations. If your destination is on the list of places that Air Canada flies then all you pay is the shipping cost and the other party is responsible for the holding fee and duty. West Jet does not offer this service.

If you go through the major carriers FedEx, UPS, or DHL then your on the hook for all the fees and shipping. Which is pretty high,but comparable to Canada Post.

If you have time and serious about shipping the bike then package it up and take it to Air Canada YVR cargo on Miller and get a quote in person. They are awesome!
 
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