Decent US (to UK!) Courier??

[Dave_Mars]

Hi guys,

I've spotted a splendid frame on american ebay... And the seller has agreed to ship it But he has asked which courier to use?

I know you fellas get a fair ol' chuck of stuff sent over here.. so what would you recommend?

Thing is.. he has agreed to include postage in the price!! (Although TBH, I'm not sure he realises how much it may be!) So I don't want to use a mega-pricey courier and scare him out of the deal (y'see?)

Any recommendations would be very gratefully recieved!



p.s. Any tips for avoiding customs charges?? :roll: :twisted:

 

[cchris2lou]

Usps would be the cheapest , but no safest .

get it marked as a gift , but risky if it goes missing .

 

[Carsten]

Usps would be the cheapest , but no safest .

get it marked as a gift , but risky if it goes missing .

doesn't matter if it is marked as gift or goods or whatever as long as it is insured. USPS priority for a frame is around $70 incl. $650 insurance which is the maximum of insurance. typically those parcels are in europe after 2 days and then it depends on the customs clearance how long it takes until they are delivered to the receiver.

only important thing is to stay under 108" length plus girth ie. length + 2x width + 2x height. a normal bike box is too large but there are frame boxes around that fit into the size limit and have sufficient space for a frame and parts. or the sender has to cut down a bike box.

only the declared value can be insured and there's only one custom form to be filled out. sender has to drop the parcel off at the USPS office and now before christmas the queues are loooooong and service is slooooooow. just waited more than one hour in line on friday, annoying.

USPS EMS is a bit more expensive, not much faster but can be tracked online. USPS priority can be tracked but only by the USPS guys.

all info and a handy online calculator is here

http://ircalc.usps.gov/

so far, after almost 10 years, i haven't found a cheaper alternative to USPS except for buddies that take stuff over on their trips to Europe.

Carsten

 

[Dave_Mars]

verrrry helpful !!

Thankyou very much chaps