Recommendations for shipping to Japan

[Ian]

A guy in Japan won one of my eBay auctions. I normally don't ship to this part of the world, so I really don't know the best way to send it.

If I send it EMS, its going to be there in a few days but cost $40-$50. Sending it economy (surface) costs half as much, but takes 4-6 weeks. I haven't checked to see how much UPS or Fed Ex are yet.

[NoSmartz]

depends on when the guy wants his item!!!!Ask him.
UPS Fed Ex should be more!!!what does it weigh?
My mom sent a package to Durban,South Africa 2 weeks ago and it weighed about 3 lbs and cost her $30.00 to get there in 2 weeks.That's with regular mail.

E

[aviationwiz]

My mom sent a package to Durban,South Africa 2 weeks ago and it weighed about 3 lbs and cost her $30.00 to get there in 2 weeks.That's with regular mail.

Umm, regular mail, 3 pounds cost her $30? That is a gigantic rip-off. Should have cost her like, $10, for regular mail that is.

Economy (Surface) Letter Post 4 - 6 Weeks $10.70 Max. length 24", Max. length, height, depth combined 36"

Or... for airmail (4-7 days)

Airmail Letter Post 4 - 7 Days $22.45 Max. length 24", Max. length, height, depth combined 36"

[BuddhaTB]

Just send it via Air Mail. Takes about a week to get there.

[aviationwiz]

Just send it via Air Mail. Takes about a week to get there.

Bahahahahaha, USPS is unreliable. It took a week and a half for a LETTER to get to CANADA.

[Ian]

Yeah, Canada really varies. Some stuff gets there in no time while it sometimes takes weeks to make it through customs.

[NoSmartz]

Umm, regular mail, 3 pounds cost her $30? That is a gigantic rip-off. Should have cost her like, $10, for regular mail that is.

I sent back my Plextor for Rma the other week and it was 15 bux(to san fransisco,little over a 1,000 miles)

How is $30 to Durban South Africa(9,396 miles away) a rip off?My mother sent a few postcards from there back in november and we just recieved them last week.Don't believe that's due to U.S. Postal Service!!!!We always use Postal Service to send stuff to South Africa and the "Ground" service never takes 6 weeks,always 6 to 10 days.I don't work for em but have never had probs sendin'/recievin' packages(no damages etc..).They wanted $7.00 to send my plextor but plextor wouldn't let me.
BTW,the package my mom sent arrived in 7 days,not 14.14 is an open window.

E

[TheWizard]

It really depends on how much the buyer is willing to pay, and how fast he wants to receive the package. EMS is excellent because it is very fast, and has tracking and insurance included. It is pricy though, that's the only drawback. Airmail Parcel Post and Global Priority Mail (GPM) are a toss-up, depending on your situation. Airmail is usually a dollar or so more than GPM, but it does give you the option to add insurance; there is no tracking with Airmail, however, and it usually takes a couple days longer to arrive than GPM. GPM is the cheapest and quickest, but it does not have tracking or insurance. With GPM, there are certain restrictions too; USPS will not send a GPM package to all countries, USPS sometimes only sends a GPM package to certain cities in certain countries.. Also, the maximum size of a package sent by GPM must be below a certain amount (all of which are outlined on the USPS web site). Despite the no tracking/no insurance with GPM, I have never had a problem with a package not arriving to its destination.

Again, ask the buyer how fast he wants it and how much he is willing to spend. USPS is definitely your best bet for international shipments because there are no hidden customs fees when the package arrives at its destination, unlike UPS and FedEx which have a tendency to add taxes and tariffs. One tip: consult with the buyer about how much you want to declare as the amount of the item(s) on the Customs Form when you fill it out at USPS. Some countries' Customs Offices will open any international package that exceeds a certain declared amount. They may also hold the package until the addressee comes and picks it up. This really sucks for the buyer, so check with him first.

[Kennyshin]

The decision should depend on what kind of product it is. If the buyer doesn't want it to arrive soon, then 4-6 weeks is short enough. Motherboards, graphic cards, DVD writes, and many other products become cheaper every week, even in Japan. But for LCD monitors, CD-R media, speakers, books, and so on, the prices hardly vary over a period of several weeks.

If it were me, I'd be willing to pay US$60 for a few 73GB 15K.3 hard drives and Supermicro dual- and quad-Xeon motherboards. Probably well more than US$60 per delivery, depending on the weight usually.