I sell on eBay and all the audio sites since 1999, thousands of items. Learned early not ever to ship out of the USA. It might take a bit longer, however you will always find a USA buyer eventually. It pays to be patient, never be in a hurry to sell.
Advice on online shipping labels
I am shipping my JLTi phono preamp to Australia to update it to the latest specs. After pricing at UPS, Fedex, etc, my wallet went into a panic attack from the expected onslaught of a $300+ shipping cost. I also found other 3rd party businesses in which I can get good discounted rates. An example is $75-$95 rather than the $300. I fill out the forms and print a shipping label. However I will assume its not as easy as taking it to the UPS store and paying the price.. But I like the $90 shipping an don't mind filling out forms. So far I have encountered
Pirate Shipping, Parcel monkey, Cool parcel and Online shipping Calculatorcom which gives various choices of shippers
My question is which site would you recommend if either. Or what site can you recommend that you have used before. Keep in mind I am an old retired guy who doesn't know all the rules and do not do international shipping very much
Thanks for your help
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I've done quite a bit of overseas shipping, always do diy online forms with fedex,ups or dhl, dhl usually best price for me. However going this route requires some knowledge of what forms will be required, harmonized codes, etc. Miss something and you'll have issues. These shippers will do all the work for you, assume you'll pay for this service. Hard to believe 3rd party shippers will be less than diy, assuming they charge for their services. Just don't do postal services, items may be stuck in customs for long periods, don't ask, I know from experience. The main shippers act as brokers making customs more seamless. |
Thank you for the info. Glad you told me about USPS because I had pretty much determined to use them since they were only $116. The online shipping calculator .com and Pirate ship, both have good information from what I have seen. So I will look into that and call JLTi about possibly providing a shipping label if I pay them for it. I did that with Don Sachs when I sent my amp for upgrade and he got it much cheaper. Again thanks for your help |
@artemus_5 One of the bad USPS experiences that comes to mind here is, applicable to purchase of completely refurbished Technics SP10 Mk.II. Shipped via Australian Air Post, Australia post did fine job up to point of departure from Australia. USPS get hold of it, tt part of package sits in N.Y. customs for couple weeks, I get it around three weeks after shipping. The power supply makes same journey at same time (separate package), sits in customs, never leaves with tt, all tracking info simply disappears, this goes on for weeks, trying to speak to anyone in authority, no one knows anything. I end up having to purchase another power supply, not easy thing with tt of this vintage an rarity. Anyway, I wrote off the power supply as lost or stolen, totally gave up. Then suddenly around three month later ps turns up at my door, wtf! Point of story always use service with brokerage services for expensive overseas shipping, and I will always insist upon this for shipments to me. |