As a recipeint on the other end of such shipments, I have never had cause
for complaint with a USPS airmail letter post shipment, and endorse what
Chuck says. "Letters" can go up to 1.99 kg - nearly 4.5 pounds.
An advantage of this mode is that the fee for customs clearance is lower
than with any form of priority shipment, which also gets priority clearance.
Priority clearance is not any quicker in practice, it's just more expensive.
The courier firms' clearance fees are higher still, and do not be fooled
into thinking that the courier firms have "ownership" of the shipment from
end to end, because that only applies in major centres. In outlying areas,
delivery may be handed over to a subsidiary parcel delivery - NB not courier
- firm (over here, DHL owns the Omega parcel delivery firm, UPS owns Lynx
etc), or there may simply be an unaffiliated local agent (in Isle of Man,
one local firm makes deliveries for all the major couriers). A further area
for problem is how each firm routes international shipments, and where they
have their major hubs - just as if you are shipping from NY to DC, it
doesn't help if the hub is in SF, so you may want to avoid the hub in
Slovakia.
Quality and timeliness of service can be a lottery, and you really need to
know both the local market and each courier firm's routing table to make the
right choice. In my experience the international postal service strikes the
right balance, and I have never had a loss. And that includes the lens that
Tom Scales sent me from "over there" to UK which contrived to get diverted
via Lusaka in Zambia.
--
Piers
-----Original Message-----
From: olympus-owner@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:olympus-owner@xxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of Chuck Norcutt
Sent: 29 January 2007 18:18
To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [OM] Re: OT: Shipping to England from the US
Parcel post will go by boat. I would suggest USPS "Air Mail Letter Post".
Don't be deterred by the word "letter". It also includes packages. It
shouldn't take more than about one week and the price is moderate.
Chuck Norcutt
Rob Harrison wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> A fellow from the UK won my auction for my 16mm/3.5 Nikkor. Anyone
> have experience with shipping to the UK from the US?
>
> I¹ve heard USPS Airmail Parcel Post can be risky, because of the
> difficulties in assigning responsibility for the package. USPS gives
> it to UK Post, and in the event of a problem each is likely to point
> the finger at the other. This is as opposed to a courier like DHL or
> UPS, where one party has responsibility for the package from pick-up
> to drop-off. Parcel Post is of course MUCH cheaper. (US$27 vs $45.)
>
> Rob in Seattle
>
>
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