Guide to shipping personal effects by courier...

[SCFsnoopy 0]

Hey all,

I see a lot of questions around about what the best way is to get personal effects over to the US. I work in the freight logistics industry and I have a pretty solid knowledge in the area of shipping via international couriers so I thought I'd write up a guide for VJer's in case anybody is interested in that path.

What I'd like to know before I begin writing it is what questions are you most likely to want answered? Transit time? Customs? Cost? What to expect?

I will be including links to all the major paperwork you need when sending items via courier to the US - namely, the customs declaration and the US Declaration for Free Entry of Unaccompanied Articles.

Cheers!

[TayRivers 4]

Hey all,

I see a lot of questions around about what the best way is to get personal effects over to the US. I work in the freight logistics industry and I have a pretty solid knowledge in the area of shipping via international couriers so I thought I'd write up a guide for VJer's in case anybody is interested in that path.

What I'd like to know before I begin writing it is what questions are you most likely to want answered? Transit time? Customs? Cost? What to expect?

I will be including links to all the major paperwork you need when sending items via courier to the US - namely, the customs declaration and the US Declaration for Free Entry of Unaccompanied Articles.

Cheers!

I found the hardest part was completing the forms I think it was called a WayBill??? and making up the lists of contents with how much each item was worth.

The rest was easy, they brought me the packing boxes I filled them they sealed them the day the came to collect them and they deliverd them to me here in US 4 weeks later.

Good idea to have a guide. even if it just lists the companies that people can contact. Might even get a few reviews for companies that others have used.

[SCFsnoopy 0]

I found the hardest part was completing the forms I think it was called a WayBill??? and making up the lists of contents with how much each item was worth.

The rest was easy, they brought me the packing boxes I filled them they sealed them the day the came to collect them and they deliverd them to me here in US 4 weeks later.

Good idea to have a guide. even if it just lists the companies that people can contact. Might even get a few reviews for companies that others have used.

Yeah, I find a lot of customers look at the Air Waybill and freak a bit because it is a LOT of information that needs to go on there! I will be covering Air Waybills/connotes/whatever FedEx calls them too.

I was thinking about finding contacts for a few countries, haven't made up a list yet... But that's something I can add to if there's a demand for certain countries.

As for different companies, there's only two that I would really consider for moving personal effects overseas - FedEx and DHL - but I also base that upon the fact that they are really the only options besides the post for shipping stuff out of Australia on a one-off customer level. There are a couple of other companies here which could do it, but specialize in domestic shipments, and don't exist in any other country regardless. I would think that FedEx and DHL are the most likely to exist in most of the countries VJer's are in anyway (maybe UPS too, but they are not here in Australia so I don't have a lot of knowledge about them).

If anyone does have any experiences shipping overseas, let me know (and name the company you used).

[kaffy 2]

I think sending your belongings through the postal system (Australia Post, Japan Post, etc), while not necessarily the quickest, is however the easiest and cheapest.

I've moved between 3 countries in the last 4 years, packed what I could as luggage and used the postal system for everything else. I've sent a few boxes I needed more urgently via air mail but for everything else I just slow boated it. The only paperwork you need is the customs declaration form which is very straight forward. I have sent 15+ boxes and have never lost a single box or had anything damaged.

oh and I only use Fedex or DHL if I need important documents delivered ASAP (passports, etc).. not for shipping personal effects because it's simply too expensive and not worth it for me

[SCFsnoopy 0]

I think sending your belongings through the postal system (Australia Post, Japan Post, etc), while not necessarily the quickest, is however the easiest and cheapest.

I've moved between 3 countries in the last 4 years, packed what I could as luggage and used the postal system for everything else. I've sent a few boxes I needed more urgently via air mail but for everything else I just slow boated it. The only paperwork you need is the customs declaration form which is very straight forward. I have sent 15+ boxes and have never lost a single box or had anything damaged.

oh and I only use Fedex or DHL if I need important documents delivered ASAP (passports, etc).. not for shipping personal effects because it's simply too expensive and not worth it for me

I personally have never lost anything through the post either (both Aussie Post and USPS) but the amount of customers I get who say "Last time I sent through the post it got lost" or have shown me Registered Post tracking for a package that was signed for by a random in Johannesburg instead of going to the addressee in Pretoria... I think if you have the money, couriers are a solid option.

[SophWeb 25]

Hey all,

I see a lot of questions around about what the best way is to get personal effects over to the US. I work in the freight logistics industry and I have a pretty solid knowledge in the area of shipping via international couriers so I thought I'd write up a guide for VJer's in case anybody is interested in that path.

What I'd like to know before I begin writing it is what questions are you most likely to want answered? Transit time? Customs? Cost? What to expect?

I will be including links to all the major paperwork you need when sending items via courier to the US - namely, the customs declaration and the US Declaration for Free Entry of Unaccompanied Articles.

Cheers!

What a great idea!

I think the question I would most want answered is price. How do certain companies charge - $ per kg/lb etc.

[BaWa 0]

Oh, now these are some solid ideas.

I've only been looking into international moving companies, but I never considered DHL/UPS before for shipping my personal effects.

Hmm, I wonder if our national Postal Service has similar services.

--BaWa