I have a small item that I'm wanting to ship internationally. It's a Grody Shogun Monster Nug. The person I'm trading with wants me to ship Priority because some First Class packages have gone missing, and I'm definitely down with it. I'd like to find the most affordable way to ship though. I looked up rates online, and the conclusion that I've come up with is to package the Nug in lots of bubble wrap inside a small box, and then putting the small box inside a USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate padded envelope. My question to you guys is this: Will the USPS let you put a box inside a flat rate padded envelope? Has anyone shipped like this before?
shipping "fight figures" padded in an envelope works great to keep shipping cost low. did it a lot of times.
Use the smallest box you can fit it in and ship USPS Intl Priority. Vinyl is not likely to break. That's the cheapest way usually.
One word of caution that I would offer people in general. Whenever shipping something, not just limited to international, try and consider also possible weather/other extraneous factors. I am not knocking civil servants, but let's be honest, sometimes packages are handled with less than care, and can often tossed around, sit out somewhere, be put in a snowbank, etc. I always try and seal all of the seams for parcel I am mailing, to limit as much moisture as I can from seeping in (cardboard is limited in itself). For certain rare occasions, and the above post is why I am bringing this all, vinyl can be sensitive to breaking, for example in extremes of cold. There is not a whole heck of lot you can do to protect it [nor can you control the climate], but I am just offering this word of advice to anyone that might be buying or selling an expensive toy to Canada in the middle of February (as an example). I have had breakage occur. Just be aware, and, as with all things, try and exercise good judgement.
Help help help please! I am trying to send two small toys for a grail trade to France. I want to make sure the toys aren't damaged, so no padded envelope, but a nice small box. The lowest flat rate international shipping box at USPS is $43! FedEx is considerably higher. If you've ever shipped your toys from the USA to Europe, can you please share what method you use? Is standard slow international first class, a safe way to ship? $43 for shipping is sorta a deal breaker for me . I'm hoping for a shipping rate in the $20-30 range, that's safe. I remember sending off an international first class parcel to England, 10 years ago, which took nearly a month to arrive! Is that still the expected wait time? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you!
May greatly vary from country to country, but imo First Class is the way to go; especially since it even seems to be trackable these days. I think the last toys a US boardie sent me arrived in about a week, although up to four is probably the norm. "Priority" is worth shit since I'm pretty sure it gets treated like any other ol' parcel once it enters the destination country. Myself, I've only experienced ONE serious issue in about 25 years of ordering crap from the States choosing First Class whenever possible...
Shipping to France is just expensive no matter how you do it. If you want specific help we would need your zipcode and the weight and dimensions of the box. Your most likely option would be $42.25 for priority international which would take about a week. If the weight is low enough you could go first class but is it really worth saving $10 to $15 bucks and delaying the package by a month? You need to know the longer any package takes the higher the risk of loss or damage. If it's really a "grail trade" for you an extra 13 bucks shouldn't be a deal breaker should it?
Hmmm... good points Bunnyboy and Waterbear! I guess on the grand scale of things $20 difference is acceptable. I've just been hit with some frightening expenses lately, so I'm a bit paranoid, but you're right, I don't want to miss out on a grail trade. Sheesh, where did my sense of priorities get to! The dimensions of the box, is that of a small Mandarake box, 7 inches length x 7 inches wide x 5 inches tall. Shipping from 94588 (Pleasanton, CA) to Marseille, France. I want to make sure the toys I ship out won't be damaged or lost, so I guess it's International Priority then! Wonder why it's half the price to ship the other way! Thanks for helping and steering my perspective in the right direction!
Sometimes I've found that it's a bit cheaper to create an international label through the PayPal USPS portal. Here's a link: https://www.paypal.com/shiplabel/create/ Can't hurt to try. Good luck @Mr. Humphreys
As everyone else has stated, it’s much safer to ship priority. From what I’ve been told, the first class mail tracking doesn’t give the best updates. Once the package enters the country it won’t always update correctly on either the usps website or the local postal company’s website. You also cannot insure the package with first class.
It's quite simple Grace, Fedhai has enough toys, just send it to me already!! Orrrrrr, I can get a pretty cheap flight there, complete the swap - with security promises towards your grail - and then swing by the house of Tiger7s to pet your kittehs. In all seriousness though, this is a real issue, one which continues to plague me and which has lead to US sales (SB, ebay, Amazon, etc.) being all but excluded from my contemplative vision. I don't blame the person doing the shipping, the rate is the rate after all, but surely I hope that people also appreciate, as a buyer, how shelling out more than the toy is worth in many cases is not going to be a viable option.
Argh! Am I really that transparent Stevie! Waterbear really helped me by giving me a dope slap. In the grand scale of things, when toys are so expensive to buy on Mandarake and JYA, I guess paying for shipping for a trade shouldn't be a deal breaker. It's just the bucket-of-ice-water-splash effect that hits you (without the padded wall of a deputy service! ), when you realize how expensive it is to ship from the US to destinations overseas. Why is it so much cheaper to ship internationally from say, Japan to the USA? Profuse apologies to Fedhai for the delay! And a big thank you and lots of hugs to all who shared their sage experiences with me p.s. I am sure H&E would love you to pieces Stevie! BTW, Emma loves 20-minute brushing sessions (she's got my sis-in-law hypnotized into doing this everday!), and Henry loves giant platefuls of Temptations kibble
Anyone have an opinion on Parcel Connect..? They seem to be fairly new, I just ordered a set of VAGs for the unbelievably low international shipping price of $4.85 (USPS First Class would have been like $25 or something). I'll post again once (and IF ) they arrive...
Little guys arrived today - cons would be the fact that it took over a week for the toys to leave the US & that tracking is practically non-existent once they have. Definitely a quite viable alternative to USPS First Class shipping imo.
