Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/09/21
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I agree with Kit all the way, USPS is the way to go. I have within the past 3 months bought a Canon 10D from B&H and two Canon lenses from private sellers in the US. I always specify USPS as the shipping method because of the high cost of UPS and Fedex and their ripoff brokerage fee. With USPS the packages are still insured, trackable, and on my end GLS delivers the package to the door (or I can pick it up at their depot if I wish), charging only the legally required customs duty (if applicable) and Dutch VAT plus a reasonable admin fee of 9.50 EUR. By comparison, when I lived in Belgium, UPS once charged me something like 40 EUR in brokerage fees on a $150 item! That was the first and last time I had something sent from the US using UPS. Nathan Kit McChesney wrote: > Actually, that's not true. (With all due respect!) > > I send packages to Europe via USPS--Global Express Mail--all the time. > Expensive pacakges (you know what I mean!) And they are trackable. What > happens is that USPS Express Mail hands them over to a company in Europe > called General Parcel, sort of a UPS-type outfit. They assign a new > tracking > number and USPS can give me that number on this end once the transfer is > made. I can also track on the USPS Web site. > > I have several customers in Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Norway, > UK, Italy ... You get the idea, those European lands, and also Japan, and I > send all their goodies this way. It's less expensive and I have not had one > single problem. And it takes only a few days. But it's gotta be Express, > and > it's gotta be insured. One can send a new M7 to Germany, insured, for about > $60 (compare UPS or Fedex at about $120 or so). > > Kit > > -----Original Message----- > From: lug-bounces+leicagalpal=earthlink.net@leica-users.org > [mailto:lug-bounces+leicagalpal=earthlink.net@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of > Philippe Orlent > Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2004 12:30 AM > To: Leica Users Group > Subject: Re: [Leica] selling used camera gear from Canada to USA > > But don't use USPS if you want to sent something to Europe. It takes ages > and customs becomes a real duty that way. In Belgium anyway. No way of > tracking the parcel that way, either. > > >>From: Brian Reid <reid@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us> >>Reply-To: Leica Users Group <lug@leica-users.org> >>Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 19:52:59 -0700 >>To: Leica Users Group <lug@leica-users.org> >>Subject: Re: [Leica] selling used camera gear from Canada to USA >> >> >> >>>If you ship it via UPS the recipient will be required to pay an >>>extra (substantial) charge. I suggest avoiding them. I can't >>>remember exactly what they call the charge, whether it is "duty" or >>> something else; but the declared contents will not avoid the >>>charge. I have been maddened by this more than once. >> >>Boy, is this true. UPS kills you with additional charges. I've had the > > same > >>problem shipping to people in Ontario. For shipping across the US/Canada >>border, use the US Postal Service or Canada Post, as appropriate. >> >>_______________________________________________ >>Leica Users Group. >>See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >> > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > -- Nathan Wajsman Almere, The Netherlands General photography: http://www.nathanfoto.com Seville photography: http://www.fotosevilla.com