Best way to ship to the UK..

[musicmeta]

Hello everybody,

 

I know we've been down this road before, but what is the best and safest way to ship to the United Kingdom? I just sold an expensive

CGC comic.

USPS is my prefered method, but if anothe carrier is better, I'm all ears.

 

Thanks,

 

[CosmicBob]

Put it in a secure box. Carry it on a plane and fly to the UK. Rent an armoured car and drive it to the address.

 

Safe, but not cheap.

[ArAich]

By my experiance...USPS is the way to go... ...be sure to pack and double pack and you should be OK...

[Room 237]

I am in the UK, and all the stuff I get through USPS is fine... as long as its packed very well and double walled... never had a bad one yet

[musicmeta]

Yes, it will be well packaged. How should I declare the contents of my book?

 

Used book?, Comic book?

 

 

 

[musicmeta]

[AlexH]

Yes, it will be well packaged. How should I declare the contents of my book?

 

Used book?, Comic book?

 

 

 

I mark all of mine as "gifts" and declare the actual value. Usually you can get around additional costs this way.

 

[musicmeta]

Yes, it will be well packaged. How should I declare the contents of my book?

 

Used book?, Comic book?

 

 

 

I mark all of mine as "gifts" and declare the actual value. Usually you can get around additional costs this way.

 

I guess it will be an expensive gift over 2K.

[Darthdiesel]

I'm a shipping collection point here in the U.S. for ebay user markosia - he always asks for USPS Express service (different from Global Express - this one is touted to take 3-5 business days.) No problems for the most part. Last one is a horror story similar to joe collector's/comicinvestor's tales of the Canadian Postal Pilfering system.

 

Last items I sent him were some early Hulk CGC's, Bisley's Lobo and other miscellaneous pickups from "US bids only" sellers. Mailed it out Jun 28, 2003. It got there overnight and was acceepted into customs acc/ to the paper trail. True value was declared, auto insured for $100 US with the service, and it was processed by customs same day. This is where it gets ugly. USPS transfers all Express packages to an independent shipping vendor (pretty much like UPS and probably just as incompetent and prone to theft by their own employees who somehow get jobs even with criminal records as long as my posts)called ParcelForce - the package shows it was delivered on 7/3 - someone signed for it named Roger -who was not my customer. Fortunately, markosia happens to be law enforcement by trade. The driver was interrogated and it seemed shady that he delivered it to a neighbor because driver said markosia was "not home". All a load of BS because markosia has a wife and toddler at home 24 hours. Then when the driver was asked again, he stuck with his story of delivering it to some neighbor but couldn't remeber where? Anyway, it's all being sorted out, but I still have to file a claim with the USPS b/c ParcelForce insists on following protocol and since I was the shipper, Parcel Force will only handle claims initiated by the shipper??? WTF?

[AlexH]

Yes, it will be well packaged. How should I declare the contents of my book?

 

Used book?, Comic book?

 

 

 

I mark all of mine as "gifts" and declare the actual value. Usually you can get around additional costs this way.

 

I guess it will be an expensive gift over 2K.

 

YIKES!!!

 

Sorry, I never usually deal with books over $500. Most of mine are around the $100 mark. Still might work...you never know.

[supapimp]

it depends on the buyer and how much he is willing to pay, but i usually ship it via USPS....it's not cheap either.

[musicmeta]

I'm a shipping collection point here in the U.S. for ebay user markosia - he always asks for USPS Express service (different from Global Express - this one is touted to take 3-5 business days.) No problems for the most part. Last one is a horror story similar to joe collector's/comicinvestor's tales of the Canadian Postal Pilfering system.

 

Last items I sent him were some early Hulk CGC's, Bisley's Lobo and other miscellaneous pickups from "US bids only" sellers. Mailed it out Jun 28, 2003. It got there overnight and was acceepted into customs acc/ to the paper trail. True value was declared, auto insured for $100 US with the service, and it was processed by customs same day. This is where it gets ugly. USPS transfers all Express packages to an independent shipping vendor (pretty much like UPS and probably just as incompetent and prone to theft by their own employees who somehow get jobs even with criminal records as long as my posts)called ParcelForce - the package shows it was delivered on 7/3 - someone signed for it named Roger -who was not my customer. Fortunately, markosia happens to be law enforcement by trade. The driver was interrogated and it seemed shady that he delivered it to a neighbor because driver said markosia was "not home". All a load of BS because markosia has a wife and toddler at home 24 hours. Then when the driver was asked again, he stuck with his story of delivering it to some neighbor but couldn't remeber where? Anyway, it's all being sorted out, but I still have to file a claim with the USPS b/c ParcelForce insists on following protocol and since I was the shipper, Parcel Force will only handle claims initiated by the shipper??? WTF?

 

WHAT A NIGHTMARE!!!, but Thanks for the story.

I hope my package goes a little more smoothly.

I plan on mailing it out USPS GLOBAL EXPRESS(EMS). It's suppose to get there in 3-5 business days. I hope this method is OK.

I hope this works out.

 

 

 

[Moriarty]

I plan on mailing it out USPS GLOBAL EXPRESS(EMS). It's suppose to get there in 3-5 business days. I hope this method is OK.

I hope this works out.

 

This method is fine & secure, however, I'd opt for full declaration, marking as merchanise & state OLD BOOK for insurance purposes. As there is no taxation on books or printed matter entering the U.K., your customer will not be liable for V.A.T..

 

Hope this will help.

[comicmankev]

Actually, for insurance purposes it doesnt matter what value you put on the customs form. It is a totally separate issue. You can declare the value on the customs form as $10 but still insure it for $10,000, customs is totally different from the postal insurance.

 

Im response to one of the other answers, I have actually received a comic declared as $3,000 but as it was marked as a gift, it missed any fees! I feel I was lucky, so stick with a low value.

 

 

[osborn_fr]

In France the duties fees are more than 20% the value of the good (including the shipping cost !). Usually, duties fees should not apply on used books but the customs often tax my package

How can you fight against customs ? Impossible.

[musicmeta]

I plan on mailing it out USPS GLOBAL EXPRESS(EMS). It's suppose to get there in 3-5 business days. I hope this method is OK.

I hope this works out.

 

This method is fine & secure, however, I'd opt for full declaration, marking as merchanise & state OLD BOOK for insurance purposes. As there is no taxation on books or printed matter entering the U.K., your customer will not be liable for V.A.T..

 

Hope this will help.

 

Thanks for the information. I stated OLD COMIC MAGAZINE on the label. I hope the buyer doesn't incur a V.A.T on this. It's going to bite. It's already been mailed off. I'll be taking tums and rolaids like candy and functioning on several hours less sleep til it gets there safe and sound.

[hogations]

Thanks for the information. I stated OLD COMIC MAGAZINE on the label. I hope the buyer doesn't incur a V.A.T on this. It's going to bite. It's already been mailed off. I'll be taking tums and rolaids like candy and functioning on several hours less sleep til it gets there safe and sound.

 

I definitely know the queasy stomach feeling (especially when sending submissions to CGC as there is a $1000 insurance cap). I'll mark comic books as 'Used books' on the customs forms when shipping over borders.

[chromium]

I'm basically forced to have books sent to me uninsured solely because otherwise I would go bankrupt paying duty and tax.

On every package with a value of more than $40.00 (shipping included) I pay about 32% tax and duty...

So a book sent for $24.00 postage with a declared value of $50.00 ends up costing me about $25.00 in tax. If the book is insured for $100.00 it ends up costing me about $42.00 extra

 

The really hypocrite part of the story is that the customs officers hardly ever go through the contents of the package, they just look at the value on the customs label (which seems to take two to three weeks), ad the postage and if it's over the $40.00 mark they go to work.

 

One customs officer I spoke to several times on the phone told me to basically always make sure the total doesn't exceed $40.00... less work for them and no fees for me...

 

A few years ago I had a custom-made intercooler sent to me from Seattle, postage was $35.00 (surface) so I took a chance and had the seller put the ludicrous value of $3.00 on the label.... it sailed through without any problem.

Another seller thought he was doing me a favor by declaring a value of $100.00 on a $7.00 comic I bought from him...Customs wanted $35.00 duty...my only option was to refuse the book and eat the $7.00 + $9.00 shipping charge...

 

I could fill a book with my customs horror stories

[Peter_Parker59]

To ship to France from the US, just use USPS Global Priority mail.

 

For up to 3 raw books, and without tracking, the cost is $9. For a slabbed book, it jumps to $12.

 

If tracking is required, a good option is Express mail (EMS). It's automatically insured for a max amount of $500, and provides tracking. The funny thing is that they seem to use Germany as a hub to ship to any country in Europe. It cost me $25 from Colorado to France, via Germany, but it aonly took 10 days.

 

This was for a $2000 book which was declared as a gift worth $10.

 

This is the key to avoid taxes : declare it as a gift with a low value.

[musicmeta]

I'm basically forced to have books sent to me uninsured solely because otherwise I would go bankrupt paying duty and tax.

On every package with a value of more than $40.00 (shipping included) I pay about 32% tax and duty...

So a book sent for $24.00 postage with a declared value of $50.00 ends up costing me about $25.00 in tax. If the book is insured for $100.00 it ends up costing me about $42.00 extra

 

The really hypocrite part of the story is that the customs officers hardly ever go through the contents of the package, they just look at the value on the customs label (which seems to take two to three weeks), ad the postage and if it's over the $40.00 mark they go to work.

 

One customs officer I spoke to several times on the phone told me to basically always make sure the total doesn't exceed $40.00... less work for them and no fees for me...

 

A few years ago I had a custom-made intercooler sent to me from Seattle, postage was $35.00 (surface) so I took a chance and had the seller put the ludicrous value of $3.00 on the label.... it sailed through without any problem.

Another seller thought he was doing me a favor by declaring a value of $100.00 on a $7.00 comic I bought from him...Customs wanted $35.00 duty...my only option was to refuse the book and eat the $7.00 + $9.00 shipping charge...

 

I could fill a book with my customs horror stories

 

WOW! Only $40.00. What a racket over there on incoming mail. I feel for you.