Secure ways of shipping overseas?

Daniel Fairly Knives

Daniel Fairly Knives

Full Time Knifemaker
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Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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I was wondering if anyone knows of a secure way to send knives overseas? I have been using USPS but it seems hard to track or guarantee anything.

Thanks in advance for any help!
 
Depends on where you're shipping to. My standard is USPS,however, there
are some areas where FedEx tracking works better. Some customers also
prefer FedEx...
 
USPS Priority International. That's how I get everything sent to me from the states. That has tracking and is normally damn quick.

Matt
 
+1 on the USPS priority international. Make sure you you attach an invoice on the outside of the box so it does not get held up in customs.
 
Maybe check with the destination country for a dedicated int'l shipping company that is local to them, they might have an agent in a big city near you. My last bicycle i sold from my collection went to a buyer in Japan, and he set up a local agent to ship for less than FedEx could do. He got it in less than a week.


-Xander
 
For low value items Priority Mail International is fine.
However for anything valuable I only ship with Express Mail International Insured.
Express Mail has full tracking and verified delivery. Insurance is offered for a nominal sum to most countries.
 
Keep in mind that, while a number is generated and tracked inside the US, there is no tracking on International USPS Small Priority packages. Once they leave the States they don't receive any more updates. If you're shipping knives (small packages) and having difficulty tracking them, this may be the cause.
 
This is what I get with track and confirm:
Service Type: Express Mail PO-Add

Shipment Activity Location Date & Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Delivered AUSTRALIA 01/16/12 1:27pm

Missed delivery - AUSTRALIA 01/16/12 8:48am
Scheduled for another delivery attempt today

Arrival at Post Office AUSTRALIA 01/16/12 7:12am

Arrival at Post Office AUSTRALIA 01/16/12 6:19am

Arrival at Post Office AUSTRALIA 01/16/12 5:04am

Customs clearance AUSTRALIA 01/15/12 10:11pm
processing complete

Customs clearance AUSTRALIA 01/14/12 12:04pm
processing complete

Customs Clearance AUSTRALIA 01/14/12 11:26am

Processed Through Sort AUSTRALIA 01/14/12 11:25am
Facility

Processed Through Sort ISC NEW YORK NY(USPS) 01/11/12 5:20am
Facility

Arrived at Sort ISC NEW YORK NY(USPS) 01/11/12 5:20am
Facility

Depart USPS Sort MELVILLE NY 11747 01/10/12
Facility

Processed through USPS MELVILLE NY 11747 01/10/12 3:17pm
Sort Facility

Shipment Accepted FARMINGDALE NY 11735 01/10/12 1:49pm

Electronic Shipping 01/10/12
Info Received


Reminder: Track & Confirm by email

Date of email request: 01/14/12
 
I use USPS. The free boxes and shipping through paypal get me every time.
 
I have had customs problems on occasion with USPS....they lost it for about a month then sent it back to me.....I was then out 50 bucks for shipping and almost 2 months late to the customer. I went with Brown...UPS and never had a problem since.....
 
USPS to Australia works well but to some other countries your toast. Have been told by USPS that once it hits customs they can no longer track it. Had a shipment to Italy take 2 months and nothing. The customer re ordered and bought enough this time to justify UPS (shipping was a LOT more). We ate the first order, fortunatly only $60. We shipped the new order Fri and he had it Mon morning! From Ca to Italy and through Italian customs over the weekend. But it was pricey. 2 months later the original package was returned to us Ran over by several trucks and a 747 landed on top of it, cover in Italian writing but at least we had our product back after 4 months. By the way the free boxes are gone (no longer available on line or in the PO) as is Priority at least domesticly. Cutbacks at the PO. Ya got Flat Rate left and that's not trackable. Am currently the victim at the receiving end of a flat rate box that's MIA from ID to Ca. Shipper is refunding. I've seen in other posts where a lot of guys are down on UPS and prefer USPS but our experience has been the exact opposite. Out of 1,000s of shipments UPS has only lost one and we had a check within a week. We've lost several through the PO and try getting the insurance money, takes along time if ya ever get it. Its months before they want to even consider it lost. Even had several packages stolen from the PO by PO employees. Several arrests were made but we were still out our product and after talking to big wig investigators basicly "Sorry". Never did get anything back on that caper. If the product is of value to justify the additional cost use UPS. Its worked for us.
 
Insurance is a joke with USPS international. I just let the buyer know that I cant insure it when shipping overseas. They will only cover like 67 bucks or something lame like that:(

Anybody know if UPS or Fedex will insure $500 or more international?
 
I've shipped a lot of thing s to South Africa via FedEx. USPS is completely unreliable once it enters South Africa, because it goes through the regular mail system, which is , well, questionable, especially on incoming international mail.

KungFuMo, yes, they insure for more than $500, but it's pricey.
 
tedinatl said:
I've shipped a lot of thing s to South Africa via FedEx. USPS is completely unreliable once it enters South Africa, because it goes through the regular mail system, which is , well, questionable, especially on incoming international mail.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I know of no one here who has any complaints with our local PO service insofar as receipt of USPS parcels is concerned. I have received many packages from the US all with USPS Priority and Express Mail. Only one ever went missing and that happened in the US before it was sent out.

USPS Express Mail International is perfectly reliable to South Africa, unless of course you lie about the value and contents.........that can cause delays or seizure.
 
Interesting, Alfaholic. They might have cleaned it up a bit, but I've had a few things go missing via USPS, and they always blamed the theft on the SA Postal Service (and have shown me tracking records that show the items arrving in SA, to only disappear sight unseen afterwards). I have since exclusively used FedEx (last two years or so).
 
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