Seamail -- thoughts?

[silvershadow]

I hope this is in the right place...


I'm wondering about seamail and people's experiences with it. I'm in Australia and will be posting ponies to Europe, and I am curious about how long it will take, but I can't really find any feedback about it. The bulk of ponies is likely to be pricey so we are looking for the cheapest option, but I want to be sure they will reach the buyer ok.


Has everyone experiences with seamail been good overall and how long has it taken on average to reach you or the buyer? Or have things gone missing? I would love to hear people's input. Thanks~

[hathorcat]

6 months! Lol...but I think that was well over the expected delivery time...

I had a very very very expensive and rather heavy parcel filled with ponies come from Aus once via Seamail - it took 5 months, 3 weeks and 3 days to get to me in the UK...

Personally I have no problem with it..in the UK using Seamail over airmail doesnt make massive massive price differences until you get to very heavy weight and some parcels over a certain width, depth, length cant actually be sent Airmail so Sea may be the only option.

However, there is a massive BUT that can put people off - the time it takes for Seamail can cause worry for buyers and sellers as it may not get there in time for a paypal deadline - it means you run the risk of a paypal claim when a parcel has not arrived simply because the it is still in a container somewhere and not made it as far as the destination country.

The balance of "cheaper and longer" over "more expensive and faster" is what it comes down to - you would need to make your buyer understand that things can take a very long time and you run the risk of your seller getting close to deadline and filing a claim even though you have done everything right just that the boat wont go a bit quicker!

[Ringlets]

This is the right place to post so no worries
I havent used seamail myself , since there is very little difference in the cost between airmail and seamail when sending from the UK , and I agree with what Hathorcat said - sometimes it takes months to arrive by seamail - and considering you only have 45 days before the paypal deadline runs out , it can be more stress than its worth. Personally I wouldnt risk it unless its absolutely the only way you can send the parcel, and even then only risk it if your buyer clearly understands that it might take literally months before the parcel arrives 
If the parcel is going to be heavy and cost a lot to send by airmail, maybe you could see if it would work out better to send the ponies in 2 or 3 smaller parcels instead? sometimes it works out cheaper that way

[StarFaerie]

It may be cheaper to send it by courier. Especially for a very large parcel. And then it takes just a few days.

(eg an 18kg parcel is $192 via Seamail but $183 with this lot http://www.ship2anywhere.com.au)

[Ringlets]

Thanks for the info StarFaerie   
..wow *is imagining an 18kg Parcel of ponies now !!     *  wouldnt that be awesome to receive?!  

[hokuspokus]

It takes véry long to arrive. I believe at least 6 weeks.
As said, it's not even that much cheaper, mostly.

[Sea_Breeze]

I had a few large care bears sent via seamail from the US approximately 8 years ago, took roughly 4 months. Unfortunately one parcel never did arrive . They don't offer seamail as a form of shipping from here through the post anymore

[rimmu]

2 years ago, I spend 6 months in India. I bought lot of stuff so I send to them home with seamail. I had only my back pack with me so I didn´t want to carry 20 kilos of extra carriage around India 


I send 20 kilos in 2 different boxes and I´m surprised how quick the shipping was. Another package took around 3 weeks and another one little more than 4 weeks to arrive to Finland.

[Elfpony]

My only "land" mail experience was good, but probably not typical.  It was a package of ponies from Canada to Australia and it actually arrived in just two weeks.  Apparently Canada Post will sometimes throw land mail packages in with the airmail if they don't have enough airmail to fill up the load.

Elf