Shipping US to Europe Tips/Tricks?

[kasin]

Hello,

So I'm wondering if anyone has any clever ideas to reduce shipping costs from the US to Europe? It seems the US postal service has dropped the cheaper option I used to use and now it will cost me around $75 to ship a 5LB box that I used to send for about $50. I assume Ill be stuck eating the cost, but as a last hope I'm posting here to see if anyone has come up with a clever work around (I know a lot of us ship over seas here!) I have checked and getting a smaller box did not help and splitting to two boxes did not really help either.

Thank you!

[banditpony]

Can it fit in an international priority medium or large flat rate box?

https://www.usps.com/international/priority-mail-international.htm

[dragonfly]

Reduce packing material. Remove from original packaging. Use a smaller or lighter-weight box. Pack it in an envelope.

What, specifically, are you shipping?

[kasin]

Vintage MIB toys plus extra loose ones, there is a certain amount of packing material that I cant avoid and a box will be a must either way.

[Tiara546]

I would only know about a very unusual way, but it requires to know someone in the Ramstein Airbase in Germany. It is handled as US territory shipping-wise, so people can ship there for the cost it would be to ship within the US and there is no customs either, of course. Someone would have to bring the items outside the base, but then they could be shipped within Germany or to anywhere in the world at again quite low costs, as German international shipping is only $7 for 500g/1 pound box or envelope and $10 for a 2 pounds box or envelope, both tracked and airmail. Without tracking, it's even cheaper, only $4 for 1 pound. I do not live near Ramstein but would gladly help distribute shipments if we could set up some kind of network. 

[tulagirl]

Is your box over 12 inches in length at any point?  5 pounds usually costs me 55.00-58.00 priority mail if its 12 inches or less. I can't remember the exact amount but I know it was less than 60.00.  I do two shipment boxes often especially if the customs form is going to go over 45.00..that's just for friends though and not sales. My post office charges box rate on all envelopes that are more than 1/4 inches thick.

[Galactica]

I think you are out of luck- international shipping rates have gone through the roof and there is no good way of avoiding them.

[Taffeta]

I think it's a sign of the times. Although I had someone ship me a doll MIB for $22.50 recently, air mail, and it was very well packed, and no damage. By recently I mean within the last couple of weeks?

It's a similar situation with the UK if you go over a 90cm measurement across the 3 sides of the box - shipping soars from £15-20ish ($20-25ish) to about three times that because of volumetric weight. This to me seems like a cunning way for postal companies to charge more for stuff based on its size, as they clearly weren't making enough on the weight alone.

[kasin]

I do not know anyone that can help on a US military base but I would be glad to help if we can get a network in place.

I do have a good network between US and Canada, and Canada post has a much better international rate, so I'm looking at trying that route.

[Galactica]

If your box is really big- try breaking it up into two smaller boxes and check out the shipping rates.  There is a big inflation once the box goes over a certain size-

I do not know anyone that can help on a US military base but I would be glad to help if we can get a network in place.

I do have a good network between US and Canada, and Canada post has a much better international rate, so I'm looking at trying that route.

I would not use a friend with an APO address as a mail forwarding service unless it is a REALLY good friend.  They could get in serious trouble if someone suspected them of using their APO address illegally or as a mail forwarding service.

ALSO- at least for my friend in Belgium, the APO delivered packages go to a community mail room, so they aren't particularly secure.

Also- APO addresses have a lot more restrictions.

[Tiara546]

I see, I just had my own experience in the past that a German person I knew worked on a military base and was allowed to use his american roommate's APO address for himself and his friends. It worked amazingly well at that time but it's already over 10 years ago now.