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Costs of shipping internationally, ...


FranzBernhard

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...especially Europe - North America.

 

I read very often here on the forum about the high costs of sending parcels from the US to Europe. I am very interested in the real price of that.

 

In the different direction, the price for sending parcels, for example, from Austria to North America is:

Up to 2 kg: Euro 25.29,-

Up to 4 kg: Euro 37.64,-

Up to 10 kg: Euro 71.64,-

These are the prices of the federal postal service (www.post.at).

 

At the moment, you have to multiply the Euro with about 1.13 to get the price in USD.

 

Would someone like to tell us shipping costs from the US to Europe? Thank you!

 

Franz Bernhard

Edited by FranzBernhard
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Actually, I was just in my local US Post Office yesterday, and was noticing their advertised services; I have shipped parcels internationally before, and it's relatively inexpensive compared to other services within the U.S. and other nations. For the USPS, small flat rate boxes are at $29.55, medium at $54.65, and large at $71.05. For other carriers it's usually more costly (if going the route of non-flat rate boxes); for example, the attached pic is of quoted rates for a 1 kg. non-flat rate package measuring 12"x12"x12" (generally a good size for 1 kg. of fossil amber), going from Idaho, U.S.A. to Vilnius, Lithuania.

Screen Shot 2021-11-30 at 11.34.09 AM.png

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Thanks, @Barrelcactusaddict!

 

Ok, that´s completely different to Austrian system. The weights I have given are for boxes up 60x60x100 cm (ca. 24x24x40 inch). Size does not really matter in our system.

 

Are these the sizes of the standard flate rate boxes?

Flatrate.jpg.2b82e2ce8a062c623d5df564458f2ca8.jpg

Lets recalculate that to weight!

In my experience, 1 kg of "rocks" needs about one liter of parcel volume.

So, a medium box will take about 9 kg of rocks and a large box about 13 kg of rocks.

 

Compared with your prices:

17 minutes ago, Barrelcactusaddict said:

medium at $54.65, and large at $71.05.

This is significantly less than Austrian prices!

(About 50 Euro vs. 71 Euro for 9 kg of rocks)

 

Many thanks for your input!
Franz Bernhard

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I use a third party that offers a slight shipping discount for international. This is the table for international simple export rates:

image.png.18406ee6defc61caf85b2a14c6b74245.png

They have been reliable and fast so far. 

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Thanks, @Crusty_Crab!

Ok, lets take 4 lb = 2 kg. 

This gives about Euro 32,- for a 2 kg parcel, which is somewhat more than the price from Austria to the US (Euro 25,-).

Franz Bernhard 

Edited by FranzBernhard
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If over 4 lbs, its cheaper to ship Priority mail international:

 

image.png.ef5129026c76393b24d9c3b3cdf073f4.png

 

For reference, shipping to Austria is zone 5, therefore $79.45 for medium or $103.05 for large flat rate. 9 kg would be near the max, ~20 lb. Again, the third party shipper I use gets me a slight discount from the published price since they negotiate better rates from the USPS. I'm not sure if its ok to name them on this forum but I can PM the service if anyone is interested. 

Edited by Crusty_Crab
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Well this would be for Germany to USA

 

The first two options sound very cheap, but you dont have much weight and there is no tracking number and no insurance.

 

If you want a tracking number and insurance you have to go with 36,99 € or more. 

 

preise.jpg.e2888304bb2c62762b68b39e309330fc.jpg

Edited by Abstraktum
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Thanks again, @Crusty_Crab!

Ok, there are weight restrictions internationally!

2 kg = Euro 34,- (but consider the "thin" parcel of only about 5 cm thickness!)

9 kg = Euro 70,-, which is about the same price as in the different direction ;).

Very interesting. In summary, there is not that much difference, which direction you choose ;). It becomes only a pita, if you have an item weighting slightly over 4 lb...

I have sent a 10 kg parcel to Canada quite recently, and I simply put in as much specimens as possible. So it was quite cheap :).

Franz Bernhard

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2 hours ago, FranzBernhard said:

Thanks, @Barrelcactusaddict!

 

Ok, that´s completely different to Austrian system. The weights I have given are for boxes up 60x60x100 cm (ca. 24x24x40 inch). Size does not really matter in our system.

 

Are these the sizes of the standard flate rate boxes?

Flatrate.jpg.2b82e2ce8a062c623d5df564458f2ca8.jpg

Lets recalculate that to weight!

In my experience, 1 kg of "rocks" needs about one liter of parcel volume.

So, a medium box will take about 9 kg of rocks and a large box about 13 kg of rocks.

 

Compared with your prices:

This is significantly less than Austrian prices!

(About 50 Euro vs. 71 Euro for 9 kg of rocks)

 

Many thanks for your input!
Franz Bernhard

You're very welcome! Definitely, those are the correct sizes for the flat rate boxes. :dinothumb:

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Summing up for parcels up to 2 kg / 4 lb:

Europe - NA

Austria - NA: Euro 25.29,-

Germany - NA: Euro 16,- (but without tracking and insurance)

 

US - Europe: Small flat rate box. Note, that this is only about 5 cm thick, but you may be able to fill it with about 4 lb of thin "rocks", if you pack carefully and tightly:

USD 38.8 or slightly less, maybe around USD 35 (Euro 31,-)

 

16 hours ago, Barrelcactusaddict said:

For the USPS, small flat rate boxes are at $29.55,

That´s significantly less than the prices given above, whats the destination? Canada? Thanks!

 

I am pondering this subject because of Secret Santa @Tidgy's Dad and the offers of @jpc, which some European members would like to catch, but can´t ;). Now I can understand a little bit. You can not send a bulky 3-pounder with reasonable price from the US to Europe because of size restrictions. Different direction would be ok.

 

For a parcel weighing up to 20 lb / 10 kg, prices are quite similar in both directions.

 

Thanks to all for your contributions!
Franz Bernhard

Edited by FranzBernhard
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I have often seen fantastic fossils for sale in the USA at decent prices. 

But overall, with the cost of the postage,  doesn't make it worth while :shakehead:

Edited by Yoda

MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png.a47e14d65deb3f8b242019b3a81d8160.png MotM August 2023 - Eclectic Collector

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11 hours ago, FranzBernhard said:

Summing up for parcels up to 2 kg / 4 lb:

Europe - NA

Austria - NA: Euro 25.29,-

Germany - NA: Euro 16,- (but without tracking and insurance)

 

US - Europe: Small flat rate box. Note, that this is only about 5 cm thick, but you may be able to fill it with about 4 lb of thin "rocks", if you pack carefully and tightly:

USD 38.8 or slightly less, maybe around USD 35 (Euro 31,-)

 

That´s significantly less than the prices given above, whats the destination? Canada? Thanks!

 

I am pondering this subject because of Secret Santa @Tidgy's Dad and the offers of @jpc, which some European members would like to catch, but can´t ;). Now I can understand a little bit. You can not send a bulky 3-pounder with reasonable price from the US to Europe because of size restrictions. Different direction would be ok.

 

For a parcel weighing up to 20 lb / 10 kg, prices are quite similar in both directions.

 

Thanks to all for your contributions!
Franz Bernhard

Thanks! I did more digging, and I made a mistake.

 

It seems that $29.55 for the small flat rate box was the lowest price that would be possible for shipping internationally from the US (out of all the countries available for a destination). I ran some specific destinations through the USPS calculator for a package valued at $25 USD, and these are the results for Lithuania, Austria, Canada, Morocco, and the UK. It is indeed significantly more expensive than my initial quote for shipping from the US internationally with flat rate boxes. For small flat rate from the US, these are the prices (USD): Lithuania ($40.15), Austria ($39.40), Canada ($29.55), Morocco ($40.15), UK ($40.85). The flat rate prices don't appear to change if the value of the package's contents are higher/lower, but the declared value would certainly affect any applicable import taxes.

 

I hope this helps!:)

Screen Shot 2021-12-01 at 11.18.38 AM.png

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Screen Shot 2021-12-01 at 11.23.58 AM.png

Screen Shot 2021-12-01 at 11.24.52 AM.png

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43 minutes ago, Barrelcactusaddict said:

It seems that $29.55 for the small flat rate box was the lowest price that would be possible for shipping internationally from the US (out of all the countries available for a destination). I ran some specific destinations through the USPS calculator for a package valued at $25 USD, and these are the results for Lithuania, Austria, Canada, Morocco, and the UK. It is indeed significantly more expensive than my initial quote for shipping from the US internationally with flat rate boxes. For small flat rate from the US, these are the prices (USD): Lithuania ($40.15), Austria ($39.40), Canada ($29.55), Morocco ($40.15), UK ($40.85). The flat rate prices don't appear to change if the value of the package's contents are higher/lower, but the declared value would certainly affect any applicable import taxes.

Thank you for your efforts!

Considering only Austria, now we are in the same range as given by @Crusty_Crab (USD 38.80). I find the slightly differing prices for all these countries in the same region of the world surprising. And I would not be surprised, if these prices are changing daily!

 

Anyways, conclusions remain still the same, see previous post!


Thanks again!
Franz Bernhard

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