Shipping a guitar to Europe?

waylay00 · #1 08-20-2007, 08:14 PM

What cost should one expect to ship a guitar to Europe (specifically France) from the US?

Is it worth it? I'm asking because I have a potential buyer from France, but I'm unsure if it would be worth the time, extra money, and hassle to do so.

If it is OK to do so, what is the cheapest, most reliable method?

Thanks

Lefty Robb · #2 08-21-2007, 03:27 AM

When I did it, it was like $100 with insurance, and that was guitar + case thru USPS. I would not use anyone else.

scanlan75018 · #3 08-21-2007, 04:05 AM

The pb with USPS is that it doesn't provide a tracking ID that works outside of the United States.

Once the package has left the US soil, there's no mean for the buyer to track it. Another problem is that USPS has agreements with other companies in France, and it's not always French Post. It's sometimes difficult to know which company will deliver the package.

Fedex or UPS offer this possibility.
But it's more expensive and usually, you can't avoid customs taxes when you use Fedex or UPS, whereas sometimes, you don't have to pay anything when you use USPS and mention "Gift" on the package.

So USPS is the cheapest, it usually works well, but you can't follow every step of the process

Lefty Robb · #4 08-21-2007, 04:18 AM

you can barely, if ever track a USPS package in the states either, tracking is not something I would pay 2x the price to have, worse case scenario is you get a note from your postman and you have to go pick it up.

barbarelaxe · #5 08-21-2007, 10:19 AM

If you ship through usps and use international express mail (used to be called EMS) you get a tracking number that can be tracked wherever it goes on usps website and on the destination country postal service website. I had stuff shipped to me from the states to Israel like that and it was trackable all the way. and it is still cheaper then Fedex or ups.

dannymills · #6 08-21-2007, 11:30 AM

Yeah, I tracked a USPS parcel from the US all the way to my door! When it gets into the UK you just have to use the FedEx site.

**jim777** · #7 08-21-2007, 01:46 PM

There's no extra hassle at all, really. You just fill out one more sheet of paper at the post office and pay more money to ship. As long as you're not dealing with box size restrictions in the receiving country there's no extra hassle.

barbarelaxe · #8 08-22-2007, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dannymills

Yeah, I tracked a USPS parcel from the US all the way to my door! When it gets into the UK you just have to use the FedEx site.

not sure if Fedex will track usps packages but postoffice.co.uk will do it for sure.

7Plagues · #9 08-22-2007, 11:30 AM

i just sent a guitar to Norway for 110.00 through USPS. I have sent a guitar to London which was around 100 as well

shreddyknight · #10 08-26-2007, 08:59 AM

I´m spanish.
I bought some guitars on the past from US and always shipping rate was around 100-150$ including hard case and a big box. Mostly always around 100-120$. All this cases shipped through USPS. Delivery time it was around 10-12 days, 5-7 bussiness days for delivery and 5-7 days more at the customs.

Always had good experiences. No problems in any case.

ibaraki_gaijin · #11 08-26-2007, 10:05 AM

Anyone have experience doing the same within europe? (ie uk - spain etc)
I'm selling my J Custom ( links not provided don't ban me mods!

)
and had a few enquiries from spain/ france
i quoted about £40 to deliver, is that likely to cover my costs?

shreddyknight · #12 08-26-2007, 10:45 AM

Hi again

2 times I bought from UK and shipping an RG with OHSC was 60 pounds.

ibaraki_gaijin · #13 08-26-2007, 03:40 PM

60 pounds? hope I dont sell myself short!
what's OHSC?

shreddyknight · #14 08-26-2007, 04:22 PM

Hi again, sorry I thought you know the meaning.

OHSC it means Original HardShell Case.

When I said 60 pounds I was referreing sending a guitar from UK to Spain, France, Germany etc.. you are located in Japan??? take care... it will be expensive in that case, in dollars maybe around 150$.

Cheers

ibaraki_gaijin · #15 08-26-2007, 05:06 PM

no, selling a guitar I bought in Japan while I'm back home in the UK.
It cost me about 50 pounds to ship from Japan, but that's sea post.
don't think my *bay customer would be too pleased if it took 1 month to arrive!

The auction ended and the buyer is in the UK so I dont have to worry.
Thanks for the help.

OHSC - Hardshell case d'uh should've got that!