Quote Originally Posted by The Wizard of BC View Post
I always - ALWAYS - insist anything coming from one country to another be shipped via the mail services.

I never use the courier services such as FedEx, UPS, Purolator etc. The courier services have contracts with the countries they operate in. They are paid by a percentage of the amount of duty, taxes and broker fees they collect. It only makes sense that they would then charge the maximum amount to the customer.

I have seen these fees, especially the brokers fees, equal the total amount of the customer's purchase price. And quite often the courier's bill does not come until much later in the mail. You don't even know until it is too late.

I actually ended a contract with one UK based company that refused to ship via Royal Mail or Parcel Force. They felt that their US based customers preferred the duty, tax and fees to get one or two day faster service by the courier services.
I am thinking of going with Parcel Force GlobalExpress at the moment. Hoping to get it picked up to be shipped tomorrow morning. Which given that it quotes 2-5 days for delivery to the US, seems sufficient. Any customs balls up, I think I can handle as long as it is here in in the US, I can always go to clear it myself.

Speaking of customs, what is the best way to declare it, as "clothing", and the value, or does it need to be more specific?