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Shipping to/from Eurpope

Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2017 5:32 pm
by donniej
A collector in Spain is about to start sending me boxes of Berliners to copy. He's familiar with how to properly pack discs but what challenges will we face with sending discs back and forth to/from the USA and Spain? Neither of us is selling or buying anything so taxes/tariffs *hopefully* won't be an issue...
What paperwork will we need?
What's the least expensive (but "safe") shipping method?


Any input would be appreciated.

Re: Shipping to/from Eurpope

Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2017 6:35 pm
by gramophone-georg
donniej wrote:A collector in Spain is about to start sending me boxes of Berliners to copy. He's familiar with how to properly pack discs but what challenges will we face with sending discs back and forth to/from the USA and Spain? Neither of us is selling or buying anything so taxes/tariffs *hopefully* won't be an issue...
What paperwork will we need?
What's the least expensive (but "safe") shipping method?


Any input would be appreciated.
Send them USPS Priority well packed. Declare a minimal value and describe them as "used phonograph records exchanged between collectors" rather than as a "gift" which will set off radar. You may not be able to insure them for a value beyond what you declare, though.

Re: Shipping to/from Eurpope

Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2017 8:23 pm
by bfinan11
Adding to this question, is it normal for a package of records to get stuck in customs entering Europe? It's been in Luxembourg for the last 5 days and hasn't cleared yet, but it should be immediately obvious once they look at it that it's just 78s.

Re: Shipping to/from Eurpope

Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2017 9:02 pm
by gramophone-georg
bfinan11 wrote:Adding to this question, is it normal for a package of records to get stuck in customs entering Europe? It's been in Luxembourg for the last 5 days and hasn't cleared yet, but it should be immediately obvious once they look at it that it's just 78s.
Customs is either very fast or very slow, not much in between. "Normal" is anywhere from a day to two weeks, LOL. I've had parcels get bogged down entering the USA in NYC longer than that.

Re: Shipping to/from Eurpope

Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2017 4:44 am
by Valecnik
bfinan11 wrote:Adding to this question, is it normal for a package of records to get stuck in customs entering Europe? It's been in Luxembourg for the last 5 days and hasn't cleared yet, but it should be immediately obvious once they look at it that it's just 78s.

I live in Czech Republic. They seize and slap a 20% duty on every package coming in based on the value they assess it at, including postage and an approximate $10 "administration fee" unless you can prove you've paid something different. So, for example if I bought some records for $50 and it cost $50 to ship I would pay about $30 duties and fees on my $50 purchase.

$50 purchase price
$50 shipping
-----
$100 total x 20% = $20 + $10 administration = $30 :o

Re: Shipping to/from Eurpope

Posted: Sat Sep 30, 2017 3:26 pm
by bfinan11
gramophone-georg wrote:
bfinan11 wrote:Adding to this question, is it normal for a package of records to get stuck in customs entering Europe? It's been in Luxembourg for the last 5 days and hasn't cleared yet, but it should be immediately obvious once they look at it that it's just 78s.
Customs is either very fast or very slow, not much in between. "Normal" is anywhere from a day to two weeks, LOL. I've had parcels get bogged down entering the USA in NYC longer than that.
It took 25 days total, spent half that time in customs, and needed a letter sent to the Luxembourgish post office to find and move it, but it did get there eventually!

Re: Shipping to/from Eurpope

Posted: Sat Sep 30, 2017 4:26 pm
by CarlosV
bfinan11 wrote: It took 25 days total, spent half that time in customs, and needed a letter sent to the Luxembourgish post office to find and move it, but it did get there eventually!
Being the buyer (and victim of Luxembourg customs), I can confirm that the shipping time was quite normal for US-Luxembourg - about 10 days to two weeks. The delay in customs was abnormally long though. It used to be quite fast, a couple of days, until the Luxembourg post had the brilliant idea to subcontract the processing to an external company, which added a week or two and a handling fee of 15 euros, irrespective of the import duty!

Re: Shipping to/from Eurpope

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 5:51 pm
by VintageTechnologies
I once bought a disc from a dealer in Spain. I don't recall any delays or tariffs.

Re: Shipping to/from Eurpope

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 7:06 pm
by donniej
The collector in Spain found that UPS 3 day was only $20 more than using the Spanish post office, and he felt more comfortable using them. The box still sat in a warehouse in Spain for a week. But when sending a few grand worth of discs, I'm happy to oblige.

It looks like USPS has some flat rate international boxes for $24. I don't know if they're suitable for rare discs but hopefully I can pack them with my (less fragile) duplicates :D