International Shipping from Andyspares

[Daniel]

Thanks to Duncan at Andyspares who emailed me recently about shipping charges for an order. No problem for you Europeans, but for the antipodeans (and probably the Yanks as well) very important indeed!
I was quite shocked at the cost in freight to ship an oil filter, air filter and auxillary belt for the Xantia, until I sat down and did the figures.
Australia Post to UK air mail 3-14 days:
1kg - 10.40 GBP
5kg - 39.20 GBP
10kg - 71.20 GBP
ParcelForce UK to Australia:
1kg - 22.85 GBP (hack, cough, splutter)
5kg - 48.85 GBP (hmm getting closer)
10kg - 74.38 GBP (almost the same ))
I don't know why the base rate for Parcelforce is so high. Looks like I need to buy 5 oil filters in one hit just to match the local suppliers price. Maybe if I pooled some more things into the order....short term pain for long term gain )
Anyone here shipped by other methods?
Regards
Daniel

[Jon]

Hi Daniel
For small packets up to 1KG the Royal mail Swiftair service is quite cheap and reliable.
I've sent AlanS parts using this method a few times, and it seems to work well, the only delay seems to be Aus Customs! We can send a small packet to Queensland to Alan for about £14.00 GBP using Swiftair.
If you go to the www.royalmail.com site, and click the Postal prices Link in the Top Nav, then scroll to the end of the page and click the "For more details about the postal prices please use our Postal Calculator" link, then select "I'm sending something overseas",takes you through a handy weight and cost calculator for Airmail or Swiftair.
For bigger parcels, its not cost effective, but they are reasonable upto about 1.5KG. Over that weight its usually easier to use an International Courier such as OCS, but, as ever, it ain't cheap.
When viewing the results page on the Royal Mail site, you're looking for "Royal mail Airmail Small Packets Swiftair" as not only is the cost economical, the package is signed for at your end, and there is a small degree of compensation of the package is mislaid; its definately the best service.

[alan s]

It's worth remembering also that with the Australian Customs (yawn...what time is it Fred? Time for a cuppa yet?) w.o.r.k. is a 4 letter word that must NOT be uttered between the hours of 9 & 5 as it tends to upset the staff; hence duties below the value of A$50 are usually not collected....more trouble than it's worth. [:D][:D]
Alan S [}:)]

[Bob Smith]

For reasons I've never understood Parcel Force are more expensive than Royal Mail for packages sent within the UK. It is claimed that they offer a faster service.
Bob