[bigbwb]

For anyone with exerience shipping items over seas(Jim can maybe chim in too)

I have my Proceed pre preamp for sale(its listed on this board too) and I have a gentleman from France that wants it.  Shipping VIA UPS is over $200 and he said he would pay it but wants me to lower the declared value to $100?  Sounds a bit risky.  I would only accept paypal payment so thats not the issue, its more of the customs concerns.

What do I need to know before even considering this option?

Sorry to be a bit off topic guys,

I do have ST's on order if that helps

Brandon

[jsalk]

Brandon -

The problem is that all international shipping from UPS, FedEx, etc. is air freight and is expensive.  When we ship speakers, we use sea freight which is very cost effective but takes a while to get there.  It wouldn't work in this case because they also have minimums which would be more anyway.

As for declaring the value, since it is used, you can declare any value you want.  But you can't insure it for more than the declared value.  So there is some risk involved.  If it is damaged in shipping, you could only collect the value you place on it (provided you purchased insurance up to that amount).

You may also want to check with USPS.  There is a 70 pound weight limit, so it may not work out for you.  But they may charge less.  I have shipped speakers to a military address in Japan using USPS.  It was more complicated, but it worked. 

- Jim

[bigbwb]

Thanks for responding Jim,

If I do decide to ship it over seas and use either UPS or USPS(I will check their rates, the preamp is only 25lbs), other than the insurance value, any other customs charges or etc I need to be aware of?

Thanks!

Brandon

[Philistine]

Brandon, I get involved in International shipping with my business and have also shipped hifi equipment to Europe and back for my own personal use.  $200 is in the right ball park - you might find USPS is a less expensive on something like this.   It looks like the potential buyer wants to minimize his tax payment, which I understand, but agree with Jim - any problems and your stuck with the under insured value.  VAT in France is just under 20%, they will also charge Import Duty if it's above Euro 150.  This link will explain in more detail:

http://fedex.com/us/international/irc/profiles/irc_fr_profile.html

Their are also potential legal issues involved with this, though relatively minor (in my opinion) in undervaluing - if you want to discuss offline drop me a PM.

Phil

[zybar]

Thanks for responding Jim,

If I do decide to ship it over seas and use either UPS or USPS(I will check their rates, the preamp is only 25lbs), other than the insurance value, any other customs charges or etc I need to be aware of?

Thanks!

Brandon

Brandon,

I have shipped overseas to the UK, Singapore, Vietnam, New Zealand, and Australia via USPS.  In all cases, I had a positive experience and the gear arrived safely.

Customs charges will vary by country and are the responsibility of the receiver.

As Jim mentioned, you can declare any value that the buyer requests, but it certainly impacts how much the package can be insured for.  I had a person (in Serbia) buy a $7000 pair of speakers from me and he only wanted the declared value to be $1700.  I personally thought he was nuts, but since I already had the money for the transaction I complied.  Thankfully, nothing happened to the speakers.

Either way, take good pictures of the gear before and during the packing process to cover yourself and provide your seller a little piece of mind.

George

[bigbwb]

George,

I agree, it would be up to the recipient to decide what he wants me to declare as long as he knows that any damage is his repsonsibility.  I am thinking USPS will be more affordable also.

Thanks for the help guys, I really appreciate it!  He is offereing me full price plus shipping costs via paypal, so I feel pretty confident.

Brandon

[avahifi]

We usually use USPS for overseas shipping as it costs less, there is less customs paperwork hassles, and we have had reliable results.  However, check the maximum insured value for the country you are shipping to.  This varies a lot from country to country.  Sometimes you will be forced to us UPS to get adequate insurance value.  Note that there is UPS ground service to Hawaii and Alaska now.  I guess they must have a small fleet of brown little Amphacars for the job.

Regards,

Frank Van Alstine