Shipping crocheted items outside the US

[GinaLaughed]

I have a dear friend who lives in Scotland who just had a miscarriage at 10 weeks and I would like to ship her a comfortghan. I have never shippend anything outside this US. I went to the USPS website and the info there seems to boggle my mind. Does anyone have any experience shipping a gift to someone in Scotland from the US? Is it a hassle? Are there papers to fill out? Can someone please point me in the right direction, please? I would truly appreciate it!

[LibiLou]

Well, I've shipped outside the US. I did so with the US Post Office. I filled out a customs form (small, easy), paid a semi large amount of money and shipped. no problems.

 

I've never used UPS, so I can't tell you anything about them.

[GinaLaughed]

Thanks, Libi! That sounds easy enough. The page I read on the USPS site had so much info I felt overwhelmed. I guess when I'm finished with this ghan I'll just pack it up and go to the USPS and go from there. Thank You!

[origami]

I have a dear friend who lives in Scotland who just had a miscarriage at 10 weeks and I would like to ship her a comfortghan. I have never shippend anything outside this US. I went to the USPS website and the info there seems to boggle my mind. Does anyone have any experience shipping a gift to someone in Scotland from the US? Is it a hassle? Are there papers to fill out? Can someone please point me in the right direction, please? I would truly appreciate it!

 

Hi there! I'd just use the United States Postal Service. Just package your comfortghan up and go to the post office. You will need to fill out a customs form and you need to make sure that you state that what you are sending is a gift so that your friend doesn't end up owing customs on it. It's really no big deal. You'll pay postage and then it will be off on its way. Not sure how much postage will be. You might want to find out what the length of time to ship will be and then pay a little extra to have it done faster because sometimes the cheapest way of shipping can be veeeeeeeeery sllllloooooooooooow!

[GinaLaughed]

Thanks for the tips Oragami! I do want to get this almost finished ghan to my friend right away so I will look into expedited shipping. Now if I could just hurry up and finished this ghan.

[mythunderbird]

and by very slow she means months:( :( is easy to do , i have sent things to the uk and is not hard at all, but like was said make sure you say it is a gift or she will have to pay postage duty:angry they get ya any which way they can:P good luck:hug by the way, thats a very nice thing to do for your friend

Hi there! I'd just use the United States Postal Service. Just package your comfortghan up and go to the post office. You will need to fill out a customs form and you need to make sure that you state that what you are sending is a gift so that your friend doesn't end up owing customs on it. It's really no big deal. You'll pay postage and then it will be off on its way. Not sure how much postage will be. You might want to find out what the length of time to ship will be and then pay a little extra to have it done faster because sometimes the cheapest way of shipping can be veeeeeeeeery sllllloooooooooooow!

[Tampa Doll]

I shipped a doll that I made over to England. I sent it Global Priority. Stated it was a gift, paid a not to bad amount and it was delivered real quick. UPS wanted about $100 or more to ship the same package.

 

 

They have first class ( I swear it goes by boat), Global Priority and Global Express. Don't go express it is on the same plane as priority. They guy at the post office told me they are usually on the same plane. I laughed and said Only one is in the front of the plane (like first class seating) and the other is in coach. lol:hook

[losingmymind2]

I mailed an afghan to my friend in England when her daughter was born, and using air is much more expensive, but if you want the item there before the holidays, it's the only way. Seriously, surface (read slow boat) deadline is October 1st for the Christmas holidays, I believe.

 

Kathy

[buggaboosmommy]

All you need to ship outside the US is a customs form. The small green for UNDER 1 pound, the large white for OVER one pound. If you mail it Priority mail, your friend should receive it in about 10-15 days. Any other shipping method will take at least a FULL month. Also, be prepared to pay at least $30-50 for shipping, UNLESS you are shipping to an APO address (american military overseas). If you have any other questions, feel free to email me

 

 

We just moved to the US from Germany...so we have tons of experience shipping, lol. Try shipping Christmas to the family every year, lol. I would have to start in October!

 

Donna

[LadyyOftheOak]

I have never had anything take more than 2 weeks to get to England.. and I ship all the time to family and friends there.

[buggaboosmommy]

The Post Office is a funny place...sometimes they are fast, sometimes they are slow. I had one package that my mom mailed me from the US to Germany..it took ONE year to arrive. We had given up hope....but ONE year to the date she mailed it, it arrived. The box was alittle banged up, but it made it! So, you just never know!

Donna

[GinaLaughed]

Thank you all for sharing your experiences! I can't wait to send this ghan. I feel much better prepared to do this now.

 

Donna.... I'm on your 'late' package! That's unbeliveable.

[origami]

All you need to ship outside the US is a customs form. The small green for UNDER 1 pound, the large white for OVER one pound. If you mail it Priority mail, your friend should receive it in about 10-15 days. Any other shipping method will take at least a FULL month. Also, be prepared to pay at least $30-50 for shipping, UNLESS you are shipping to an APO address (american military overseas). If you have any other questions, feel free to email me

 

Yep, absolutely priority mail! We had to train our families to mail things to us priority mail when we lived in Europe.

 

If your friend is at a US military base, you can ship it to their APO and it won't cost any more than it costs to send it anywhere else in the US, by the way. But definitely do it priority.

 

It is ridiculous how much it costs to ship something to the UK, by the way, when it doesn't cost much at all to ship something FROM the UK.

[buggaboosmommy]

Yep, with APO and FPO you only pay for shipping from your location to New York..military takes it over at that point.

Donna